Adam is an art psychotherapist with over 20 years’ experience working for young people and their families within NHS settings, social care, and schools. He works with our team for three days a week in our art therapy studio.

The seed to pursue a career in art therapy began for Adam when working within a specialist school for children who presented with social, emotional, and mental health difficulties. He was there employed as an art teacher, however, the communication in the art work; the particular relationship the children attached to the art making process; the art work and to the relationship with Adam himself – peaked his interest into training in art psychotherapy.

While training, Adam continued to work closely with young people who have experienced attachment disruptions, loss and trauma and the neurodiverse community. Before working at Beacon House Adam worked for 10 years in an NHS Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service. He has continued to have a special interest in working with children from such complex and vulnerable family backgrounds.

His key interest of work is in trauma, in particular, developmental trauma and attachment; and how the creative process can provide a space for healing and understanding.

Adam offers individual and group art therapy to help young people through a process of change, healing and to be able to better understand their internal world. This in turn, helps them to better manage and enjoy their external world experience, including relationships with others.

Adam also works directly with children and their parent/carers together using art-based activities in Dyadic Art Therapy sessions. This therapy is very effective to help children and parents who are experiencing particular difficulties in understanding, communicating, and enjoying each other as the process works on strengthening the dyad’s emotional bond. As well as dyadic art therapy, Adam is trained in EMDR and uses this approach to work individually with children and adolescents who have experienced trauma, and also dyadically with children and their parents.

Adam’s experience has predominately been with children and their families, however, working at Beacon House has enabled him to work with older adolescents and adults, particularly if they are interested in using creativity as a means to better understand their difficulties.

Adam lives with his family and dog in Worthing. He is lucky enough to live close to the beach and enjoys swimming, cooking, cycling and continues to find time to practise his own art making process and from time to time he exhibits his work.

Adam is registered with HCPC as an Art psychotherapist – his membership number is AS11546.

  • Licensed HeartMath Coach
    Institute of HeartMath ®, three days, April 2020
  • EMDR Training Level 1, Parts 1 – 4
    (November 2018 – May 2019), Sian Morgan
  • Children’s Accelerated Trauma Treatment
    (2012), Carly Raby through BAAT
  • MA Art Psychotherapy
    Goldsmith University, London
  • BA Fine Art Painting
    Northbrook, West Sussex
  • Contextual safeguarding for vulnerable children and adults
    Amanda Radley, 3 hours, 11th May 2022
  • The Power of the Senses; re-building sensory systems and supporting regulation in children impacted by early trauma
    Beacon House Online Training, 6 hours, May 2021
  • The Dynamic Maturational Model of attachment across the lifespan
    Dr Ben Grey, Dept of Attachment Studies, University of Roehampton (one day, May 2019)
  • Safeguarding children
    Sussex Partnership NHS Trust, 2019
  • Dyadic art therapy training
    British Association of Art Therapies, 2017
  • Children’s accelerated trauma treatment
    British Association of Art Therapies, 2011
  • Art Psychotherapy supervision training
    British Association of Art Therapies, 2009