Weaving Art, Reflection, and Solidarity into Healing

Creating space for survivors of abuse: in a one-day workshop on coercive control, we explored what it means to reflect, create, and reclaim space – together.

In January 2024, the Violence, Abuse and Mental Health Network (VAMHN) hosted a one-day creative workshop at King’s College London, co-designed and led by survivors of coercive control. VAMHN is a cross-sector network that brings together people with lived, practice-based, and academic expertise to reduce the impact of violence and abuse on mental health.

This article is a collaborative reflection from three contributors: one, Sian Oram (Professor of Trauma and Recovery at King’s College London, and co-director of the VAMHN), who helped organise and facilitate the workshop, and two who took part as survivor-artists (Emily and an author who prefers to remain anonymous). It draws on our different roles to tell the story of a day centred around three themes identified by survivors working with the VAMHN as priorities for research and advocacy: understanding coercive control, justice for survivors, and recovery. Together, we used art to explore these themes in ways that felt safe, supported, and collectively owned.

Beginning with Conversation

The day opened with a roundtable discussion. We were invited to reflect on the themes of understanding and justice, both individually and as a group. Some of us contributed sticky notes, some spoke, and others listened. The ideas were gathered visually and discussed in dialogue – a way of ensuring all voices could be included, even if not spoken aloud.

This created a foundation for the arts-based sessions that followed. The sticky notes, questions, and exchanges helped us map shared concerns and multiple viewpoints. These have since been summarised into visual concept maps that will inform future research and learning.

Zine-making: Finding our voice through collage

Image by Dr Sharli Paphitis

Lisa Ward introduced us to zine-making – a practice with roots in social resistance and self-expression, often used to challenge systems of power and amplify voices excluded from mainstream platforms. She explained how zines have historically amplified voices excluded from the mainstream. We were shown classic techniques like collage and given access to magazines, art materials, and space.

For one of us, this was the first time being encouraged to create without instruction.

“This kind of freedom felt strange. Freedom and choice aren’t things I’m used to.”

Growing up with rigid rules and emotional abuse, freedom had often come at a cost. The workshop felt like a new experience – not just in using unfamiliar materials, but in being told that you have the freedom to do whatever you want.

“I sometimes don’t know what I want. Making decisions – especially ones that are just for me – can be intimidating. But this gave me space to explore.”

For another of us, the exercise revealed unexpected insights. As we browsed old women’s magazines to make our collages, we were surprised by how many of the relationship stories contained explicit elements of coercive control.

Stained Glass: Fragility and focus

Image by Dr Sharli Paphitis

In the glass painting session, led by Sharli Paphitis, we worked with stained glass as a symbol of vulnerability and transformation. We chose panels and painted our own designs onto them, focusing on themes of justice and resistance.

“I was nervous. I can barely paint on paper, let alone glass. But the focus on detail became meditative. I painted the word ‘LIBERATION’.”

This process offered something different from speaking or writing: a chance to step outside familiar ways of making meaning and allow emotion to take shape visually. The individual pieces we created were later brought together into a collaborative artwork.

Poetry and Crochet: Stitching experiences together

Image by Dr Sharli Paphitis

The final sessions focused on healing and recovery. Led by Ariel Collier, we began by co-writing a poem, with each of us contributing a single line drawn from our own strategies, practices, or resources for care and coping. We read and re-read the poem aloud, listening as it slowly became something more than the sum of its parts.

Crochet followed – a tactile, repetitive activity that offered a sense of calm and embodied reflection. Our individual pieces were stitched together into a collective creation.

“I’ve always used words to make sense of things. But taking part in something non-verbal let me access a different part of myself.”

For some of us, this was the first time engaging with crafts in any setting – particularly one that centred lived experience so carefully. There was no pressure to share details of our stories, but where stories were shared, they were held with care and connection.

What it Meant

This workshop wasn’t just a creative exercise. It was a structured yet flexible space to be – to explore complex experiences, to learn new ways of expressing ourselves, and to be in community without demands.

“Through years of therapy, I’ve learned how deeply ingrained a lack of choice has been for me. This workshop offered me a safe space to explore, question, and even start to believe that my voice is worth sharing.”

“It was important for me to have an opportunity to go beyond language, connecting to a different part of my experience and a different part of my self.”

The impact of the day is still unfolding. The works we created continue to be exhibited to engage others in thinking differently about coercive control – not just in terms of what it is, but how it feels, and what survivors want the world to know. Our hope is that these artworks open up conversations, challenge assumptions, and shift how coercive control is seen and responded to.

This article was collaboratively written by Sian Oram (director of the VAMHN) and two Lived Experience Action Group members and workshop participants: Emily and a participant/member who prefers to remain anonymous. It reflects our shared experience of the VAMHN Coercive Control Creative Workshop, held in January 2024.

You can see the full output by visiting: https://heyzine.com/flip-book/b8e20e68bb.html

To learn more about the Violence, Abuse and Mental Health Network or join the newsletter, visit vamhn.co.uk