Holistic art therapy: How Rose Hewartson helps others through painting

Artist Rose Hewartson draws on the power of painting to help people deal with anxiety, get out of a rut, or find motivation or direction.

Rose Hewartson is used to people saying “What the heck is holistic art therapy?” when she reveals her day job.

“To be honest, I had no idea myself, so I can only guess they are the same,” says the Mount Gravatt resident, who earned a diploma in Holistic Integrated Art Therapy from Paddington’s Wholistic Art College earlier this year.

The artist and photographer, who has a background in nursing, treats clients who are looking to lead more fulfilled lives.

Art therapist Rose Hewartson. Picture: AAP/Renae Droop

To do this, they might want to quieten the “mind chatter”, get out of a rut, or find motivation or direction.

Rose says many of her clients are middle-aged women.

“If they just want to get unstuck in an area of their life it might only take a few sessions,” she says.

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“If they are overcoming trauma then that is a much longer process. It’s totally up to the

client. I usually advise a minimum of three sessions.”

While every session is tailored to the individual, Rose, 51, has a series of exercises she uses to help clients open up, such as painting their feelings or assigning colours to feelings and creating abstract artworks.

“It’s about getting people unstuck in their lives, getting them to use art as a way to reflect on how they are approaching their lives. It helps people heal.”

One of the pieces created by Rose and a client during an art therapy session.

Rose discovered the soothing power of painting while going through a difficult time while homeschooling her now grown-up son, and she wanted to share its healing benefits with others.

“Because of my experiences with my son, I also have a desire to help children and mothers of children who are struggling in the school system,” she says.

“It can be a difficult road to navigate without help.”

She says her clients have told her they’ve enjoyed the journey of “self-discovery” and learning things about themselves they hadn’t realised.

Being able to help people discover for themselves what may be holding them back in life, to open up their own minds and body to a level they didn’t think possible, brings Rose so much “joy and satisfaction”.

“It’s mind-blowing, really,” she says.

“As humans we have so much potential. We just have some beliefs, conditioning, stress and trauma layered over our potential.”