Artist Talk | Deirdre Ronan – Saying the Unspeakable

Deirdre Ronan will join us at the A4 Gallery to talk about her practice as both an art therapist and visual artist.  This talk will provide an introduction to art therapy as a therapeutic intervention and will be of interest to those which may be considering a career in art therapy or working in a similar context as an artist.

Deirdre’s work explores the nature of relationships. In her clinical work as a psychotherapist she is required to form incredibly intimate yet contained therapeutic relationships with clients.  The basic tenets of the therapeutic relationship and her beliefs about her engagement with the therapeutic space and her role within it have been challenged by her work with child sex offenders. How is she impacted by forming a therapeutic relationship with a child sex offender?

Her systemic work supporting families of both offenders and victims of child sexual abuse further leads her to question relationships in terms of the systems we come from and become part of. This refers her to her own relationships, personally, clinically and with her own art-making and how they have been impacted by the systems past and present in her life.

As an art therapist she believes that the art process and product are unique in creating a container for that which is unsayable. Similarly, as a psychotherapist she acts as the container for her clients. She is the holding space.  As such her work is multi-layered, seeking to mirror the dynamic essence of systems and relationships and her various roles within these.  In engaging with her process she seeks to explore and repair.

www.deirdreronan.wordpress.com

When & Where?
Wednesday 30th Nov
7.30pm – 8.30pm
Free Admission*

A4 Sounds
St Joseph’s Parade
Off Upper Dorset Street
Dublin 1

*Donations towards gallery running costs always welcome!

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