School of Creative
Industries
Colette Alexandratos
Colette embarked on the MA Art Therapy programme as an international student. With a Bachelor (with Honours) in Animation Production, Colette entered the programme as a freelance illustrator having prior experience in the performing arts and book publishing industry in the UK.
During her time in the MA Art Therapy programme, Colette began her training in art psychotherapy. She gained invaluable clinical art therapy experience at a healthcare institution for seniors, and at an international school. Additionally, Colette volunteered as an art therapy facilitator at a national healthcare institution, community mental health services and a private psychotherapy practice.
Colette finds solace in her own art-making which continues to support her journey of self-discovery and awareness into her psychological well-being.
Work
Self-reflective homeostasis
Wooden canvas, mirror, tactile materials
762 x 762 mm
2023
The foundations of the artist's curated piece lay within the concept of balance. Balance is an important theme to the artist, not only for her studies but applying the concept of balance in everyday rituals.
The MA Art Therapy programme has been a challenging self reflective period for the artist that has enabled inner and outer growth. With this, her artistic framework combines the forces of biology, psychology and art. As a result, Self-reflective homeostasis was created.
While elements around and within us are constantly moving, evolving and changing, the challenge is how to keep a constant stability. The robust shapes of the mirror and wooden frame hold a stillness, while there is a flow of energy and movement around and within them.
Just like a self-regulating organism, the mind and body are united as one in this process of creating balance.
Thesis abstract
The liminal experience of an art therapy trainee within an international school setting, as informed by the one canvas El Duende process
The aim of this study was to provide an informative narrative of an internal self-reflective account of the liminal experience of an art therapy trainee. This occurred during the clinical experience in an international school setting, spanning the third and fourth academic semesters of art therapy training. This encounter was externalised using Abbe Miller’s (2012) one canvas art-based supervision framework of the El Duende Process Painting (EDPP).
This research employed a qualitative art-based phenomenological research approach, to gain a deeper understanding of the challenges and tensions that arose during this period, as reflected in the EDPP and in the use of art materials. These findings informed my experiences of being in an international school setting which assisted in my developmental and transitional learning. These experiences also paralleled the second stage of Turners’ (1964) rites of passage model, which includes the liminal phase. Suggestions for further research are to examine how the EDPP informs and reflects the attunement and transference and countertransference of the art therapist when used alongside clients.