Therapy through arts

Through the lockdown, arts therapy student Kate Willis realised that a lot of charities were struggling to find opportunities to fundraise. She decided that she wanted to do something, even if it was small, to make a difference. While walking around her neighbourhood during the lockdown, Kate realised that she could create a product that could be a memento to people from this time in isolation and help even just a few people in this strange and hard time. She started drawing and came up with the Teddy Bears in the Window series. She has designed a range of greeting cards that are being sold to help raise funds for three different charities, including The Champion Centre.

'Even to make a small difference to one or two children would be amazing,' says Kate. Kate raised $1000 for charity from her Teddy Bears in the Window card series, of which $300 has been given to the Champion Centre. We are very grateful that she was able to use her talents over the lockdown to benefit the Centre. 

Kate occupied with her arts practice.

'Friends in the window' greeting card series.

Kate fell in love with the Champion Centre back in 2015, when she was a volunteer, and was surprised to find out that the Champion Centre wasn't fully funded. 'The work they do is so valuable and life-changing for each small person who is able to attend the Centre. Every person I met in the Centre had a heart of gold and was passionate about what they did, and the children never failed to put a smile on my face with their excitement and contagious energy,' says Kate.

'I am interested in working with people. I have a background in visual arts training and have always been creative, be it dance or the arts, ' Kate says.

Arts therapy or arts psychotherapy is an emerging field in New Zealand. It uses creative modalities, including visual arts-making, drama, and dance/movement within a therapeutic relationship to improve and inform physical, mental and emotional well-being. The reason it is called "arts therapy" rather than "art therapy" is because of the different arts that are used to help people. Arts therapy differs from traditional arts-making or performance in that the emphasis is on the process of creating and making meaning, rather than on the end-product. The therapist and client/s develop a therapeutic relationship with clear boundaries, treatment plans and outcomes. The arts themselves are considered to have healing functions that arts therapists seek to harness to assist their clients to achieve change.

Kate says, 'I stumbled across the postgraduate course at Whitecliffe, an arts college, while I was doing my bachelor's degree in Visual Arts and was excited by the prospect of combining my two passions'. She enrolled in the one year post graduate diploma, which led into two years of the Master of Arts in Arts Therapy (Clinical) programme. Arts therapy students usually come from one of two areas of interest, either social work or the arts side, and any arts modality is welcome. As Kate began looking for non-paid placements through her Arts Therapy study in 2019, she once again sought out the Champion Centre.

Kate started at the Champion Centre as a student intern in the second half of year two of her training and extended it for a further six months. She spent one day each week working alongside the therapists, half of her time in the playroom and the other half in the music room. 'In the music sessions we used a lot of movement with organza ribbon sticks, creating visual imagery to the musical patterns. I worked with music specialist Julie Wylie and have learnt so much from her. In the playroom we explored sensory play with sand, rice or water, allowing connections to be created between the child and their body. We also explored both the doodle boards and paints and created pictures through their creative imagination', Kate explains.

A highlight was when she was working with a child who has a diagnosis of autism. The child made eye contact with her for the first time and it was these small but significant moments that were so special for Kate. Kate finishes her masters' degree at the end of this year and would love to keep working with children in the disability or mental health sector.

Kate Willis' artwork at www.katewillisartist.com