NIGAT’s 31st Art Therapy Summer School was held in the tranquil surroundings of De La Salle Pastoral Centre, Belfast from 2-5 August 2024. Held annually since 1993, the Summer School provides an opportunity for its participants to explore and deepen their relationship with art materials as a means of experiencing the beneficial effects of personal creativity. Presentations and experiential workshops allow connections between theory and practice in a safe environment, held gently by experienced and Registered Art Therapists.
‘Synchronicity’ was this year’s theme reflected in the following statement:
‘Synchronicity happens when we align with the flow of the Universe rather than insisting the Universe flow our way’. (From Why We Are Born: Remembering Our Purpose through the Akashic Records. Akemi G).
Dr Caryl Sibbett gave the Summer School’s Keynote Address entitled ‘Setting the Scene – Art Therapy, Synchronicity and Archetypal Aspects’. This was a stimulating, engaging and comprehensive overview of the theme in its many forms and manifestations, including the following:
Carl Jung, who with Freud, is generally thought of as the father of art therapy, first proposed the concept of ‘Synchronicity’ in 1928/1930 which he defined as ‘meaningful coincidences which — seem to rest on an archetypal foundation’. Caryl’s presentation told the intriguing story of Jung’s synchronistic discovery of a scarab beetle, as well as Caryl’s own synchronistic experience here. She outlined the growth and overview of the art therapy profession, featuring pioneers such as Rita Simon, founder of NIGAT (1976) and co-founder of BAAT (1964) and Irene Champernowne who established Withymead (1941).
Her audience heard of the fruitful relationship between Jung and Wolfgang Pauli, Nobel Prize winner and Quantum Physicist; the relationship between synchronicity and archetypes was outlined with an eventual focus on the Archetype of The Trickster – the embodiment of the unexpected which Jung saw as equivalent to the Shadow. Caryl warned that The Trickster – in the form of a Wolf – would appear the following day as indeed it did, loping around in all its scary form! The implications for art therapy were explored: the Trickster is a ‘boundary dweller’ or ‘boundary crosser’— as Registered Art Therapists, are we clear about our boundaries?
Caryl offered Rita Simon’s words in her closing slides: ‘I understand creative initiative to be an instinctive response to mental conflict and creative art to be a symbolic container for unassimilated experiences’. She ended with the invitation to use the Summer School as an invitation for ‘artful hands and creative discovery’.
This invitation was realised in a series of presentations and workshops over the weekend.
An experiential presentation ‘Synchronicity, Creativity and the Search for Self’ was facilitated by Caryl, Frank Holmes and Leora Sotto, offering the opportunity to create through drawing, painting and modelling, creativity being a way to search for The Self, an Archetype of wholeness. This invigorating and thought-provoking workshop brought unexpected personal discoveries in response to a structured use of materials.
‘Closed’ workshops provide the opportunity to follow a theme over two sessions.
This year ‘Trails of Treasures’ conducted by Jayne McConkey offered participants ‘playful engagement and mindful noticing’ towards creating their own ‘art journey’. In Rachael Johnson’s workshops entitled ‘The Art of Ritual’, group and individual mark-making were both used to explore the potential function of ritual processes in trauma-informed current art therapy practice.
‘Stand-alone’ workshops provide an individual session within the Summer School.
‘Where Moments Meet Magic: a workshop on creative synchronicity’ was facilitated by Biggi Hoffman combining aspects of ‘art, writing, embodied movement and playfulness’ to ‘revitalise, enliven and transform’!
Lizzie Devlin’s workshop was entitled ‘Creative Flow’: here ‘play, exploration and experimentation’ occurred with a wide range of materials and, similar to an ‘open studio’ experience, offered a quiet time to pause, reflect and pursue satisfying personal creativity.
In her interactive presentation ‘Creative Writing: the therapy of words’, Jenny Cleland shared her poetry and writing, encouraged us in a writing exercise to ‘show, not tell’ and discussed both obstacles to writing and its possibilities.
A Plenary session ended the Summer School event providing the necessary closure for participants, a period to reflect on their experience, and acknowledge the diligent preparation of the NIGAT Committee which makes this Art Therapy Summer School a success each year.
Written by Eileen McCourt, NIGAT President
Feedback from the day included:
“What an inspiring introduction by Caryl to ‘set the scene’.”
“Thought provoking, enjoyable, enlightening. Thank you”
“Reflective, curious, ideas for practice and further reading / learning”
“Plenty of time for art making, insightful and gently led.”