Creating a Place for Everyone
PowHERhouse champions the changework of relational leaders and social impactors. Together, as allies, PowHERhouse and WHEAT are walking the path of truth and reconciliation for all our relations. This current transition and collaboration hopes to reflect and bring forth healing, empathy, inclusivity, listening-focused circles, and relational, open, arts-enhanced communication - the founding values of WHEAT that remain solid and unwavering.
"Expressive art means different things to different people and the field is relatively new. I am an expressive artist and I am also a peacebuilder. Whether you're talking about anti-oppressive practices, or trauma informed practices, or you're thinking about dealing with issues of gender based violence or any forms of oppression, think about the frame of what justice means. The motivation for my work comes from the complexity of all of that. I am an advocate for social justice and the Expressive Arts becomes the medium for symbolizing and metaphorizing the complexity of social conflict." - Bonface
"The Expressive Arts awakens our senses to sound, sight, touch, smell, and movement. It engages all our faculties and brings us alive, and opens new possibilities. As a Somatic Expressive Arts therapist, I create a safe container for the creative process, the liminal transitional space where change and self-awareness can flourish, and be embodied.” - Lindsay
“Working from an Indigenous and relational approach, I align with my clients to create safe and sacred spaces for healing and growth. My art therapy practice is unique, as I integrate culture into sessions whenever possible such as ceremony, smudging, beadwork, natural and traditional art material and storytelling into my practice. I am particularly interested in working with Indigenous peoples presenting complex trauma, loss of culture, and mental health obstacles. Words aren't always available. Art therapy has a way of reaching parts of ourselves that we never knew about. You do not have to be an artist to benefit from art therapy. The emphasis is on the process and self-expression, not the final product." - Tayler
“Expressive Arts is an opportunity to express yourself when words cannot do the job. When children have experienced trauma, it is not always going to work to have them sit down with a therapist in a traditional setting. That therapist is a stranger to them; but an opportunity to be painting, drawing, participating in a drama play, or a music production, is often easier because it is fun and creative.” - Stephanie
“Expressive Arts has the opportunity for us to creatively come up with solutions by trusting the wisdom of our bodies and the act of creation to see what wants to come through. Having more time dedicated to the arts, to music, to these other ways is going to help us discover the creative solutions we haven't been able to find yet.” - Phoenix
“[Mindfulness]” is a way of nourishing our joy, our brilliance, our sense of fun. As a therapist, when we talk about resourcing people, this is such a beautiful way to invite them to drop into their body and experience the joy of their feelings."- Tereza