Karl Raams (They/Them)

Hi, my name is Karl.

 

I see Art Therapy as empowering people with the knowledge and skills to help themselves grow and look after their mental health and well-being. My own Art Therapy supervision and art-making are important parts of my self-care practices. Art Therapy Counselling brings an alternative, to solely verbal counselling methods in the Riverland. 

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During my high school years, my anxiety and depression became quite a challenge. Although I sought help from counsellors and other mental health professionals, I did not find much change in my well-being. Part of this was because I was not ready. Sometimes we are just not ready to make the changes in our lives. However, another part of this was I never really connected with the counsellors or the methods of therapy they used.

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After spending four years working in a job that drained me of my energy and enjoyment of life, I decided to go to uni, originally to study art teaching. While on my first teaching placement, I felt the curious suspicion that it wasn't quite for me. I had always had a passion for people, and on placement I found myself enjoying connecting with the students, more than teaching the subjects.

 

When at uni I took a counselling unit and my passion for it was sparked. I saw counselling as a way to connect with people, to be part of their journey of well-being, and to help them truly understand and see themselves. I changed my Bachelor into a Counselling & Visual Arts degree.

 

A fire was lit within me. As it burned, I learnt so many skills and knowledge about mental health, well-being, self-care, and managing negative thoughts and feelings. Everyone has their own journey of well-being and self-care to go on. We were encouraged and provided opportunities to work on our own while studying so that we would then be able to help others.

 

Self-care includes all forms of activities that help us feel happy and enjoy life, and for me this always included art-making. I carefully structured my course so that during the final year of my Bachelor in Counselling, I could take a step back from all the clinical and heavy bookwork, to focus on my art-making.

 

As I made my artwork, I found that I was bringing in all the counselling skills and techniques that I had learnt. I felt a sense of peace in that I would be able to manage my anxiety and depression, and eventually work through the struggles from my past. I was starting to work through issues that I had previously felt were stuck, tied down somehow, but now they were loosened, able to be moved and addressed. I was curious as art-making was helping me in a way that it never had before. This led me to find the next step in my therapy journey, completing my Master of Art Therapy.

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I headed into my Master of Art Therapy with excitement and curiosity, and what felt akin to a sense of wonder. It was a different method from all the therapy techniques I had studied during my Bachelor.  Similar in so many ways, but seemingly so different at the same time. Whereas some counselling methods focus on diagnoses and more clinical ways of helping people, Art Therapy recognises the importance of these things while focusing on the participant being seen, heard, and therapeutically held within a safe environment. The Therapist's role, similar to other humanistic and person-centred therapies, is not one of fixing the client, but instead one of being with the participant, reflecting back on observations and guiding the process. Providing an external voice and view for the participant to be able to find the right path for themselves. Giving the participant a safe, nonjudgmental environment, in which they explore and make choices for their mental health and well-being journey. The Therapist is not the professional telling them what to do, but a facilitator of the experience helping the participants build their therapy journey.

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During my Master of Art Therapy, I participated in a 750hr placement which took place in 2020 and included an extensive period of lockdowns. I worked directly with clients, which incorporated various Counselling skills and Art Therapy activities. Like everyone, we all felt the harshness of not being able to interact with family and friends during this period. At times, the Art Therapy sessions I conducted with participants, were the only physical engagement that they had, making the sessions even more important for their well-being and self-care.

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I have always had a strong connection to mythological creatures, and I chose the name Phoenix Arts & Mind because of this. The Phoenix is a bird of rebirth, of being recreated from the ashes of its past self. For me, I see Therapy as a process of rebirth similar to that of a Phoenix. Not being the same but also not being different from your past self, being changed, and progressing in our journey of well-being and self-care.

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I now look forward to creating an opportunity for others to express, work on, and explore their own well-being, self-care, and mental health, in a way that isn't readily available in many regional areas. I am pleased to be adding to the growing mental health services in the Riverland, through Phoenix Arts & Mind by providing this unique type of Art Therapy Counselling service.