What does "safe" mean to you?

When joining a new group, what makes you feel safe? Psychological safety is a term frequently bandied about in my line of work, so much so that I worry it has lost its meaning. But this question of safety was posed to me last week, in the context of a course about art therapy. After many hours learning about the history and theory of art therapy, six of us had the opportunity to practice being in an art therapy group. ??

In any new group, a key to success is building a foundation of trust and safety. That will build a field within the group that supports reflection, expressive art making, and generative sharing. In our practice art therapy group, the facilitator asked what would allow us to feel “safe” in our new group. What does safety mean? What does it look like? What does it feel like? How does it feel? What does it make us think of?

The facilitator invited us to grab some materials from the supply cupboard and make something that expressed what “safe” meant to us. I paused for a moment then gravitated to a massive piece of white paper, then intuitively chose a large flat brush and a bottle of black Chinese ink. Pausing again, and considering my blank canvas, I began to paint strokes of black - thick, thin, light, and heavy, dabs, swirls, and dots. I used every angle of the brush and even included the letters s-a-f-e in the piece. I stopped and stepped back to take it in and decided to tear the larger paper into smaller pieces. I began by tearing it into two, then four, and kept going until I had 16 small pieces. The resulting rectangles felt a good size to me, so I arranged the tiles in a pattern that pleased me. I stopped there and then considered what I might have learned about safety in the making process and what the final product might also express.

The art piece was provocative, and my reflections were deep. The choice of material, the bold marks, the tearing, and re-assembly all carry layers of meaning and discovery. The piece immediately spoke to me of courage, allowing, choice, and trust. A big a-ha was realizing that I have agency in my own experience of safety. I have years of valuable life experience and wisdom and I can re-assemble myself at any time. I have returned to the piece several times already and new things continue to be revealed.

I loved this experience and I also love the piece of art I made. It will always be an embodied artefact reminding me of safety.

Interested in learning about art therapy? Metàfora’s introduction course is wonderful. Based in Barcelona, they offer an on-line and hybrid (on-line and in-person) course in English. People participate from all over the globe, giving each class a wonderful international perspective.