The acronym for Victoria Art Therapy is VAT.
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary a ‘vat’ is described as a large vessel for holding liquids in manufacturing. The words ‘container’ and ‘vat’ are semantically related in ‘vessel’ topic.
Looking at the body as a container, it has an inside and an outside. We experience ourselves as being made up of substances such as flesh and bone. According to H.H. Mitchell, Journal of Biological Chemistry 158, the human adult body contains 60% of water. Water serves our body in a number of essential functions to keep us all going. We are therefore a container of all these substances.
As human beings, we also have various experiences in our lives. These direct experiences embody the concept of ‘self’ as a container. These experiences can influence our emotions, behaviours, beliefs and desires. These emotions manifest either consciously or subconsciously. They become stored within our personalised self-container. The physical body and the contained emotions are linked with each other and affect each other. If an emotion remains unconscious this is often through repression or some other form of self-deception. Emotions are not objective or neutral perceptions, but subjective ‘ways of seeing’, that tend to reflect our needs and concerns.
The mental body contains your thoughts. It is here you form a mental image of the specific things you want to do in the material world and how to accomplish them. This mental image will be based upon your sense of identity, which defines parameters for what you think you can or cannot do.
As humans we all are emotional bodies. We were born to express our needs through our emotions. These emotions influence how we feel, think, do and say. Everything you encounter triggers your emotions, and then influences your health, relationships, perspective and perception of the world. It is very common that emotions can take on a life of their own and seek to run your life.
Here at Victoria Art Therapy we are here to help you identify blocks to your emotional self-container, thus offering a way for each person to discover their own ‘meaning making’ through the use of the creative process. Working in a collaborative manner we aim to empower you, so that you reach your fullest potential.