Psychotherapy: Illustrating my Journey

April 2017 - September 2019

Panic has plagued me since I was a child and over time it developed into severe anxiety, the genesis of which I decided to explore in my late 30s. After a few weeks of attending weekly counselling sessions, my psychotherapist suggested I create a drawing each week and in discussing the below series of artworks, made weekly across two and half years, I learned about the root of my mental health issues. The subconscious use of colour and form gave a powerful insight supported by my therapist and the process allowed me to dissolve much of my learned anxious behaviours. With this collection I’m sharing my journey of getting better.

Words from my Psychotherapist:

“The initial steps into therapy are often the most difficult. Lizzie arrived enthused by the process and hopeful of defying the debilitating aspects of anxiety that shadowed her life. What also entered the therapy room was a deep pain that had no words to describe it's suffering. It sat with us and within us. By creating art that portrayed her intimate journey through her personal therapy she discerned the silence and loneliness of her own suffering whilst intuitively channelling her pain. Each image mirrored the shadows and light as we transcended through that pain. This empowered us to define the unconscious meaning of each profound piece and articulate the words that were initially so difficult to find. Lizzie's artistic journey provides you with the opportunity to project on it your own meaning, words and experiences.”