the art of psychotherapy

meg walsh | bio

I earned my Bachelor of Fine Arts from OCAD University and am currently a sixth-year student at the Centre for Training in Psychotherapy working as a psychodynamic psychotherapist-in-training under clinical supervision, earning my CRPO registration.

My life has always included some aspect of artistic and creative expression, and I imagine the way I work with clients to be no exception. I have come to believe that one must be creative and improvisational to do this type of work, to be curious and ask questions and imagine explanations or interpretations to try on together as we travel back to childhood and into the future, imagining new ways of being, coping, living, responding, and relating. We all have and live our own narrative, a story we tell ourselves about our lives, about other people, about our world, and who we are in it. In therapy, we can look to see what that narrative is and how it impacts our daily experiences. In this way, art and psychotherapy have much in common.

My undergraduate degree, my childhood and early adulthood were entirely devoted to art making. My conceptual-art-thesis work in 2008 cracked me open, unexpectedly. It is around this time that the passion and direction of my life shifted from the visual arts to the healing arts. I meandered down a healing journey that continued to feature artistic expression but also layered in psychotherapy, naturopathy, holistic nutrition, osteopathy, chiropractic care, acupuncture, and daily yoga/mindfulness practice. I worked with a gestalt therapist, a clinical psychologist, a sensorimotor trauma therapist, and a psychodynamic psychotherapist. So far that is roughly 300 hours of one-on-one therapy, 600 hours of group therapy, and thousands of hours on my yoga mat processing, reflecting, grieving, feeling, and working through.

In my years practicing and teaching mindfulness I have noticed that contemplative practice elicits vulnerability and pain. Because we are relational mammals hardwired for connection and belonging, we’re limited in what we can process on our own. We need another human to bear witness, someone who has done their work, in order to contact long-lasting healing. 

I see psychotherapy clients at a student rate, once per week (or more) for a long-term style of therapy that aims to unearth unconscious processes as they are manifested in daily life.

The intention I bring to this work is to enhance my client’s self-reflective capacity and to deepen their understanding of the influence their past has on their present experience and behaviour; all the while supporting clients to fill in the gaps from missing experiences and fundamentally learn how to parent themselves. In other words, rewiring the unconscious mind and nervous system with earned, secure attachment and healing the traumatic wounding of their past. A tall order and a lifetime of inner work, with benefits I trust clients will experience in their daily life, through peace of mind, and in their relationships.