Creative Connections Arts Therapy Auckland

03/09/2026

29/08/2026

22/08/2026

I found this a thoughtful and compassionate article about the growing use of “therapy speak” and self-diagnosis among teenage girls and young women.

Psychiatrist Dr Suzanne Garfinkle-Crowell describes how young women increasingly use words such as trauma, anxiety, ADHD, attachment issues and toxic to understand and communicate their experiences. While these terms may not always represent a formal clinical diagnosis, they may express something very real beneath the label, distress, confusion, loneliness, overwhelm, or a deep need to have their experience recognised.

The article encourages parents and other caring adults to respond neither with alarm nor dismissal. Instead, we can listen with curiosity and compassion, asking what the young person is trying to tell us about her inner world. The language may not always be clinically precise, but the feelings and unmet needs it carries deserve to be taken seriously.

I particularly appreciated the suggestion that we should take therapy language “seriously but not literally.” For me, this means gently looking beyond the label to the person, their story, their relationships and the wider world in which their distress has developed.

Diagnostic language can sometimes help people feel less alone and give shape to experiences they have struggled to understand. At the same time, we need to be careful that a label does not become a fixed identity, or leave a young person believing that every difficulty is caused by something inherently wrong with her.

Perhaps the most helpful question is not simply, “Is this the correct diagnosis?” but, “What has happened, what are you feeling, and what do you need us to understand?”

When young people feel they must be “unwell” before their suffering will be heard, the compassionate response is not to argue over terminology. It is to listen more deeply, while helping them discover a fuller understanding of themselves, one that includes their pain, but also their strengths, choices, relationships and capacity for growth.

Step 1: Take it seriously, not literally.

29/06/2026

Can happiness really be cultivated?

According to a fascinating recent article in Real Simple, the answer is yes. Research suggests that happiness is not simply something we either have or don't have. Through small, intentional daily habits, we can gradually strengthen our brain's natural capacity for joy, resilience, and emotional wellbeing.

What I particularly appreciated about this article is that it doesn't promote "toxic positivity" or suggest we should ignore life's difficulties. Instead, it reminds us that even while acknowledging pain, we can gently nurture experiences that support our emotional health.

Some of the simple practices include:
🌿 Spending time in nature each day.
💛 Performing small acts of kindness.
😄 Looking for moments of humour.
🙏 Beginning the day with gratitude.
✨ Cultivating moments of awe and wonder.
❤️ Practising self compassion instead of self criticism.
📵 Taking regular breaks from our screens.
🤝 Celebrating the good news in other people's lives.
🌱 Reflecting on our core values and living in alignment with them.

As an art therapist, I often see this reflected in the therapeutic process. Healing rarely comes from one dramatic breakthrough. More often, it emerges through many small moments of awareness, kindness, creativity, connection, and self compassion, repeated over time.

Sometimes the smallest daily choices become the foundation for the biggest changes.

A behavioral psychiatrist shares science-backed ways to be happier, including small, everyday habits and practices that can rewire your brain to be happier and feel more joy in a way that lasts.

28/06/2026

When someone is struggling, they don't need lessons; they need lifelines. Healing starts with safety, not solutions.

Vex King
Artwork by Emily Balivet

24/06/2026

09/06/2026

I enjoyed this thoughtful article exploring some of the small but meaningful habits often found in people who remain positive and engaged as they grow older. While we often focus on physical health, emotional wellbeing is equally shaped by the gentle practices we cultivate throughout our lives.

The article highlights the importance of things such as staying curious, nurturing relationships, practising gratitude, continuing to learn, finding moments of joy, spending time in nature, and developing the ability to adapt through life’s inevitable changes.

From a therapeutic perspective, these qualities are not about ignoring difficulties or forcing ourselves to “think positively.” They are about building emotional flexibility, self-compassion, connection, and the capacity to find meaning, even through challenging seasons of life.

Creativity can also play a powerful role in this process. Making art, telling our stories, reflecting on our experiences, and staying open to wonder can help us remain connected to ourselves and the world around us at every stage of life.

Perhaps ageing well is less about staying the same, and more about continuing to grow. 🌿

It’s not an exact science, but there tend to be two different camps of seventy-somethings: There are the ones who’ve curdled a little — they lead with the bad knee, the weather, the sorry state of the world. Suffice it to say: they’re a bit grumpy. And then there are the other ones, who seem...