Tim Head of Therapy Department, Mental Health Trust "I work with a range of people who have longstanding, deep-rooted mental health illnesses. As an art therapist I encourage patients to explore their natural creativity; the artwork they create can help us understand the issues causing their illness."

Tim is employed by the NHS in a Mental Health Trust in a large city; he is head of a department in which there are three other therapists. They all work in a hospital and in venues outside the hospital using visual arts with their patients.

You work with people individually and in groups - what sorts of people do you see?

I see a wide range of people - though they're all adults. Very mixed. But they all have a major mental illness of some kind. It might be manic depression, depression, schizophrenia; we see quite of lot of over 65s, they've often got Alzheimer's. Illnesses like these.

And working though art helps them?

Yes. I try to give them a forum where they can be creative. Not everything can be said in words, (so they can sometimes use their artwork to 'say' things they can't express in other ways). They can then talk with me, as therapist, about the things raised in their artwork ­ we can look at their lives and at their problems. This can bring about profound changes in their lives.

So it's not only about the art then, it's also about your relationship with the patients?

Definitely. It's a two-way process. We must develop a trust between us so they can talk about things that are coming up in what they paint, draw, sculpt or create in other ways. It's important for us, as art therapists, to enable people to 'let go' and not to censor their work or their thoughts. When a person makes a piece of art there is often more in it than the person realises.

Do they find this frightening then - that they may be revealing themselves to you?

Sometimes, yes. But that's where the trust comes in. Some people when they start the therapy may feel very vulnerable or fragile. We need to help them understand, for instance, that unpleasant emotions aren't something to be ashamed of, they can be accepted and, so, not be frightening. It's all part of a process towards dealing with the issues that cause the unpleasant emotions.

Do patients ever tear up their work?

Sometimes, but then that's their choice. We work with patients who do this, so that over time, they'll be able to overcome the need to destroy what they're 'saying'. We're trying to do two things in our art therapy. One is to support people's social functioning (this is especially true in group work), the other is to help patients build a route to self discovery.

What does your job as Head of Therapy Department entail?

I have a team of three other art therapists. So I support them in their work loads. For instance we often have clinical discussions when we talk over some of their cases - I come in as a kind of 'outside eye' which can be very useful. I help people in my team reflect on difficulties - this can be about patients, staff colleagues or even, say, centres where they hold sessions. Together we try and find solutions.

What was your training?

I did a degree in Fine Art then later a post graduate diploma in Art Therapy - it's now become an MA.

Are there things you don't like about your present job?

I hate the filing! I have a vision of having everything in order, but I never seem to get there. Oh yes, and there are just too many emails for a busy person to cope with.

What are the best bits?

Working with the patients - but everyone says that, that's what we come into the job for. I really like working creatively with my team, too. Leading the team, I like that, I like developing with them better ways of doing things.

Here's the kind of thing that makes the job wonderful to do. Someone comes into a session and tells me, “I hear voices all the time,” or, “people are trying to get at me,” -something like that. These thoughts are totally real to them, though I realise they are delusional - not real. Later on the patient starts to talk about real things, not imagined ones. For the first time, perhaps in years, they're making contact with someone else in the real world. They're taking their first steps on the way out of their isolation. It may be a long process, but it's a break-through moment.