Emily is a 32-year-old woman who has a diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Emily initially came to Heatherwood Court Hospital and was admitted to the low secure ward, but was moved to a lower level of security following a reduction in self-harming behaviours.

What did Emily and her commissioners want to achieve?

As a team, staff, commissioners, Emily, and her family agreed on a set of goals:

• To build a therapeutic relationship with Emily
• To support Emily to engage in educational activities
• To facilitate Emily’s passion for creative arts
• To support Emily to achieve employment
• To step down from a low secure unit into a community home

What did we do to achieve these goals?

Prior to admission to Heatherwood Court, Emily had achieved degrees in Fine Art and Photography. The Life Skills Team created tailored activity sessions within these areas for Emily, enabling them to build positive therapeutic relationships with her. Emily took part in weekly art sessions which she really enjoyed, and engaged extremely well.

Emily displayed high levels of skill in her work, so the team introduced her to the Koestler Awards – an annual awards hosted by Koestler Arts, a UK-based charity that helps ex-offenders, secure patients, and individuals within the Criminal Justice System to express themselves creatively and have their contributions to the arts recognised.

Emily decided to enter the awards, increasing her weekly art sessions to twice a week to work on her entries, and made significant progress in her recovery as she felt supported and creatively fulfilled.

What were the outcomes for Emily?

Emily’s painting ‘Smashed Dreams’ was chosen to feature in official advertisements for the Koestler Awards, and her work was purchased by an external buyer.

Emily began to see her art as a gateway to positive thinking and self-expression, and her confidence developed greatly.

She painted vibrant murals around Heatherwood Court Hospital, including creating colourful artworks for The Hub, and designing and painting the Motivational Road on the wall in the gym.

Emily’s artwork was exhibited at the Koestler Award’s annual exhibition at London’s Southbank Centre, where two more of her paintings were purchased.

She was supported to visit the exhibition in London in person, where she had the opportunity to explain her creative process, where she drew her inspiration from, and how she used art as a therapeutic gateway to positive thinking.