Elaine Matthews Venter

Elaine is a qualified and registered arts therapist who works with adults, teenagers, children and groups.

Areas of Special Interest

• anxiety
• depression
• stress
• grief
• immigration
• communication and psycho-social problems
• addiction
• family and relationship problem
• trauma
• attachment disorders
• eating disorders
• life transitions
• identity issues

Counselling/Therapy Services

I provide a safe, supportive environment for clients to express emotions, process and recover from trauma, gain self-awareness and self-esteem, develop interpersonal skills, recover from stress and stress-related illnesses, recover from addictions and self-destructive behaviour, and enhance intellectual and physical skills, while receiving feedback in a positive and supportive manner.

Arts therapy can help clients to live life more happily, positively and creatively. It offers ways to explore and express emotions non-verbally and verbally. It enhances well-being and self-esteem, and provides a space for the client to be seen, and heard with compassion and respect.

Making art enables clients to work through, and recover from experiences and feelings that are difficult to verbalise. It re-activates the pleasure centres in the brain, engages our senses and allows our brains to release dopamine, which enhances mood, and feelings of wellbeing.

Creativity boosts self-esteem and self-confidence, promotes a sense of self-worth. This boost in self-confidence translates to other situations and settings in our everyday lives.

Making art is a way to reduce physical and emotional stress and tension as it gives us an outlet for emotions and feelings.

Counselling/Therapy Approach

Elaine works within a person-centred, solution focused, strengths based framework, and focuses on assisting clients to express feelings that are difficult to verbalise, work through problems, recover from trauma, change self destructive behaviour, and to find direction, resolution and healing. Making art is an effective and evidence based way to reduce physical and emotional distress, and it gives us a creative and constructive outlet for emotions and feelings.

About Elaine

Before qualifying an arts therapist I worked as a university lecturer, and as a visual artist. I am in private practice as an arts therapist, and am also contracted to a number of organisations to run arts therapy groups aimed at recovery, rehabilitation and well being. I enjoy helping a diverse range of people of difference ages, backgrounds and life experiences. I work within a person-centred, solution focused, strengths based framework, and focus on assisting clients to express feelings that are difficult to verbalise, work through problems, recover from trauma, change self destructive behaviour, and to find direction, resolution and healing.