Welcome to The Wildwood

My name is Dr. Keith Thurlow-Bishop and I am a fully qualified and highly experienced Registered Expressive Arts Therapist (REAT), Registered Canadian Art Therapist (RCAT), and Registered Clinical Counsellor and Approved Clinical Supervisor (RCC-ACS), based on the west coast of Canada. I have been working in mental health since 1990, and have extensive experience working with people recovering from food, body image, and exercise issues, compulsive behaviours such as addictions, mood problems, and experiences of abuse, neglect, trauma, or the ongoing effects of colonization. 

My practice is offered exclusively online in real time via a secure video platform

Why 'The Wildwood'?

The Wildwood is an archetypal place of healing and transformation. In cultures around the globe and across time, the journey into the wiidlwood has been a symbol of self-discovery, change, and growth.

What is 'Expressive Arts Therapy'?

Expressive Arts Therapy is a form of psychotherapy that integrates mainstream talk therapies with the use of the arts (visual arts, music, drama, dance/movement, writing, sand tray, etc) to support self-expression, self-exploration, healing, and growth. Through creative activites, it can be possible to bring into awareness thoughts, feelings, and experiences that may be difficult to articulate at first. It is a highly effective healing option for people recovering from trauma, grief and loss, eating disorders, addictions, and mood disorders. No previous experience of the arts is needed, just a curiosity and willingness to explore and experiment. Typically, part of a session will be devoted to a creative activity, and part of the session to processing the experience and the art-work that has been created, although there are no absolute rules. However, we may choose to just talk or just create, and that is beneficial, too.

You will need a small and inexpensive art supply kit that I can tell you more about when we meet. Many of these supplies you will likely already have in your home or office, and the rest can be found easily online, at local art stores, or at dollar stores.

I am also trained in Nature-Based Therapy and Somatic Psychotherapy (see FAQ for more information)

I have particular experience of working with people who have difficulties with :

• Food, weight, shape, and body image issues
  
• Self-harming behaviours
  
• Addiction issues
  
• People experiencing the ongoing and intergenerational effects of colonization
  
• Sexuality, gender identity, and gender expression issues (especially for 2SLGBTQIA+ folks)
  
• Experiences of abuse, neglect, or trauma
  
• Issues relating to being neurodivergent
• Mood issues such as Bipolar Disorder, anxiety, and depression
  
• Grief and loss
• Relationships
  
  I am committed to providing a high quality, accessible, effective, and culturally sensitive professional service in a safe, confidential, healing space and receive regular clinical consultation to ensure the efficacy of my practice. I strive to offer an anti-oppressive, inclusive, decolonial, trauma-informed service.
  
  In addition to psychotherapy and expressive arts therapy, I also offer group and individual clinical consultation to trainees and qualified arts therapists and clinical counsellors.
  
  I acknowledge that I live and work on the unceded, traditional, ancestral territories of the Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh(Tsleil-Waututh), xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), and Skwxwú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish) Nations. I colonially occupy this land without the consent of the Peoples to whom the lands belong, and I remain committed to my ongoing learning and supporting the process of Truth and Reconciliation.