Louise Morton

Art Therapist

Active Arts Therapy

Arts Therapy is an active, exploratory approach to generating change.
I am a registered clinical arts therapist practicing in central Wellington. I provide mindfulness-based creative arts therapy services to assist clients to process their experiences and to support meaning-making and change.

Client Types

Adolescents, adults, groups.

 

Areas of Special Interest

Wellbeing and self-development, self-esteem, confidence-building, anxiety, interpersonal issues, managing emotions, loneliness, depression, trauma, existential concerns, sexual abuse, grief/loss/change.

 

Counselling/Therapy Services

Sometimes our experiences and fears are difficult to put into words. In arts therapy sessions, my clients and I work creatively, using mindfulness-based approaches and a variety of arts modalities (including visual arts, dance/movement, drama and writing) to support the processes of meaning-making and change. 

You don’t have to be an artist to express something creatively, you just have to feel safe enough to give it a try. I provide a confidential, attentive and non-judgmental space where we’ll work collaboratively, at a pace that feels right for you. My overarching aim is to help you to increase your sense of autonomy and to discover meaningful tools which help you to overcome barriers you are facing and increase your resilience. 

I currently offer individual arts therapy sessions from a private room in the central city. I am also developing community-based arts therapy groups. 

I invite you to come for a session and see if arts therapy feels like a good fit for you. We’ll use the arts as well as talking to explore your reasons for coming to therapy, and establish some aims for our work based on your individual situation. 

 

Counselling/Therapy Approach

Arts therapy uses creative processes to help you to explore and express material that is difficult to articulate in words. It works by accessing imagination and creativity – qualities which all human beings possess – to generate new models of living and contribute to the development of a more integrated sense of self. These methods are active, innovative and practical; they provide a supportive space for you to ‘try on’ and practise new behaviours. Creativity harnesses the imagination and connects us with a sense of meaning and a means of communicating this to others. This can help you to use the safe space of the therapeutic environment to learn to tolerate uncertainty and to open new possibiities for your life.

  

Registrations and Professional Memberships

• Registered Clinical Arts Therapist 
• Professional Member of the Australian, New Zealand and Asian Creative Arts Therapies Association (ANZACATA)
• Registered Provider for ACC Sensitive Claims

 

Qualifications

• Master of Arts in Clinical Arts Therapy (First Class Honours)
• Post-Graduate Diploma in Primary School Teaching
• Bachelor of Arts (Criminology, Sociology) 

 

Background and Experience

My work experience is diverse, the common theme being an interest and involvement in supporting people to reach their potential. 

Most recently I spent fifteen months providing individual and group arts therapy to individuals within a CCDHB mental health/forensic inpatient unit, where clients presented with a wide range of needs (including anxiety, emotional dysregulation, navigating grief/loss, depression, dissociative disorders, post-traumatic stress, schizophrenia, psychosis, identity issues, and substance abuse). 

I have also spent almost four years supporting survivors of sexual violence. This area remains a strong interest of mine, particularly in supporting clients to re-establish a sense of safety in their bodies.