Ashleigh Black | Mental health service

Ashleigh Black

Phone: +61 418 696 348

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24.01.2022 A bit of a throwback to an excerpt of creative reflection from a few months ago. Life can often throw at us moments of panic, confusion and despair. I know this has definitely been true for me, especially this year. Where I felt I had the energy to, I used creative tools, to explore these feelings. I used artmaking to understand myself better and find resources to support my way through it all. I wanted to offer you this same opportunity for reflection and meaning making, w...hich is why I felt really pulled to create a space for you to explore your lived experience of 2020. Upcoming workshop! https://fb.me/e/M9t5rG4T

21.01.2022 Tomorrow!! The art supplies are packed and I have spent the last few days journeying myself through the reflective art processes I have planned for you! I have one space left for tomorrow's workshop, so if you are feeling called to join us, please do (it's not too late!)... I am so looking forward to gathering with you

20.01.2022 A bit of a throwback to an excerpt of creative reflection from a few months ago. Life can often throw at us moments of panic, confusion and despair. I know this has definitely been true for me, especially this year. Where I felt I had the energy to, I used creative tools, to explore these feelings. I used artmaking to understand myself better and find resources to support my way through it all. I wanted to offer you this same opportunity for reflection and meaning making, w...hich is why I felt really pulled to create a space for you to explore your lived experience of 2020. Upcoming workshop! https://fb.me/e/M9t5rG4T

19.01.2022 "With faith in the human spirit, Solus sees us as arrows fired from a bow, choosing our own directions and soaring into undreamed of heights, empowered by trust and the creative life force."

18.01.2022 "We do not grow absolutely, chronologically. We grow sometimes in one dimension, and not in another; unevenly. We grow partially. We are relative. We are mature in one realm, childish in another. The past, present, and future mingle and pull us backward, forward, or fix us in the present. We are made up of layers, cells, constellations." - Anaïs Nin @the_angela_gallo

15.01.2022 Hi friends! I wanted to share with you my latest project! CYBERSPACE & ME... Cyberbullying is profoundly dangerous with very real, often severe and sometimes fatal, consequences for young people. I see the effects firsthand every week. It is heartbreaking. My workplace KYC has been awarded a grant by the Queensland Government Anti-Cyberbullying Taskforce to address this complex and prevalent issue. Cyberspace & Me is an opportunity for young people to explore their thoughts and experiences of bullying and cyberbullying through a tailored 7-week group Arts Therapy program, commencing October 14th. Simultaneously, we will be creating works of art to be curated in a digital publication and local art exhibition on December 11th to share their story and speak out against cyberbullying. The project is aimed at young people aged 12-16 in the Moreton Bay region (although I do not want to limit the opportunity for those outside these guidelines, so we are likely able to work around this!) The group Arts Therapy at KYC is FREE however, spaces are limited. Given the sensitive nature of bullying experiences, I am offering individual Arts Therapy at a reduced cost for those wanting to participate in the project in a more private capacity. I will also be gathering works of art from young people who would like to contribute to the publication and/or exhibition but not able to join in the Arts Therapy sessions. The opportunities for participation are wide! I am so passionate about supporting and empowering the voices of young people and I wholeheartedly believe in the power of the creative arts to facilitate this. The project is taking on a community-wide approach and I would love for the young people in your life to be a part of it with us if they so wish. Please get in touch if you are interested or would like to know anything further I would also really appreciate it if you could please share within your networks to build momentum for this project. A chance for young people to connect, receive support and work towards change through a little bit of artistic activism!

15.01.2022 Finding self amongst/through/in/because of chaos...

14.01.2022 Dear Stranger, 1. There was never not a bridge from your chest to mine. ... My heartbeat was always the sound of your feet walking towards me. I can’t believe how many years I lived without knowing the air you were breathing out, was the air I was breathing in. Forgive me for not saying ‘thank you’ before our lungs had reason to hide. 2. Fear is what you make it and I’ve been trying to make it my teacher. When the lesson starts to break me I remember the dogs in the shelters-- how even those we call ‘the mean ones’ will follow their fear to each other’s sides in the middle of the night, make pillows of each other’s chests when they think no home is coming. Almost everyone in the world is softer than they look. 3. Do you pray now more than you used to? I pray all of the time. I pray to The Big Bang and to The Tiny Bang and to The Bangs we’ll all have to cut ourselves so we can see what beauty can only be seen from 6 feet away. 4. Last night, a poet whose writing I love said he hasn’t written a single poem since the beginning of the quarantine. He said every time he’s inclined to he calls someone he loves instead. 5. The first thing I learned from this virus was to question everything wanting to go viral. The second thing I learned was to dream only giant dreams. 6. A giraffe’s neck is 6 feet long. A decade from now will I remember the week I spent wondering if I could hug a giraffe’s torso and not get sick if the giraffe coughed? I don’t want to forget anything about this. Especially not how it feels to worry about everyone I love at the same time. So much of the world had been doing that already. 7. If every heart-worthy novelist weeps for days before killing a beloved character off, how many centuries must god have spent sobbing before pressing a pen to the page of this year? 8. I used to be a gardener in New Orleans. Every evening I’d spend almost an hour cleaning the earth out of my nails. She held on so tight. I loved her more for it. Later I moved to the desert and was sitting beside a cactus in my living room when I heard a hurricane named Katrina was about to hit my former home. 'Save the flowers', I said out loud, watching a storm cloud rage its hungry spiral across the television screen. 'Save the flowers', I said, having no idea we wouldn’t save the people. 9. When the water left the city I went back, drove through the 9th Ward to a church that had been gutted by the storm. The preacher had spray-painted his phone number across the length of the falling building. There was something about his phone number being as tall as the doorI couldn’t stop crying. The world falls apart and people become foundation.

11.01.2022 Tomorrow! Showcasing artworks created during a recent Arts Therapy program. There are some pretty powerful and emotive pieces that have been created. I am incredibly humbled by these young people's ability to express themselves so vulnerably and share that in a public space. I'm pretty proud to have facilitated this. All are welcome

11.01.2022 Yesterday I unexpectedly srumbled across some words that I wrote in January 2016. Almost 5 years ago now. Reading them gave me an unknown yet familiar feeling. Like that feeling when you meet someone new for the first time but you're sure you've known them before, somehow, somewhere. That's what it was like meeting these words again. Running into a version of myself that I know lives within me, but also a really distant I-can't-quite-pin-down where it is or how I know it. ... I have fallen from these truths at times this year. I lost the sense of what it means to be free, vibrant and alive. I lost the feeling of autonomy and control when up against my own fear, anxiety and insecurity. I forgot that I could choose how I get to live and love and be. Maybe my past self knew my future self would need this reminder one day. Or maybe my present self asked for this wisdom from my past self. Or maybe it has very little to do with any of that, and more to do with simply understanding this experience as yet anothering layer of my personal healing. A drifting from and returning to. Aptly so, as I start to emerge from a period of darkness and gather the strength to reflect on this experience, these words both remind me and inspire me. I think I was meant to fall apart this year. To break my own heart into a thousand tiny pieces so that I could have the opportunity to piece myself back together into a version of myself that I wholeheartedly choose. To, as I envisioned for myself, transcend my small story of survival and recreate myself into vibrant aliveness. And that, if nothing else, is how we create the truest stories of ourselves.

11.01.2022 The vagus nerve is so named because it "wanders" like a vagabond, sending sensory information from our brain to our visceral organs. It plays a crucial role in our wellbeing. When this nerve is stimulated, it activates our body's relaxation response and helps us get rid of stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol. It also plays a huge part in our mind-body connection and it is quite literally responsible for telling our lungs to breathe and controlling our heart rate. A couple of weeks ago, I spent some time intentially feeling into my vagus nerve. Creating space for symbolic representaions to embody safety and regulation through the use of visual art. I wanted to share with you and invite you to explore for yourself if you feel your nervous system might need a little support too.

10.01.2022 Hey! So it's been a little while since I have had the opportunity to create a workshop for you! And in the meantime, hasn't 2020 been a wild ride?! ... I'd love the opportunity to share this space with you - a gathering to creatively reflect, make meaning and close our experiences of this year. A safe, supportive and non-judgmental space in a beautiful beach side studio. All art materials and a yummy fruit platter with be provided! Check the event out for more details and please feel free to get in touch if you are interested.

07.01.2022 "We do not grow absolutely, chronologically. We grow sometimes in one dimension, and not in another; unevenly. We grow partially. We are relative. We are mature in one realm, childish in another. The past, present, and future mingle and pull us backward, forward, or fix us in the present. We are made up of layers, cells, constellations." - Anaïs Nin @the_angela_gallo

03.01.2022 An exploration: Construction & destruction. What we make. What makes us. What we break. What breaks us.