Episode 218. Creating Art to Help Heal Trauma. Mary Stephanou

Mary is a HCPC registered Art Psychotherapist in the UK, with a degree in Creative Expressive Therapies and Masters in Art Therapy. She is a feminist, human, artist and activist.

Mary currently works with adolescents in schools, who are often referred to as hard to reach young people with challenging behaviour.  In reality, Mary works with young people who have often experienced trauma, various or multiple types of abuse and come from (emotionally, economically and socially) deprived backgrounds.

Mary also has a special interest in working with older people living with Dementia and has created multiple bodies of work exploring the internal, imagined worlds of people living with this diagnosis. As a practicing artist and art therapist, Mary uses the art making process to inform her own personal/self development and the growth and nurturing of her clients in her practice.

Through the use of art making, Mary recognizes the importance of providing a safe space in which clients can safely be witnessed with love, empathy and compassion, to bring to the surface their whole integrated selves. She is humbled to have authentic human connection with clients who open themselves up to vulnerability, and journey to a place of understanding, consciousness and playfulness.