{"id":1381,"date":"2023-04-09T22:19:59","date_gmt":"2023-04-09T10:19:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybigballofstring.com\/?p=1381"},"modified":"2023-04-09T22:19:59","modified_gmt":"2023-04-09T10:19:59","slug":"living-fully-creative-therapy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybigballofstring.com\/?p=1381","title":{"rendered":"Living Fully Creative Therapy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
My journal page during the weekend
quote Ann Voskamp<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I spent the end of March and the first two days of April participating in a Living Fully Creative Therapy Group
3.25 very intense days \"😥\"
It was a ‘retreat’ for sexual abuse survivors.
I was fortunate to be put forward for funding to attend.
It was with much trepidation that I agreed.
I didn\u2019t know what to expect so went with no expectations.
I deliberately booked myself into a motel nearby as I knew that I would not cope with the travel too and fro after such intensive days.
That was a self care move and a good one
I was right.
I needed space for me each night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We were a small group of victims in varying stages of healing.
It was challenging, disturbing, distressing, amazing, painful and wonderful all at the same time.
To be able to freely communicate and be heard & believed and supported in such a safe way was actually incredible.

I\u2019ve never experienced psychodrama or group therapy before \"😬\"
It was certainly very interesting, challenging and emotionally draining.
Actively participating in the dramas was definitely not something I was comfortable to do
I preferred the role of witness and giving feedback
This was an important part of the proceedings
The art therapy portions were certainly more my thing
There just wasn’t enough of them for me \"😉\"


What did I take from my time there?

Firstly – I learned that I can participate, or not, at whatever level I am comfortable with and saying no is very ok.
And I was commended for doing so.

Secondly – I learned that I can hold my own space.
That I\u2019m important and have as much right as anyone else to hold space.
That I\u2019m not taking from anyone else.
And that in owning my space I\u2019m also giving to others. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thirdly – I learned that I was believed.
At all times.
I was supported and held in the safest place I\u2019ve ever been in.
In the past when I have tried talking openly I\u2019ve been shutdown & silenced.
That is revictimisation and I will no longer allow myself to be a victim of that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fourthly – I have never read my work aloud to anyone before.
I usually write & run.
But this time they wanted my words.
They asked me to read to them.
Their responses were more than could\u2019ve imagined.
So much empathy, compassion, & identifying.
I felt validated.
As a writer.
As an artist.
As a woman. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
An initial 20min exercise at my Living Fully Workshop.
The colours portray different areas of my life, the brown are the shadows that people can\u2019t & don\u2019t want to see<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Day 2 of my Living Fully Workshop. 20min Art expression session
Words which are all part of me at any given time….<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I spent the end of March and the first two days of April participating in a Living Fully Creative Therapy Group3.25 very intense days It was a ‘retreat’ for sexual abuse survivors. I was fortunate to be put forward for funding to attend. It was with much trepidation that I agreed.I didn\u2019t know what to … Continue reading “Living Fully Creative Therapy”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11,109,79,100,69,20,47,94,4,99,90,58,67,17,110,91,49,48,92,80,70,95,1,18],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybigballofstring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1381"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybigballofstring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybigballofstring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybigballofstring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybigballofstring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1381"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/mybigballofstring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1381\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1393,"href":"https:\/\/mybigballofstring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1381\/revisions\/1393"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybigballofstring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybigballofstring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybigballofstring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}