Gold Coast Insight Arts Counselling

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What is Insight Arts Counselling?

“….giving a name to an experience can liberate us. Experiences that go unnamed, however, can frighten or even paralyse us. ………The purpose of the therapeutic process, then, is to help the client articulate the experience – to find a way to properly name what has happened. Once a person has successfully done so, the experience may still be painful, but it will no longer be traumatic.”
Mark E Thibodeaux, SJ

Confidential Insight Arts Counselling is a creative communication process though a variety of art-forms including dialogue, stories, visual art, movement, music, dance, drama and play. Equal value is given to the physical, mental and spiritual aspects enabling difficult and painful life experiences as well as personal strengths to be explored, validated, understood and where needed healed and changed towards chosen paths. Responses by the therapist are non-judgemental and could be verbal, written and/or visual artwork and these can be taken home at end of each session.

Gold Coast Insight Arts Counselling also encourages Creative Arts Therapists, Art Therapists, artists, psychologists and counsellors and community organisations to be involved in providing their services in joint projects such as community cultural development, workshops and group sessions. Venues and marketing are organised as well as a referral process.

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Why look for counselling?

“Understanding how to make creative use of imagination rather than letting it influence us destructively is an important part of the art of living.”
E. Van Deurzen

We all have difficulties in one form or another. It is useful to talk to someone else about our experiences in order to understand clearly what has happened or is happening. It releases those thoughts that have been locked away and cause difficulties underneath it all without being fully realized. Other choices and options become apparent opening up into more valued directions.

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Who is Insight Arts Counselling meant for?

"All we need is a key, and the decision to swing the door open. There is only one key, and it is called willingness.”
A.A.

• Anyone who has a desire to inquire into their life experiences in order to gain insight and change
• We companion children, adolescents, and adults and provide services to individuals, couples, families, groups and communities.
• People do not need to have any previous experience or skill in the arts, acting, theatre, dance, or drama.
• Everyone is creative, we just don’t usually think we are

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What can Insight Arts Counselling do for you?

“When people rediscover their inner connectedness to something greater than themselves, to some ideal which will lift them beyond their everyday struggles, a new motivation flows inside of them, which can carry them through difficulties with unerring purposefulness.”
Van Deurzen

This healing and life-enhancing creative activity

• Increases insight and understanding
• Increases enjoyment in being creative
• Increases chosen changes
• Develops self esteem.
• Takes ownership of your work
• Explores feelings of loss, fear and courage etc.
• Empowers people in their personal exploration
• Provides a safe space in which to explore possibilities

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Counselling

Weekly ‘Insight Arts Counselling’ Group Sharing Sessions

Explore your creativity and yourselves accessing new insights.

Weekly groups consist of different ways of using a variety of art forms each week which is an opportunity to build on more experiences of the Creative Arts Therapy process. Creative modalities include painting, drawing, clay, collage, mandalas, sandtray, movement, drama, visualisation, meditation, writing and stories and more.

• 1pm – 3pm Every Friday for a 5 week block periods
• Cost: - $40 [All art material supplied]
• Booking is essential.
• Please book in early as the small group sharing sessions are limited to five people.
• For more info or to make an appointment, please 'Make an Enquiry'

If you think you’d like a a condensed version of Insight Arts over a small period of time, short Workshops are available.

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Private Individual Sessions

• $80 per hour [All art material supplied]
• Booking is essential.
• For more info or to make an appointment, please 'Make an Enquiry'

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About Us

Principle Practitioner

Lynne Head-Weir [BCW, Grad Dip CCD, MA]
Degree in Community Welfare; Graduate diploma in Community Cultural Development; Masters in Creative Arts Therapy

Gold Coast Insight Arts Counselling is about companioning others who explore mental, emotional, spiritual experiences in their lives to find meaning and value – Explore > understand > accept > pray > heal > grow.

As the principle owner, I am an experienced visual artist who has for some time embraced the value of art as therapy. Because of significant health issues, there was a turning point in my life back in 1984 when my practice of Christian spiritual life began. After a couple of years, my art took a new direction also and became a contributing healing therapeutic force with a passion and generated a purpose to companion others in this way also. My faith in this creative arts therapy process and spiritual principles has since been validated in many quite difficult situations including a breast cancer survivor since 2008. It is my daily practice to explore my mental, emotional, physical and spiritual aspects of my life through the arts [draw, paint, sing, move, share, etc] which I continue to enjoy because they tell my story validating who I am being and what action I need to take to change.

For many years, I have been based on the Gold Coast and using the arts in therapy in organisations, mental health facilities and in private practice with a diversity of client over a period of 20 years. Over this time, Community cultural development projects with the Springbrook community and other organisations has been very rewarding. I am a qualified Creative Arts Therapist and companion others while they explore their lives. This is possible in workshops, groups, and individually.