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Beatrice Brogi's Page 1 of 3 Art Therapy Art Therapy at QMUC: I am currently a trainee Art Therapist on the MSc in Art Therapy at Queens Margaret University College. To summarise how I see myself, I am a skilled artist and a trained experienced teacher; I am a mature, flexible person with a strong commitment to what I do. I have achieved emotional stability, sensitivity to human needs and expressions and a high level of self-awareness. I have a great interest in helping people to overcome problems. What is Art Therapy? Art Therapy is the therapeutic use of art-making to promote healing and growth in a professional relationship. Art Therapists are Masters-level professionals who have extensive knowledge of, and are able to practice, counselling theories and techniques with people of all ages, in a variety of settings including schools. The discipline of art therapy draws upon the visual arts, psychotherapy and psychology and is applied within psychiatry, special education, social services and the voluntary sector. For whom Art Therapy is beneficial Some mental health providers use art therapy for children as well as adults and male and female sufferers alike, as both a diagnostic tool and as a way to help treat many conditions including the following: eating disorders behavioural problems drug and alcohol abuse socially-defiant adolescents who have been detained and/or put on probation trauma or serious injury chronic illnesses, such as Parkinson's or Alzheimer's disease disorders such as depression, abuse-related trauma, and schizophrenia serious or terminal illness life's challenges and illnesses including change, divorce, depression, bereavement, trauma and addictions Art therapy can assists individuals struggling; through the use of metaphor, art provides a safe format in which one can focus on the management of uncomfortable feelings, increase problem solving skills and enhance self esteem. It offers an opportunity to build a sense of community with others in groups. About the course in Art Therapy The course is designed to help meet the need for trained professionals in the mental health field and in education to assist in the development of persons through self-discovery, self-awareness and personal growth, using art as a catalyst for healing and self-actualisation. The course consists of the PgDip in Art Therapy (leading to State Registration) plus the Masters Dissertation. The course is modular and will qualify me to register and practise as a Registered Art Therapist with the Health Professions Council. The MSc in Art Therapy comprises these modes of learning: Experiential - workshops in which I will make my own images and discuss these in a group setting. Placement - supervised placement work with clients. This reflective practice will enable me to gain experience working with individuals and groups. Lectures, discussions and seminars. Beatrice Brogi's Page 2 of 3 Academic assessment is by essay, portfolio and presentations. Detailed personal statement I have chosen this course as I want to be able to help others in a creative way, giving people the opportunity to express themselves through art. I am a creative person, and I find producing work the most therapeutic way to release anything pent up inside oneself. Art and the practice of the visual has always been an interest in my life; in primary and secondary school Art was one of my best subjects. Since then I have aimed always to study and work in numerous artistic or creative fields aiming to work in communities or with people in need. I discovered in myself a vocational talent in teaching and I started a PGCE, which I am about to finish and I have been teaching in several further education and community colleges since March 2003. I have acquired experience working with a variety of people of all ages with mental health difficulties, disabilities and learning difficulties. By teaching creative activity I have noticed how those activities were of particular benefit to both children and adults experiencing difficulties with written and verbal communication. In my teaching I enjoy individual activity and I am also very successful in group situations. I enjoy creating a learning environment that is fun, non-threatening, and good to be in. I find that when working in groups, creative thinking and activity enhance communication between individuals and therefore between the whole group. Drawing, painting, and sculpting help many people to reconcile inner conflicts, release deeply repressed emotions, and foster self-awareness, as well as personal growth. My main focus in my teaching is to raise students’ awareness of both the product and more importantly the creative and developmental process. In my professional teaching career I have further developed some of my skills such as patience, good communication skills, good observational skills and a flexible and imaginative approach. I have become a mature, flexible person with a strong commitment to what I do. I have achieved emotional stability, sensitivity to human needs and expressions and a high level of selfawareness. I have grown my interest in helping people to overcome problems. With my PGCE I have developed a further interest in psychology, including an understanding of the factors that motivate people. Here I'd like to describe the process which has brought me to art therapy. Art and the practice of the visual has always been a strong interest in my life, and I became a skilled artist through an education which culminated in a BA Hons in Textile Design at Central Saint Martins in London which I completed in 1999. I worked in many art disciplines for example paints, clay, collages, batik, drawing and sculpture, and I had the opportunity to build a strong portfolio. I specialised in printing and towards the end of my course I took the initiative to develop computer-aided design skills, a new and relatively unexplored area at the time. I went on to work as a textile designer and then as a web designer. I see web design as another outlet for creative expression and through this work I built up a supplementary portfolio of website designs and digital artwork. In 2003 I took a new direction in which I found I could use my creativity and skills in a more rewarding way. I started to take on teaching work, and I also took up a Postgraduate Certificate in Post-Compulsory Education (PGCE), which I have recently completed. Although the final result is still pending I've consistently achieved high grades throughout the course. The courses I teach are built around creative activity, both traditional and computer-based, with subjects including art and design, digital cameras and Photoshop (a leading computer art package). The main focus in my teaching is to raise students’ awareness of both the product and more importantly the creative and developmental process. Whilst I am a keen on traditional art disciplines I see certain advantages to computer-based working. One observation I have made is that when learners are asked to be creative they are often less intimidated doing so with a computer; often people find fault with what they create by hand and using the computer as a tool can be a way to break this barrier. Beatrice Brogi's Page 3 of 3 I enjoy creating a learning environment that is fun, non-threatening, and good to be in. I like to run both individual and group activities and when working in groups I find that creative thinking and activity enhance communication. In a recent position at Redbridge Institute I designed and ran a unique and very successful programme where learners collaborate to create a community website. Learners developed not only their computer skills but social skills, working in a team, individual research, analysing information and producing presentations as well as making the best use of the new technology including email, online groups, on-line voting, digital cameras, scanners and more. This group aim gave relevance and purpose to the skills learned. To summarise how I see myself, I am a skilled artist and a trained experienced teacher; I am a mature, flexible person with a strong commitment to what I do. I have achieved emotional stability, sensitivity to human needs and expressions and a high level of self-awareness. I have a great interest in helping people to overcome problems. Why I am studying art therapy; my ambitions Through my teaching I have gained experience of working with learners of all ages with special needs including learning difficulties and mental health difficulties. I have noticed how creative activities are of particular benefit to both children and adults experiencing difficulties with written and verbal communication. I am developing these aspects of my work by training as an art therapist. I would like to work more with people that find it hard to express their thoughts and feelings verbally. I am inspired by the ideal of the Art Therapist: A Masters-level professional who has extensive knowledge of and is able to practice counselling theories and techniques with people of all ages and abilities in a variety of settings, drawing on the visual arts, psychotherapy and psychology. I see this aim as a clear extension of my current work. My intention after I obtain my qualification is to work in a wide variety of settings, such as drug and rehabilitation programs, prisons and other correctional centres, psychiatric facilities, paediatric wards, mental health clinics, hospices, nursing homes and other geriatric settings, women’s' shelters, and schools. I will enjoy the exceptional diversity of clients and settings that this career will offer, and I look forward to helping to develop the professional image of the field as a whole. Apart from practicing as an art therapist I am excited by the prospect of bringing new knowledge skills and practices into teaching situations. I am currently teaching and have opportunities pending in a number of centres in and around Edinburgh. For example the Bridge Centre in Musselburgh offers education and training to teenagers with a focus on those with learning difficulties and those at risk of offending whereas the CA(I)RE Project in Morningside offers support to carers. These are but two of many settings where a teaching programme would be strongly supported by the background knowledge of an art therapist. I plan to remain living and working in Edinburgh for the foreseeable future. Wherever my path ultimately takes me I am sure that embarking on this course will open new doors in my career and I will be able to help individuals in learning and in overcoming difficult situations.