The final few sessions with Sally Mungall had very little to do with art therapy. I had, by and large, stopped making drawings. The images of monstrous self-disgust, bodily contamination and excretion had gradually been replaced by idealized drawings of Sally herself and then, finally, with one painfully sad picture that seemed to foretell self-enforced boundaries and drowning. And then I drew no more. I simply talked. The pretense at art therapy was over. What emerged was ps

Sally continued taking sessions with me, still wearing her Covid mask, her face still largely unreadable. I relied on her words, her body language and her eyes. ( I have trained myself, since childhood, to read body language. It’s a psychological defense mechanism and a part of my hypervigilance born out a response to early trauma ). To overcome this lack of connection with Sally I had clipped two photos of her found on the internet and stored on my laptop. As previously ment

The sessions became exponentially more harrowing as art therapy proceeded. I believed the purpose of the sessions was to help me understand my relationship with my daughter and to investigate the possibility that intergenerational trauma was being inadvertently passed on to Meg. I felt it was an absolute necessity to face this psychological journey with tenacity and courage. I found myself agreeing with Sally that being open, honest and vulnerable was the best way to serve Me

24th September, 2024 The following is a brief account of the art therapy sessions with Sally Mungall that took place at CAMHS, Bramblys Drive, Basingstoke between the 16th September and 16th of December, 2021, corroborated, in part, by most of Sally Mungall’s own clinical notes recorded at the time. ( It should be noted that I have been denied complete and unredacted access to records by Information Governance at the Sussex Partnership and this includes Sally Mungall’s clin

Before I give an account of the sessions with CAMHS art therapist, Sally Mungall, I should take the opportunity to explain two very important concepts. Awareness of these concepts are fundamental to understanding what happened to me during ‘art therapy’ with Sally. I was truly ignorant of both at the time. INFORMED CONSENT Consent is usually defined as the permission given for something to happen or the agreement for something to start. Informed consent is a principle in medi

2nd September, 2024, another anniversary. I first met Sally Mungall on the 2nd September, 2021. I had responded to the invitation to attend an art therapy appointment at CAMHS, Bramblys Drive, Basingstoke with a fair amount of scepticism. I didn’t understand why I had been given access to an art therapist when what I really needed was professional insight into Meg’s mental health issues and an objective appraisal of my own parenting approach. I had made a number of informal r

18TH August, 2024, an anniversary. It was the 18th August, 2021 when I received an invitation to attend an Art Therapy appointment with Basingstoke CAMHS clinician, Sally Mungall. At first I thought that there had been a mistake and that the invitation should have been directed towards my daughter, Meg. When I brought my daughter into CAMHS, Bramblys Drive, Basingstoke on the 5th of February, 2021, it was already an emergency. Meg had been formally assessed by the CAMHS tea