Paula Rolston

Paula Rolston MA, BEd

Senior Lecturer


Summary

I'm Paula, an HCPC art therapist and member of BAAT (British Association of Art Therapists).

On the MA Art Psychotherapy course, I lead on Professional Practice and Contextualising Practice modules. Through teaching and learning we explore the approaches practitioners use in their relational work with clients, and we think about the different contexts of art therapy. 

About

I love colour. In my artwork, I'm inspired by light and shadow, and by the textures and forms I see in the natural world. In nature-based art therapy, our senses are awakened in spaces which nurture connection and reflection, and these are elements central to any good therapy. 

I’m also interested in how emotional trauma impacts the ‘felt sense’ within the body. Through their artmaking process, the client develops awareness, can make body-mind connections and find ways to regulate difficult emotions. 

I have practiced in the 3rd sector, in the NHS and in schools.

Senior Lecturer

Teaching

Department of Allied Health Professions

College of Health, Wellbeing and Life Sciences

Projects:

My art therapy experience includes individual and groupwork; working with refugee families, with services for women and with individuals brought together through a common experience of chronic pain. Five years of especially rewarding art therapy work was with Age Better Sheffield. Big Lottery funded, its principal aim was to improve mental health in the over 50s through the reduction of social isolation and loneliness. 

Prior to my training as an art therapist, I was inspired by involvement in arts-based projects in Rwandan schools and refugee camps, as well as voluntary work in an NHS brain-injury ward in Belfast.

 

Subject area: MA Art Psychotherapy Practice 

Courses taught: MA Art Psychotherapy Practice 

Modules taught:

  • Professional Practice
  • Theoretical Approaches and Contextualising Practice 

Research

Featured Research project:

Five years of especially rewarding art therapy work was with Age Better Sheffield. Big Lottery funded, its principal aim was to improve mental health in the over 50s through the reduction of loneliness and social isolation.   

Why we need to do therapy differently

 

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