Hey, I’m Laura Lou.
I’m an Art Psychotherapist, arts practitioner and project coordinator based in Sheffield.
As an art therapist, I work with neurodivergent adults and young people aged 11-25 with Autism, ADHD and additional needs, who are experiencing anxiety, struggling to cope with the pressures of day to day life and school, the effects of possible trauma or who are coming to terms with a new diagnosis or life changes who may need social and emotional support and general mental health guidance.
I provide one-to-one personal therapy face to face and remotely, and I facilitate both group art therapy and therapeutic arts workshops.
I have over fifteen years experience in specialist and mainstream education, with third sector organisations, the NHS, BBC’s CBeebies, local businesses, independent galleries, Museums Sheffield and Arts Council funded community arts projects.
If you are looking for someone to help support you or your child through challenging times I would love to hear from you.
My interests, training and experience
My interests, training and experience
“To keep growing, silently and earnestly, through your while development; you couldn’t disturb it any more violently than by looking outside and waiting for outside answers to question that only your innermost feeling, in your quietest hour, can perhaps answer.” ― Rainer Maria Rilke
I specialise in working with young people aged 11-25 with mental health challenges in various settings and private practice.
I have expertise in working with young people with additional educational needs such as Autism, Aspergers, ADHD, Global Developmental Delay, young people in the care system, who are homeless, have experienced trauma and who are struggling with an eating disorder.
I have experience of working therapeutically with adults providing group workshops in various disciplines for pleasure, relaxation and wellbeing.
I’m interested in the mind-body connection within art therapy and how clients relate to and use their body during art therapy in order to recognise the importance of the body’s felt sensations in the processing of emotions.
Research and reading in this area has led me to undertake a number of training courses around this subject.
I have recently attended a two and a half day training on Children’s Accelerated Trauma Technique (CATT) for PTSD and Complex PTSD delivered by Trauma Psychology Training. This is a holistic trauma focussed 12-stage creative protocol which helps young people work through their trauma while remaining regulated and was developed by Dr Carlotta Baby in 1997.
Please visit https://traumapsychology.co.uk/about/ for more information.
I am trained in Bilateral Art Therapy with Cornelia Elbrecht, a sensori-motor guided drawing process based hands on approach to art making. I now use as the basis for a therapeutic self exploratory and messy workshop for adults.
Please visit https://www.sensorimotorarttherapy.com for further information.
I have also attended an introductory training in Somatic Experiencing training with the Somatic Experiencing Association UK to understand how the body stores, processes and discharges traumatic experiences.
I am experienced in Mindfulness based art therapy practices and participated in the Breathworks Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course over ten years ago. You can read more about how Mindfulness can help you alongside evidence based published studies on the effectiveness of Mindfulness at https://www.breathworks-mindfulness.org.uk/Pages/Category/what-we-do
The main aim of my work is to help clients return to their most authentic vibrant embodied self through personal exploration and body orientated processing using a tailored approach to meet their needs.