About me

Hello, my name is Farideh.

I am an HCPC- and BAAT-registered Art Psychotherapist with experience supporting children in educational settings and young adults and adults within acute mental health services, including those affected by trauma and complex mental health needs.

My connection with art psychotherapy grew through my own experience of discovering how art materials can express what words cannot. I found myself particularly drawn to clay-the feeling of it between my fingers, its weight and texture, and the way it responded to pressure and movement.

I became fascinated by the whole process of working with clay: shaping it, allowing time for it to dry, waiting through the first firing, applying glaze and then firing it again. Each stage requires patience, care and trust in the process. The clay may change, crack or emerge differently from how it was imagined. For me, this reflects something important about therapy: meaningful change cannot always be rushed, and what takes shape may sometimes surprise us.

Working with clay helped me feel grounded and connected to emotions that were not always easy to explain. This experience continues to shape the sensitive, patient and creative way I work with others.

My practice is psychodynamic, relational and trauma-informed. I work gently and collaboratively, exploring how earlier experiences and relationships may continue to influence present feelings and ways of relating. Art-making can help bring thoughts, emotions and experiences into awareness before they are ready to be spoken.

My practice is also informed by additional professional training in Healing Trauma with Guided Drawing®, a body-focused and trauma-informed approach developed by Cornelia Elbrecht. Through art-making, movement and sensory exploration, I pay gentle attention to bodily sensations and the felt experience of working with materials, always respecting each person’s boundaries, choices and pace.

There is no expectation to create something beautiful or meaningful. The value lies in the process - in noticing, expressing and gradually developing a deeper understanding of yourself and experiences that may have felt overwhelming or difficult to communicate.