Becoming Arethusa CIC is an arts-based, trauma-informed organisation combining professional research with lived experience. Co-founded by an Art Psychotherapist and a survivor-artist- academic researcher, we create safe, expressive spaces for women to process trauma and advocate for systemic change. Our approach bridges clinical art therapy, creative empowerment, and social justice advocacy, ensuring every voice is seen and valued.

Our Funders

Our Partner Organisations

Why We Exist

  • Women navigating domestic abuse and family court systems are often retraumatized.
  • Art can give these experiences visibility while providing a path to healing.
  • We partner with commissioners, funders, and organisations to translate survivor voices into meaningful change.

Our Aims

  1. Promote healing and resilience through trauma-informed art therapy: Provide individual and group art therapy using the Power Threat Meaning Framework to support women affected by domestic abuse and the family court system.
  2. Build community understanding and professional awareness: Offer drop-in creative workshops for the wider community and professionals working with domestic abuse survivors to encourage openness, empathy, and shared learning.
  3. Drive social, cultural, and political change through art: In partnership with two key Plymouth organisations, present a two-week exhibition and one-day conference where survivor artworks inform dialogue, influence attitudes, and inspire reform within the family courts.

Our Objectives

  1. Deliver Power Threat Meaning Framework – based individual and group art therapy sessions that support recovery, self-expression, and confidence.
  2. Run community and professional drop-in art workshops to strengthen awareness, collaboration, and resilience.
  3. Curate a two-week public exhibition and one-day conference in Plymouth showcasing participants’ work and research findings.
  4. Engage strategic partners to ensure broad reach, professional credibility, and sustainable impact.
  5. Document outcomes to demonstrate how creative expression can inform family court reform and wider social change.