A Monthly Drop-in Expressive Arts Workshop with TinaO
Re-Discover Your Artist Self
Once upon a time you picked up a paint brush, you jumped on things, you wiggled, you shouted with glee.
Once upon a time you didn’t judge your expression before it happened – and it was JOYFUL.
In this workshop, we’re gonna do more of that.
Re-Claim Your Expression
You might be a verbal processor, but you also might be visual, or perhaps you are a ‘mover’.
You have an astoundingly unique way of expressing yourself.
Maybe music is your thing.
Or Writing is your jam.
You communicate the way YOU do it – and it’s AWESOME.
In this workshop, the rest of the world can come to you. This is two hours of standing in the centre of your expression, your way and reclaiming what that feels like for you (’cause if you can do it in here, one day you’ll be able to do it out there).
Re-Member Inner Wisdom
Yes, I did say ‘member’.
What if ‘wisdom’ was a family member who loved you unconditionally and guided you beautifully in the direction of your life?
Yep… that’s you. Your wisdom is you, and we can develop a deeper relationship with how, when and where we listen to our ‘wise’ self.
It’s time to bring this family member back to the table, or give them the seat they deserve so they (you) can learn to trust yourself in the tricky places of your life.
Re-Design Your Relationship with Play
Play is the language of belonging.
Play can be an entry point into healing.
Play is externalized love for your inner journey.
You got this.
We’re gonna play.
REST
in the healing power of the arts.
RELAX
in your expression.
RELEASE
all the work work work work work work work.
Come and be nourished by What is Unsaid within you.
Dates and Locations
Friends Quarters – Downtown Vancouver
Address: 116 West Hastings (Hastings and Abbott). Street meter parking, or park at International Village (Tinsel Town) for 2 hours free.
FriendsQuarters (FQ) is Vancouver’s friendliest co-working, event & media space. Their dynamic space transcends traditional office environments by prioritizing the cultivation of connection and the stimulation of creativity, enhanced by the integration of cutting-edge AI tools.
Located on the edge of Gastown, just steps from Waterfront Station, Canada Place, and the Downtown Core, they offer more than just a workspace; its a thriving community of like-minded creative professionals dedicated to redefining the modern workday.
REGISTER HERE:
Who is TinaO?
“Tina is a story sleuth who helps you get to the core story of who you are”
“Tina gave me my own giant yes to trust that what I have to say matters”
“To have someone finally understand ME? Indescribable.”
“Tina is ‘big’ enough to hold what can’t be placed in a box. She creates a space space to hear what is on your heart.”
Who is Tina Overbury?
Tina Overbury is an Expressive Arts Therapist, Workshop Facilitator, Storyteller, Story Coach and Communications Specialist who works with expression, and story structure as a vehicle for human connection. She is a graduate of WHEAT – Winnipeg’s Holistic Expressive Arts Therapy Institute and works with Kate Donohue PhD, REAT as her ExAT supervisor.
As an Expressive Arts Therapist, Tina offers trauma-informed Expressive Arts Therapy to individuals, particularly teens, adults and couples who are reclaiming their voice/story after harm has occurred which can look like: broken agreements, betrayal, intimate partner violence, gender violence or arts based, spiritual or religious trauma. She places ‘what is unsaid’ at the centre of the work, recognizing the need for healing spaces where silence itself is also a voice. Through one-on-one sessions, group work, and performative storytelling experiences, Tina creates attuned, artful containers where what is unsaid can emerge—gently, safely, and in the client’s own time.
As an Expressive Artist herself, she offers visceral and restorative storytelling experiences rooted in land-based understanding, myth, mysticism, and always with a spirit of PLAY. Her recent work: OMYGOD a storytelling for reconciliation piece about ‘the women burned, the babies we buried and the Gods we have worshipped’ is a 90 minute one woman show that brings the harmscapes of two countries: Canada and scars of the Indian Residential School system, and Ireland and the atrocities of the Mother and Baby Homes together in a feminist unravelling of the harm done to women under the eye, word and rule of church and government. Her art is a way to put words to the unspeakable so that we can reclaim the life-force that lives beneath the scars.
As a Story Coach, Tina offers a step by step writing process for new and returning authors, supporting them through a five draft writing process from concept to publish. She also offers a writing community where where writers are nurtured, supported and encouraged to explore their voice and develop their storytelling craft. All writers are encouraged and challenged to grow.
What is Expressive Arts
Expressive Arts Therapy (EXAT) is a multimodal/intermodal approach of care that integrates an arts based approach, and creative arts as a way to address behavioural and mental health challenges or stressors with individuals and groups. It’s an experiential therapeutic approach that allows space for healing to happen in places where words may be limiting for what needs and/or wants to be shared.
I use a deep listening and story-based client-centered approach following the clients’ emotional, cognitive, symbolic and nervous system cues. I approach our work together with the understanding that communication is a sacred-practice. We listen together for the truth that is wanting to be known, and we will move at the speed of your willingness to be with what is emerging.
My work is influenced by Jungian psychology, Attachment Theory, Virgina Satir’s Family Therapy Model, Restorative Justice, Story work, deep listening, and aspects of performance/drama.
As an Expressive Arts Therapist, I value: listening and feeling heard, safety and feeling welcomed in, wholeness and transparency, connection, kindness, joy, play and rest. My wish for each of the clients I have the privilege to work with is that they feel safe, seen, heard, known and celebrated.
REGISTER HERE:
Lets Talk About Burnout
- 69% of Canadian workers are experiencing symptoms of burnout.
- That number has climbed steadily from 33% in 2023.
- 40% of Canadian workers say they live with constant stress, with those under 40 most affected.
This is a collective crisis, and it’s growing.
- Gen Z workers are three times more likely than baby boomers to feel disconnected at work.
- Women report significantly lower mental health scores than men
- One in two Canadian employees are affected by a mental health challenge
- Fewer than half disclose it at work, most often out of fear of what it will cost them.
We are exhausted. And we are largely doing it alone.
Research on arts-based healing shows that just 45 minutes of creative activity significantly lowers stress levels, regardless of artistic experience or background. Adults who engage in creative and cultural activities have a 32% lower risk of developing depression. Multiple studies have identified creative engagement as a pathway to emotional processing, communal meaning-making, empowerment, and post-traumatic growth.
The stories we are not sharing can be quietly running us down from the bottom up and the inside out. Finding a form for what lives inside — through word, movement, image, voice truly changes things.
Being witnessed, even by yourself, can soften your mind, open your heart and relax your body.
You deserve this space. Come as you are.
Free or By Donation — Paying It Forward
These workshops are offered free or by donation, with a recommended contribution of $20.
Every dollar of profit goes directly toward supporting marginalized people who have limited access to funding for therapy — with a specific focus on those healing from intimate partner violence, gender-based violence, and arts-based, spiritual, or religious trauma.
If you can give, please do. If you can’t right now, come anyway. This evening is for you!
Who Can Join In?
No arts experience necessary.
You don’t need to have picked up a paintbrush in years – or ever.
These workshops are for you if:
- you don’t think of yourself an artist
- you’ve had a bad experience in an art class before
- you find groups uncomfortable
- you aren’t quite sure what brought you here.
They’re for you if you’re neurodiverse, if anxiety walks in the room with you, if you’d rather just show up and do your own thing quietly in the corner. There is no performance here. You do you.
All are welcome. All are invited.
REGISTER HERE: