Altered Beliefs
Explore the journey of changing or leaving your faith in an Altered Books Art Therapy process
An Online Group for those who needed to deconstruct, change or leave the faith they once held onto or grew up in. What do you tear up and throw away? What has been the impact of your former beliefs and experiences? What does it look like to live with more healthy beliefs and relationships with self and others?
The journey of untangling can be long and difficult.
In this group journey we make time and space to process various themes of our lives that have been impacted--self-image, relationships, sexuality, gender, parenting , sense of meaning, mental health and more. The registration form includes a confidential survey, so that the group themes can be relevant to participant’s lived experience.
We will also make space for the emotions and internal conflict of the journey. Rage, confusion, grief, loneliness, lost, relief, regret, shame, freedom—how many of these have you experienced? And which others?
You are already on this journey. You’ve already been processing and learning. Bring the work you’ve already done to the group. The aim is that this group experience will help each of us to move further along in our journey of growth and healing. This movement will happen through giving time and space for your own processing and through the ideas and inspiration that comes from others. You may identify new, yet unprocessed themes, ideas and ways you have been impacted. Perhaps it will lead you away from faith, or towards a healthier faith. The “healing,” we are aiming for is a sort of “coming to terms with” or finding more peace with the challenges, the losses, the emotions, and in whatever way you need to do that.
(Note: My background, and deconstruction journey, is out of and away from Evangelical Christianity. As such this group may more resonate with individuals with beliefs similar to those of conservative Christianity.)
Altered Beliefs
A 6 Week Virtual Group
Time: Sundays, 3:00-5:00 p.m. MT, (2-4 PT, 5-7 ET) Postponed
Dates: Sept. 22-Nov. 3, 2024 (no session Oct. 13 for Canadian Thanksgiving)
$210 + GST ($35 for each 2 hr session)
*Payment can be made in 2 instalments—$105 + GST at time of registration, and the balance due _____
Why An Altered Books Process?
Altering books is a playful process that stimulates creativity and opens up new ways of seeing!!
In creating an Altered Book, the 'canvas' for our art is a previously published book. The processes for altering become metaphors and inspiration for the changes and growing we are experiencing in our lives. Just like your beliefs and your life, you will examine this book, take it apart, decide which parts you want to throw away, what you want to keep. You will experiment. You will make some messy pages.
You will author a new and beautiful book—your story—with beautiful, meaningful pages.
Perhaps you will be subversive, using black out poetry to turn some harmful messages upside down. Perhaps you will find hidden treasures you want to keep and amplify.
The process is meditative, thought-provoking, evocative. The group process provides encouragement and inspiration. No “artistic ability” necessary!
What to expect in these group sessions
Step-by-Step Instructions for the altered book process. Each week will highlight one or two methods for altering your book along with an invitation and theme related to .
Personal Reflection. I invite you to consider where you are in your journey. What do you need to process? How do you need to care for yourself?
Meditative, Stress-Reducing Art Making. Each session we will develop one or more pages or sections of our book. Our approach will be playful and experimental. Though themes might be difficult, processing through art will hopefully be cathartic and revealing.
Invitation to Share. During each session there will be room for sharing and reflection, and time for more quiet art-making. Then, at the end of each time, each person will have opportunity to share their art-making and process from that day. The beauty of the group process is we learn and gain inspiration from each other.
What to Prepare
After you register and two to four weeks before we begin, I will send you a detailed list of supplies you will need. There will be a “must have” list of things that will be available from your local art store, and a “might be useful” list—extras to use if you already have them.
Now, though, you can start to gather these:
Find a book. Find a used book as your main working space. A sturdy hardcover book with sewn signatures is best. You might want to use a book that relates to faith and this topic, but it doesn’t have to. (I’ve used some books that I bought and read 20 years ago, see from a different perspective now.)
Related images and words. Be on the looking for images and words that speak to you—perhaps the depict how you feel now, or how your journey has felt at times. Are there memes shared online that capture where you are now? Gather them in paper or digital (to print later if needed) format.
Parts of your personal journey. Do you have old journals or photos that capture where you were at an earlier time, and the evoke emotion or memories now. You may want to use some of these in your altered book—make copies if you don’t want to use the original. You may have already created art or poetry out of dismantling your faith. You might want to put them in your book.
Have you struggled with any of these?
Ideas considered may be, but are not limited to, the following (depending on group interest and feedback):
Shattered! How you may feel when you lose your faith, your faith community.
1. Grief and Loss--Of certainty; of God; of community; of belief that things will be okay in the end. 2. Regrets and shame--Why didn't I see sooner? Harm to self and others. 3. Anger--At church and God. 4. Patriarchy--Damage done and impact of patriarchal systems. 5. Impact on Close Relationships--How beliefs and teaching trained or set me up for unhealthy relationships. 6. Meaning of Life--What is it now? 7. Identity--Who am I? The need to rebuild understanding of self. 8. Death and the Afterlife--How should I see this now? Am I going to hell? 9. 2SLGBTA+--The church's beliefs about and treatment of those in this community; damage done and duplicity of "hate the sin love the sinner" types of thinking. 11. Needed change of thinking--Reverse unhealthy beliefs and ways of seeing and being—judgemental thinking; controlling others; seeing people as 'bad/sinful'; shame; codependency, 12. Specific beliefs/doctrines that are a struggle. or 13. Other themes.
Our goal is not to ANSWER these questions for you, but rather to provide a safe place of processing. We will listen to each other’s perspectives, give time and direction for YOU to process the struggle in your art-making, and perhaps become more okay with having the questions. Please do not attend expecting to “figure it all out” through this process. You will be disappointed.
New to therapeutic art-making? Don’t feel like you are very “artistic”?
NOT A PROBLEM!!
As a certified Art Therapist, I, Suzanne Styles, will facilitate the process and each session in a step by step manner that encourages playful exploration, trusting your own knowing and trusting the art process. Expect to be pleasantly surprised by what emerges for you, in your art, in the art of others, and in the group! All supplies will be provided.
What people are saying:
“I have recommended and will continue to recommend …all art therapy with Suzanne to others. I have tried, with varying degrees of success, other types of traditional therapy. This form I found to be especially grounding; I felt more at peace at the end of each session. It's also nice to be in a group with people searching for the same thing.”
“Suzanne is gentle and encouraging, making connections and inferences, sensitive to different individuals' needs…”
“It was a comfortable space and non-judgemental, calming, a safe and supportive environment was created.”
—Anonymous comments and feedback given by participants in other groups, permission granted to quote
This Altered Book Group runs for
6 Sessions, 2 hours each time
Starts: TBD
$210 + GST
*Payment can be made in 2 instalments—$105 + GST at time of registration, and the balance due _____
Location: ONLINE
Dates: TBD
Participant Numbers—Min. and Max.: This pilot group needs a minimum of 4 participants to go forward. If there are not enough participants, we may postpone for a few weeks until it can be filled. (If postponed dates don’t work for you after registering, you can choose to receive a full refund, or apply the payment to a future group or another Resilient You Art Therapy service.)
Questions? Feel free to Contact me.