Arts therapies – Pluralistic Practice

International Conference on Pluralistic Counselling and Psychotherapy Prize Winners

We are delighted to announce our conference prize winners from the last two years. You can find more information on each of the projects and links to watch the presentations below. You can watch all of the recordings from the conference here. Congratulations to all of our prize winners! Senior…

Introducing ‘pluralistic sand-tray therapy’: Humanistic principles for working creatively with adult clients

July 19, 2022 Arts therapies Practice Therapeutic approaches No Comments

Doreen Fleet PhD, Visiting lecturer and PhD Research Supervisor, University of Chester; Author of Pluralistic sand-tray therapy (2022, Routledge) As a counsellor and trainer, I have always seen the benefit of using sand-tray with adult clients who want to work creatively. The client will select objects to symbolise their inner…

The Many Varied Forms of Knowledge in Pluralistic Practice

May 17, 2022 Arts therapies Co-production Epistemology Inner plurality Philosophy 2 Comments

Nicola Blunden, BSc Person-Centred Pluralistic Counselling, Metanoia Institute Pluralists often say that, instead of taking an either/or position, we take a both/and position in regards to knowledge. This is because we value flexibility and diversity, recognising that one particular claim to truth is unlikely to be universally valid. And we…

The Metatherapeutic Current in Pluralism

March 31, 2022 Arts therapies Co-production Critiques Integrative and Eclectic Practices Metatherapeutic communication Person-centred Preferences Therapeutic approaches Training 5 Comments

Nicola Blunden, BSc Person-Centred Pluralistic Counselling, Metanoia Institute, London Terry Eagleton, one of my favourite philosophers, has written that, ‘For much of the time, our intellectual and other activities bowl along fairly serenely, and in this situation no great expenditure of theoretical energy is usually necessary. But there may come…

Creativity Gathering on 30th October 2021 – Self Portrait

December 3, 2021 Arts therapies Cultural resources No Comments

By Mo Szulejewska: Pluralistic Counsellorand Jennifer Ramsay: Art therapist, Gestalt therapist, Storyteller, Perhaps one of the most exciting things about these gatherings is that there is no way to knowwhat direction the discussion and contributions will head off into and this proved nodifferent. The chosen topic for the day was…

Pluralistic Practitioners Network Creativity Group: Creative Writing in Therapy. Gathering Report from 31st July 2021

September 7, 2021 Arts therapies Cultural resources No Comments

Roddie McKenzie PhD, PG Dip. Counselling (Senior Counsellor with Insight Counselling, Dundee). The PPN Creativity Group on Zoom continues to attract participants from across the UK and Europe. Fourteen attended the July monthly gathering of the group, which focussed on creative writing as a therapeutic tool. We are a mixed…

The Creativity Gathering: Multilingualism and Creativity in Pluralistic Practice (May 29, 2021)

July 14, 2021 Arts therapies Groups Information and Updates Integrative and Eclectic Practices Networking Practice No Comments

Tatiana Stoyko, pluralistically-minded integrative counsellor, MBACP, www.counsellingnest.com Hello and welcome to the Creativity Gathering! I am writing this with an incredible sense of belonging to the community of people passionate about creative approaches to therapy. The group draws together therapists from different theoretical orientations and promotes openness and curiosity to…

Creativity Gathering 27th March 2021: Storytelling

April 9, 2021 Arts therapies Cultural resources Groups Online 1 Comment

Jennifer Ramsay: Storyteller, art therapist, Gestalt therapist. www.storyarte.com This was my first visit to the Creativity Gathering and I received a warm welcome. I was particularly interested in the topic of storytelling as I am a professional storyteller and facilitate Story Medicine workshops. What would your answer be to this…

Emotioncubes: A New Psychotherapy Tool

March 26, 2021 Arts therapies Practice Preferences 9 Comments

Brendan Murphy; counsellor, supervisor, and trainer living in the West of Ireland About eight years ago I had an idea for a new tool that I thought might help when working with emotions in therapy. I’ve developed it since into (what I think) is a good working prototype and have…

The Creativity Gathering

March 24, 2021 Arts therapies Information and Updates Networking Online Practice Strengths and Resources Therapeutic approaches No Comments

Janie Keddie – 3rd Year MSc student, studying pluralistic counselling at Abertay University Janie mooted the idea of Creativity Gathering in 2020 as a way of bringing together people who are passionate about creative approaches to therapy. When we entered lockdown a little over a year ago, I never anticipated…

Pluralistic Practitioners Network: Creativity and Challenge

February 5, 2021 Arts therapies Groups Information and Updates Practice 4 Comments

Marianne Reilly Following on from Roddie McKenzie’s blog post 18/1/2021, this is an open invitation to all who might be interested in something old, or new, to do in 2021. Would you like to join our Creative Gatherings, hosted on Zoom, on the last Saturday of each month at 10:00am…

Pluralistic Practitioners Network: Creativity and Storytelling Gathering

January 18, 2021 Arts therapies Groups Information and Updates Practice 5 Comments

Roddie McKenzie PhD, PG Dip. Counselling Our October 2020 gathering was the second Zoom meeting of this group and the first to have an agreed theme: creative writing. At that meeting we decided to adopt the term ‘gathering’ rather than ‘meeting’: partly to indicate that we aim to have an…

Pluralistic Therapy Cards: Playing with Potential

November 26, 2020 Arts therapies Cultural resources Personal 6 Comments

Shirley Brennan, MSc Pluralistic Counselling When I embarked on my pluralistic counselling training journey, I was not familiar with the word ‘pluralism’ and only a vague idea what it might mean in practice. The course was offering a unique and open approach to counselling with a progressive philosophy. I was…

Pluralistic Practice Network: Creativity and Storytelling Gathering

October 7, 2020 Arts therapies Information and Updates Networking 1 Comment

Mo Szulejewska, qualified pluralistic counsellor currently working as mental health mentor with university students, member of the counselling team at Tayside Centre for Counselling. The first gathering of this new special interest group took place via Zoom on Saturday, 26th September 2020 and it was indeed a gathering where creativity…

Bread and Jam and Sparkling Wine? Can I be Person-Centred and Pluralistic?

May 12, 2020 Arts therapies Person-centred Personal Philosophy Practice Therapeutic approaches 11 Comments

Ani de la Prida, creative arts counsellor, psychotherapist, founder of the Association for Person Centred Creative Arts, and lecturer at the University of East London I have been a passionate person-centred therapist and trainer for many years. A couple of years ago I attended the pluralistic conference in London, and…

Shaking the Pluralistic Kaleidoscope on a Central Asian Campus

February 17, 2020 Arts therapies Cultural diversity Philosophy Research Young people 2 Comments

Robin Higgins MA, University Counsellor and Well-Being Consultant, University of Central Asia, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Campus Well-Being blog: https://tenthstreetdinner.wordpress.com/ Pluralism is a process and not a product. It is a mentality, a way of looking at a diverse and changing world. A pluralistic environment is a kaleidoscope that history shakes…

Watching Clouds: Collaborative Work with Children and Young People

February 13, 2020 Arts therapies Children Practice Young people 9 Comments

Ani De La Prida, BACP Registered Counsellor I love my work with children and young people. I read a book called Dibs when I started training and I knew instantly that this was the work I wanted to do. My training was person-centred and the course I did was flexible…

Pluralistic Art Psychotherapy: Valuing Diverse Lenses

December 6, 2019 Arts therapies Practice Shared decision making Training 1 Comment

Dr Caryl Sibbett, Kairos Consultancy. Art Psychotherapist (HCPC Reg.); Counsellor (BACP Reg, Snr Accred.); Associate Lecturer, Ulster University, (ret’d Senior Lecturer). I have a childhood memory of walking with my family beside a river in the Glens of Antrim. Stopping at a vantage point where visitors could view a waterfall…