My sessions are now offered online via video call.
Face to face sessions can be possible upon mutual agreement. I am based in central Norfolk.
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Welcome! I am glad you are here.
I am an Integrative Arts Psychotherapist (MA, registered BACP member) specializing in using creative means to therapy and counselling.
I am fascinated by the diversity, complexity and intricateness of the human soul. I maintain a wonder and curiosity in life. I am not afraid of mysteries. I am open and non-judgmental. My working style is flexible and fluid – always expectant of surprises and embrace the fact that I will be challenged and amazed by the unknown.
I highly value authenticity, honour and freedom in the therapeutic relationship. I encourage play and discovery of self, others and the beauty found in the mountain highs and valley lows and the in-betweens of the human experience. I believe that truth is beautiful and the opposite is ugly.
If this sounds like someone you might want to work with, do take a further look around and get in touch!
Panel 1
Experience
By the grace of God, I am a believer and follower of Jesus Christ. However, this does not limit my client base at all. I have worked most predominantly with clients of other faiths or of no faith. The spiritual dimension is something I am open to exploring with my clients, only if they so desire.
One of my greatest privileges in life is to help people see and acknowledge their worth and beauty in their own right. I have found that accepting who we are, reconciling and finding peace with one’s past is the first step to being set free to become all that we can be.
Life is a journey towards the ultimate beauty and good, and I am convinced that no matter how painful one chapter might have been, none of it is ever wasted.
Working experience:
2017 till present – Private Practice at Art of Thought, UK (one-on-one work)
I work privately, seeing clients who come for healing and growth in the areas of identity, wholeness and finding joy and purpose in life. They bring burdens of depression, low self-worth and self-esteem, distorted self-image, self-hatred, relationship breakdowns, traumatic experiences physically, sexually, emotionally, psychologically. My clients come from a huge diversity of ethnic, cultural and spiritual backgrounds.
2019 till present – Counsellor / Arts Psychotherapist at Orchards, UK (one-on-one work)
Orchards is a charity with a vision to see women free from sexual exploitation. In partnership with local churches and with support from the Beyond the Streets network, Orchards provide clusters of safe, one-bedroom flats for women who have experienced sexual exploitation and who are not entitled to state housing support, enabling them to continue their journey towards a sustained exit from prostitution. This is followed by on-going counselling and coaching support, focused on empowering women to move towards independent living, with strong onward referral routes into housing, training and employment.
2016 to 2018 – Arts Psychotherapist at Ella’s Home, UK (one-on-one work)
Ella’s Home works with women exiting situations of trafficking and exploitation. They have a lovely welcoming home for women recovering from trafficking and sexual exploitation where women can live until they are ready for independent living. They offer outreach support to women across London and beyond as they work past their previous experiences. They offer long term support and bespoke support to fit each individual.
2014 – Arts Psychotherapist at Daughters of Cambodia, Cambodia (group work)
Daughters of Cambodia exists to empower those trapped in the sex industry in Cambodia to walk free and start a new life, with healing, dignity, and the means to prosper. They offer employment in their 8 fair-trade non-profit businesses, along with recovery programs including social work, counselling, medical treatment and life-skills education.
2013 – Volunteer Counsellor at Portobello Counselling, UK (one-on-one work)
I offered counselling to a middle-aged client who had been serving in the community for decades. She presented to be suffering from anxiety when we first met, but later on we discovered and worked through some deep-rooted family issues and relational wounds; as well as her difficulties with working within a culturally and religiously diverse setting.
2013 – Volunteer Counsellor at Place2Be, UK (one-on-one work)
Place2Be is a leading charity in the UK providing emotional and therapeutic services in primary and secondary schools, building children’s resilience through talking, creative work and play. Place2Be works with 282 primary and secondary schools, reaching a school population of 116,000 children, helping them to cope with wide-ranging and often complex social issues including bullying, bereavement, domestic violence, family breakdown, neglect and trauma.
Panel 2
What if I can’t draw?
One of the most common statements I hear from people who might be hesitant towards creative means to therapy and counselling is: I can’t draw.
We all have different experiences with the arts growing up and some of those experiences might have been more traumatic than they were encouraging. If we had ‘failed’ in art lessons when we were young, or if we had been told that we were not good at the arts, we grow up believing that we are not creative and we could have nothing to do with the arts.
However, my conviction is that everyone is creative. Pablo Picasso said, “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.” A lot of inhibitions to creativity come from fear and insecurity. Every child is an artist because they could not care less about how people might view their art. And I believe that this child is still inside all of us.
Visual art is only one of the many mediums in art therapy. Click here to read about my working approach.
Here is a brief outline of the purpose of art therapy:
Art therapy provides the client-artist with insight into their emotions and thoughts. Benefits of the art therapy process include:
Self-discovery, Personal fulfillment. The creation of a tangible reward can build confidence and nurture feelings of worth.
Empowerment. Finding your voice. Art therapy can help people visually express emotions that they cannot express through conventional means, and can give them some sense of control over these feelings.
Relaxation and stress relief. Chronic stress can be harmful to both mind and body. Stress can weaken and damage the immune system, can cause insomnia and depression, and can trigger circulatory problems (like high blood pressure and irregular heartbeats). When used alone or in combination with other relaxation techniques such as guided imagery, art therapy can effectively relieve stress.
Symptom relief and physical rehabilitation. Art therapy can also help patients cope with pain. This therapy can promote physiological healing when patients identify and work through anger, resentment, and other emotional stressors. It is often prescribed to accompany pain control therapy for chronically and terminally ill patients.
Art therapy is not an art class.
The focus is not artistic techniques. But it is something more rich and meaningful. True beauty in art therapy is defined by the authenticity and truth in the creation – whether the creative process or product really expresses the true inner thoughts and feelings of the client.
I encourage my clients to feel free to bring up whatever they want to, using whatever ways they are comfortable with. They have permission to be truly themselves and they will be accepted as who they are. I am their facilitator and co-creator in this enriching journey of discovering and living to their full potential.
My therapeutic orientation is ‘integrative’, which means I draw on different psychotherapy and counselling disciplines including psychodynamic, psychoanalyst, gestalt and person-centred therapy.
I am also equipped and experienced in spiritual and inner-healing, if clients would like to take that route either for the entirety of the work or to have that as one of the elements.
I adopt a creative way of working which facilitates insightful self-discoveries and the getting-in-touch with deep feelings and latent thoughts.
Creative mediums I offer include:
visual art (drawing, painting)
sculpturing with clay / play-doh
mental imagery
body scan
dance / body movement
music / rhythm making
playing with miniatures / puppets
story-telling
dreams
I have worked with children and adults with a wide range of socio-cultural backgrounds, difficulties and diagnoses. These include emotional, behavioural, interpersonal or mental health concerns, life-limiting conditions, family breakdowns, anxiety, depression, split-personality, post-traumatic stress and terminal physical illnesses.
“I found your website when I was feeling very hopeless and alone. The method and values written about on your website really spoke to me and I thought you may be someone who might be able to help me. It was a “last shot”. Having had therapy previously I thought I knew what to expect but during the initial consultation I realised I was being really listened to, heard and accepted for who and where I was, this was not something I had experienced before, and I continued to feel heard and valued right up to our last session.
I have learnt so much about who I am and how I experience life. I no longer feel afraid of my emotions, reactions and responses to life. I feel so blessed and grateful to have found you and to have had these 8 months of sessions together. I know that I can continue into life with the tools I have learned, feeling freer than I have ever felt before. Thank you.” – B.M. female client from London.
“To all who are thinking (and praying) about the possibility of the importance and relevance of the therapy option, I would say that were you able to make the appropriate commitment, that a path to liberation could be in store? If you are able to find a place of confidence that is new, that a whole new opportunity of peace could be yours!” – J.R., male client from London.
“I honestly don’t know if my words will do my therapy journey justice. I don’t know if I have all the words to describe how Bonny has helped me.
My internal world has changed vastly, in the last year and a half of doing therapy. I felt emotionally safe in Bonny’s presence and that I would not be judged for the things I had to say. This allowed me to be open and vulnerable and discuss all the issues that I wanted to in therapy.
One of the things I wanted to improve was my relationship with God and Bonny helped me to do that. She prayed with me, encouraged me to pray whenever I was comfortable to do so and we spoke about God’s part in my life situations. This helped me understand who He is, His intentions and His part to play in my past experiences, my present life and in my future. One of the greatest outcomes of my therapy journey is that I trust God more now.
Bonny showed me the power of art to help me express and understand my emotions and she asked me questions I would have NEVER asked myself, which positively challenged me and helped me to understand myself better. The answers I gave or the insight she provided woke me up to so many truths about my character, my actions and the people that came up in our sessions.
With this knowledge I know myself better than I have ever done. I know why I have done things in the past. And I know how to break the cycle of actions that have haunted me for a long time.
I’m so glad that Bonny desired and/or answered the call to be a therapist, because she is an amazing one! She is a light in this world, that has helped me so much. For that I’ll be forever grateful!” – G.A., female client from London.
“Firstly, I would like to thank you for coming onto this journey of healing with me. You are an exceptional therapist and counsellor. Thank you for always inviting Jesus, the Father and the Holy Spirit into our sessions. This season of therapy and counselling will stay with me until I leave this earth. Thank you for helping me walk in freedom. I cannot express the gratitude I feel towards you and all of it!” – D.F., female client from London.
Reflection notes from a support worker on the value of my work:
“Working at this organization/charity can sometimes be quite hectic!
The reality is that most of the women who are supported by us have complex cases. However, it is easy to get inundated with case-working tasks, which is where the role of the art therapist comes in. Having an art therapist in the house gives women the opportunity to explore their feelings and address points of trauma. It is the time where the women receive healing and restoration as they journey together in their sessions.
There is one woman in particular whom is especially fragile. Previously she was unable to speak about her experiences of abuse or any difficult situation without having a severe and debilitating physical reaction. These reactions have significantly affected her outlook on life; as a result she experiences hopelessness and despair and wonders if she will ever be able to lead a normal life again. Over the last few weeks, I have noticed that she is now able speak about certain traumatic issues without having any adverse psychological and physical response. I strongly believe this is the result of her sessions with the art therapist when she has been able to safely delve into emotional and spiritual valleys; over time she has strengthened in resilience and is less fearful of exploring topics that are affiliated with deep emotions. She is now taking steps towards embracing a future that is no longer stained by the experiences of her past.
Another woman we support has been able to overcome her fear of expressing her true feelings as a result of her therapy sessions. This has led to significant emotional freedom for her, a freedom that was previously repressed during her trafficking experience.
I am so grateful for the art therapist’s relentless pursuit to bring the victorious life in Christ for all the women that she works with. More and more I am convinced this an essential component of recovery for the women and I am so thankful that we can collectively come together as the body of Christ to help bring healing, restoration and freedom for the women He sends to us.”
Bonny Therapy & Counselling 