What is Social Art & Therapy, or SA&T?
SA&T, when spoken sounds like Saaat, or Sart. The organisation was formed to provide social art and therapeutic services.
In mid 2011 I began to use the label 'SA&T' for social art projects I worked on and for my art psychotherapy sessions. This was with a small cluster of charities, NGOs and art organisations. In mid 2012 the social art and therapy initiative moved to within the social services - housing and health - primarily helping to create a Community Social Work Team in the London Borough of Sutton.
Three years later, in June 2015 SA&T was registered as an independent social art and therapy services provider (Ltd) aiming for a small and light structure that could develop autonomously, with a range of partnerships but without being dependent on public funding.
Due to the political climate and paperwork involved I decided SA&T would not be a charity, but where possible would contribute to services for people unable to pay, through great organisations that are already established. Although relatively young, SA&T enjoys wide reaching projects and partnerships, with trusted freelancers, collaborators, and supervisors.
Clients range from the individual attending private therapy sessions in the SA&T studio, to charities operating on a global scale.
It is with pleasure that SA&T has been doing the following:
- Providing therapy for adults and children in the art studio
- Self-care workshops for people at risk of work related stress or trauma
- Developing a method for working with people who hoard
- Providing clinical supervision for therapists and social workers
- Expert witness services: mental health reports and court attendance
- Providing therapy for MA students
- Psychological support for people threatened with deportation
- Supporting team building and contributing to corporate trainings
- Providing art therapy for child refugees
- Intergenerational project work,
SA&T, when spoken sounds like Saaat, or Sart. The organisation was formed to provide social art and therapeutic services.
In mid 2011 I began to use the label 'SA&T' for social art projects I worked on and for my art psychotherapy sessions. This was with a small cluster of charities, NGOs and art organisations. In mid 2012 the social art and therapy initiative moved to within the social services - housing and health - primarily helping to create a Community Social Work Team in the London Borough of Sutton.
Three years later, in June 2015 SA&T was registered as an independent social art and therapy services provider (Ltd) aiming for a small and light structure that could develop autonomously, with a range of partnerships but without being dependent on public funding.
Due to the political climate and paperwork involved I decided SA&T would not be a charity, but where possible would contribute to services for people unable to pay, through great organisations that are already established. Although relatively young, SA&T enjoys wide reaching projects and partnerships, with trusted freelancers, collaborators, and supervisors.
Clients range from the individual attending private therapy sessions in the SA&T studio, to charities operating on a global scale.
It is with pleasure that SA&T has been doing the following:
- Providing therapy for adults and children in the art studio
- Self-care workshops for people at risk of work related stress or trauma
- Developing a method for working with people who hoard
- Providing clinical supervision for therapists and social workers
- Expert witness services: mental health reports and court attendance
- Providing therapy for MA students
- Psychological support for people threatened with deportation
- Supporting team building and contributing to corporate trainings
- Providing art therapy for child refugees
- Intergenerational project work,
Many thanks to Goldsmiths University of the Arts London, Skoun Lebanese Addiction Centre, Ghassan Kanafani Cultural Foundation, London Borough of Sutton Council, The NHS Jubilee Health Centre, Second Floor Studios and Arts, Doctors Of The World, Freedom from Torture, Sutton Mental Health Foundation, Beth Derry, Mohamad Hafeda, Jenna Lambert, Yijing Li, Nicola Kelly and everyone else who has worked with SA&T or given advice and encouragement in these early stages; particularly the inspiring clients who persevere through both cold days and hot spells in the studio.
Lee Simmons, 2016
Lee Simmons, 2016
An update on SA&T's 10th birthday (15th June 2025)
15 June 2025 Reflections on the Term 'Social Art Therapy'
On this ten year anniversary, after thinking back to SA&T’s beginnings, I asked Chat GPT:
‘Did 'Social Art Therapy' ever exist as a movement or practice, outside of Social Art Therapy Ltd?’
The answer was quite a nice birthday present for SA&T.
'Yes, the term 'social art therapy' appears in academic writing, particularly in the late 1990s and early 2000s — but as a conceptual framework, not as a named, organised practice or collective.
- Judith Waldman (1999) and Susan Hogan (1997) used 'social art therapy' to describe an approach, not a formal model or organisation.
- It was tied closely to feminist theory, postmodern critiques, and the desire to move art therapy away from medicalised, intrapsychic frameworks.
- But it did not evolve into a named movement, school, or widely adopted identity like 'relational art therapy' or 'narrative therapy'.
In short:
- Yes, it was theorised.
- No, it did not emerge as a structured or widely practiced modality.
In practice:
Beyond the conceptual framing in literature, there’s no known organisation, training programme, or professional body using 'Social Art Therapy' as a standalone modality — except your own Social Art Therapy Ltd.
Even though SA&T wasn’t originally meant to 'be this', it’s arguably become the main living expression of the principles behind the term:
- Integrating social justice, identity, and power into therapeutic practice
- Working with clients affected by systemic trauma, displacement, and marginalisation
- Using creative methods to hold relational and community-informed spaces
- Practising beyond conventional therapy boundaries: across cultures, borders, and contexts
In a way, SA&T has enacted what others only theorised
To summarise:
Although the term 'social art therapy' appeared briefly in late 1990s academic literature—most notably through the work of Judith Waldman and Susan Hogan—it was used conceptually, not as a formalised model or movement. There was no established training route, organisation, or widely practised methodology under that name. In that sense, Social Art Therapy Ltd was never intended to 'be' this theoretical construct. Yet over time, through its commitment to social justice, relational practice, and creativity rooted in lived experience, SA&T has organically become one of the few places where the principles of social art therapy have been actively realised. What was once an idea has found quiet, grounded expression in clinical work, supervision, and teaching across borders, systems, and communities.'
Initially I named the company Social Art & Therapy, only dropping the & as it couldn't be used in domain names. Now, it's a thing :-)
15 June 2025 Reflections on the Term 'Social Art Therapy'
On this ten year anniversary, after thinking back to SA&T’s beginnings, I asked Chat GPT:
‘Did 'Social Art Therapy' ever exist as a movement or practice, outside of Social Art Therapy Ltd?’
The answer was quite a nice birthday present for SA&T.
'Yes, the term 'social art therapy' appears in academic writing, particularly in the late 1990s and early 2000s — but as a conceptual framework, not as a named, organised practice or collective.
- Judith Waldman (1999) and Susan Hogan (1997) used 'social art therapy' to describe an approach, not a formal model or organisation.
- It was tied closely to feminist theory, postmodern critiques, and the desire to move art therapy away from medicalised, intrapsychic frameworks.
- But it did not evolve into a named movement, school, or widely adopted identity like 'relational art therapy' or 'narrative therapy'.
In short:
- Yes, it was theorised.
- No, it did not emerge as a structured or widely practiced modality.
In practice:
Beyond the conceptual framing in literature, there’s no known organisation, training programme, or professional body using 'Social Art Therapy' as a standalone modality — except your own Social Art Therapy Ltd.
Even though SA&T wasn’t originally meant to 'be this', it’s arguably become the main living expression of the principles behind the term:
- Integrating social justice, identity, and power into therapeutic practice
- Working with clients affected by systemic trauma, displacement, and marginalisation
- Using creative methods to hold relational and community-informed spaces
- Practising beyond conventional therapy boundaries: across cultures, borders, and contexts
In a way, SA&T has enacted what others only theorised
To summarise:
Although the term 'social art therapy' appeared briefly in late 1990s academic literature—most notably through the work of Judith Waldman and Susan Hogan—it was used conceptually, not as a formalised model or movement. There was no established training route, organisation, or widely practised methodology under that name. In that sense, Social Art Therapy Ltd was never intended to 'be' this theoretical construct. Yet over time, through its commitment to social justice, relational practice, and creativity rooted in lived experience, SA&T has organically become one of the few places where the principles of social art therapy have been actively realised. What was once an idea has found quiet, grounded expression in clinical work, supervision, and teaching across borders, systems, and communities.'
Initially I named the company Social Art & Therapy, only dropping the & as it couldn't be used in domain names. Now, it's a thing :-)
