As artists increasingly engage with individuals with diverse needs, including those who have experienced trauma, distress, or belong to vulnerable groups such as children, people with disadvantages, or/and marginalised communities, the question arises: how can we work in a manner that is creative, yet, sensitive and safe? Join art psychotherapist Dr Lily Hsu in a reflective and interactive session diving into this question and its implication for our artistic practices.

Lily will kick things off by exploring the concept of placemaking, materiality and body in art therapy and sharing her experience working in a wide range of clinical settings, including an outreach team for children with learning difficulties, a palliative care ward and a psychiatric ward as well as in collaboration with various cultural institutes.

We will then draw on psychodynamic approaches in art psychotherapy to explore concepts such as containment, boundaries, transference and countertransference, which encourage participants to consider art-making in relational ways. Lily will present case vignettes from art psychotherapy sessions and community art projects and facilitate discussions around the complexities and unconscious processes involved. This is an interactive and reflective workshop with plenty of time for conversation and discussion, as well as more hands-on art-making and group exercises.

The workshop is open to anyone to attend but will particularly resonate with artists or artist-educators who work closely with children, young people or adults at risk or an interest in exploring the relationship between art and psychotherapy through their artwork or practice. No previous experience with psychotherapy is required—come along and find out!

In this workshop, you will:

• Learn about Dr Lily Hsu’s practice with art psychotherapy, and the implications for artists working with people with diverse needs

• Be inspired to apply psychotheraputic knowledge in various artistic practices and collaborations

• Explore ways to create a safe space and work in a sensitive manner in creative workshops and community art projects

• Connect with other artists and practitioners with similar areas of interest

This event will be held in our courtyard room at Bow Arts Trust, 183 Bow Road, London E3 2SJ.

More about Dr Lily Hsu

Dr Lily Hsu is an HCPC-registered art psychotherapist, researcher and supervisor. Her passion for art and curiosity about people led her to train as an art psychotherapist. She has worked across the lifespan, from children, mental health service users, to the elderly. Her clinical experiences in unconventional therapy settings — such as museums, outdoor spaces, and online platforms — sparked her interest in researching placemaking, ultimately leading to her PhD. She taught at Goldsmiths, University of London, and is currently working at Harlington Hospice, specialising in end-of-life care.

About Bow Skills

Bow Arts seeks to support creative professionals at all stages of their careers. In 2015 Bow Arts launched Bow Skills in response to an artist survey which showed over 90% of practicing artists find it useful to receive further support outside formal education.

Bow Skills is a dynamic and relevant programme of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) which is informed by an artist steering group and open to all creative practitioners across London. The programme of talks, panel discussions, new skills labs and peer crits is open to all, with concession rates available to students, over 65s, under 18s, Bow Arts artists and key workers.