Elemental Expressions is a passion project inspired by my training and work in expressive arts therapy with a goal to meet a need for giving community support to those of us that battle with mental health. For so many of us, we make it to adulthood and then it’s like, “how do I make friends as an adult?” or “I want to try the new thing, but I’m too anxious to go to it and don’t have any friends that will support me.” I have so many clients that I want to support in new & novel experiences, but there’s only so much of me to go around. It started as an idea in my first book Elemental Healing: Guided Therapy Journal. A quick Mighty Network page was created for a “landing space”. Now, I’m building the Elemental Community directly within the Rising Heart Studios domain.
Think a private, moderated social media community. The community moto is “Expression through connection.” It will be a place to celebrate wins, get support for the loses, find someone willing to hold space for you in a moment, and a community focused on being there for one another.
Private peer-support groups for areas such as anxiety, depression, trauma, etc. will serve as a place to connect with others with similar areas of difficulty. There will be therapist led support groups available, crash courses in coping strategies, and education on different disorders. Content is focused on bringing resources to those that do not have access, affordable options for support groups, and affordable classes to those that prefer self-guided paths to wellness over therapy. Courses are designed for individual wellness and support and are not designed as continuing educational programs for healthcare providers. Click below to join us in the online community. Membership to the community is free as my goal is to connect and build a sense of community and support for one another.
My new book-in-progress is Breath of the Elements: Therapeutic Questing*. Inspired by a client with a special interest in Zelda, therapeutic questing is now unlocked with Elemental Expressive Arts. Bringing you structured ways of building community, friendship, and support in real world scenarios. Experiences in gameplay build skills for improving mental health. My hope is the community will give a place where regional specific teams can form to embark on quests together in-real-life (IRL). Through group questing, community, connection, and social skills are addressed more directly. Group therapy sessions would follow with a licensed professional to assist teams with pulling meaning from and processing their therapeutic quests. It is a long long term goal that my virtual teams will have team specific themed retreats available as a possible IRL meetup for a questing adventure.
*copyright has been secured on this publication