Three Days In
Three days into my Master of Therapeutic Arts Practice at MIECAT, I have some surprising news.
I love it.
Over the past few weeks, I wasn't entirely convinced this course was for me. Before classes began, I wondered whether I had made a terrible mistake. I have spent most of my life in traditional education environments, earning qualifications in psychology, business, publishing, technology, and the creative arts. I like ideas, analysis, research, and structure.
MIECAT felt different from the moment I arrived.
At orientation, we spent ten minutes silently looking at another person. No talking. No problem-solving. No analysing. Just being present. I'll be honest, I thought it was strange. Very strange.
I wasn't sure I belonged.
Three days in, I can already feel something shifting.
One of the biggest lessons I've encountered so far is the idea of lived experiencing. In a world that constantly encourages us to explain, diagnose, analyse, and categorise everything, MIECAT invites us to do something we often forget: notice what is here, now.
Not what we think about an experience.
Not what it means.
Not how we should interpret it.
Just the experience itself.
I find myself noticing the patch of sunlight on the floor, the movement of leaves in the garden, the texture of clay beneath my fingers, and the feeling of walking a familiar path. These moments would once have disappeared beneath the overwhelm of daily life. Now they feel important.
The course has also introduced me to relationality, the understanding that we are constantly in relationship with people, places, objects, memories, nature, and ourselves. I found myself thinking about two eucalyptus leaves gently touching one another. The image stayed with me because it challenged my usual way of thinking. I would once have seen only two leaves. Now I find myself noticing the quiet relationships that exist all around us; the way things meet, affect one another, and share space in the world.
As part of our experiential learning, we have been creating and looking at artworks rather than simply talking about concepts. One activity invited us to choose an image that reflected something of our current experience. I selected a photograph of a long path leading towards an open clearing. The image spoke to me immediately. There are times in life when we find ourselves walking a path without being entirely sure where it leads. What stayed with me was the openness beyond the track, a reminder that uncertainty and hope can coexist, and that sometimes we simply need to keep walking.
Perhaps the most unexpected discovery has been realising that art therapy is primarily about paying attention. Paying attention to images, sensations, relationships, stories, memories, and possibilities. Paying attention to what emerges when we slow down enough to notice.
And somewhere during these first three days, something else unexpected happened. I began to imagine myself as an art therapist. Not just a student studying art therapy. An actual art therapist.
Someone who could sit alongside others in difficult times. Someone who understands the power of creativity, curiosity, compassion, and presence. Someone who can help people discover meanings that cannot always be found through words alone.
There is still a very long journey ahead. I'm sure there will be days when the concepts feel confusing, the readings feel overwhelming, and I question myself again.
But for now, I feel excited.
A few days ago, I was wondering whether I belonged here.
Today, I can't wait to see what comes next.