My undergraduate degree in the 1990’s was in the History of Art and Archaeology of Africa and Asia. This grounded me in my work as a community arts facilitator working with children from diverse backgrounds in the Johannesburg area.

In 2010 I came across Lefika La Phodiso, a psychoanalytically based training institute for Community Art Counsellors (CACs). I graduated as a CAC in 2012.

In 2023 I was part of the first cohort of art therapy students to graduate from a South African university, University of Johannesburg (UJ).

I am registered with the Health Professions Council of South Africa. HPCSA: AT 0001996

Practice Number: 1159410

Some medical aids offer some cover for art therapy sessions.

email: rayalisa@yahoo.com

Art therapy is a form of psychotherapy developed in the United Kingdom and The United States of America in the 1940’s. The art making in art therapy is not an art lesson. Art therapists are able to guide their clients in art making processes but there is not an emphasis on an end-product. Art making can be therapeutic in its creative expression but can also be a way to explore what is happening for a person on an unconscious level. The art therapist helps the client make sense of images in a containing and holding therapeutic space.

Art therapy can often be a reflective space where symbols reveal hidden innermost thoughts. I have used the paper nautilus as the symbol for my art therapy practice. The shell is actually an egg casing for a pelagic octopus. The sea gifted me with a beautiful paper nautilus shell one day during my training. The shell casing holds and contains the precious eggs of the octopus while she gently steers them and keeps them buoyant on the open sea. In this manner, I offer a safe space for clients to explore deeper issues and vulnerabilities.

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