By JO HARRISON
A SUCCESSFUL art therapy program conducted by Freeman House has life changing and transforming outcomes for client’s rehabilitation.
Works of art created during the program have been exhibited recently at the Armidale Art Gallery in the Armidale Mall and Art Therapist Dominique Hopf who runs the program said clients are able to create truthful and honest work enabling deep and long lasting change.
The particular from of art therapy used by Dominique is called Transpersonal Art Therapy and is one part of an extensive rehabilitation program run by Freeman House for clients experiencing homelessness and addiction.
Transpersonal Art Therapy according to Dominique enables clients to bypass their egos and find insights into their own core truth of who they are.
“We are all born perfect and unfortunately or fortunately (depending on how we choose to perceive this), we can begin to unravel the layers of conditioning placed on us by families, our culture and our society. Transpersonal art therapy is a great tool to wake us up to this and find out who we were back at the very beginning of our lives,” Dominique said.
“Some clients are really creative and slot in easily to art therapy, loving it. Others are the complete opposite, petrified. We guide these clients very gently, at their own pace until they feel comfortable. They often end up really enjoying it.”
The program has been very successful with introducing people to the therapeutic nature of art making with ex clients coming back to continue art through outreach programs. All forms of 2D art making are explored and once the new Freeman House development is completed there will be a purpose built art room that will have its own kiln for firing ceramics.
