Wellbeing Workshops | Incalculable

Arts-based Wellbeing Workshops

Introduction

Art has the power to heal, connect, and inspire. These creative wellbeing workshops provide a supportive space where participants can explore personal and collective experiences through artistic methods like body mapping, collage, and sculpture.

Whether you're a university researcher processing the emotional complexities of academic life, or someone navigating personal or community health challenges, these workshops offer a creative opportunity for self-expression, reflection, and connection.

Who These Workshops Are For

These workshops are designed for:

Universities and research teams: Supporting researchers' wellbeing through creative expression, fostering positive research culture, connection, and stress management.
Health and community groups: Providing a safe, reflective space to explore health experiences, identity, and resilience through participatory creative methods. This includes workshops for people with PCOS, chronic health conditions, and other shared experiences.

Wellbeing Workshops for University Researchers

A research career can be fulfilling, but it also comes with unique challenges—from job insecurity to ethical dilemmas, high workloads, and emotional demands. These creative workshops provide a safe, inclusive space for researchers to reflect, process challenges, and strengthen resilience using creative and tactile methods.

Each session is designed to foster connection, wellbeing, and self-expression while reinforcing positive research culture and peer support. Whether using clay, collage, or body mapping, participants will engage in hands-on creative exploration to navigate the complexities of research life.

👉 Workshops can be booked individually or as a package. Click here to inquire.

🧍 Body Mapping for Emotionally Demanding Research (NEW)

This workshop is designed for researchers working with emotionally complex or ethically challenging topics.
Through collaborative body mapping, participants use collage, paint, and symbolism to explore:

✔ How emotionally demanding research impacts the body and mind
✔ The emotions and responsibilities researchers carry
✔ Ways to process and build resilience

Participants work in small groups to co-create large-scale body maps, using words, images, textures, and colour to express and reflect on their experiences. The workshop provides a unique space for peer connection, shared understanding, and emotional processing.

Ideal for qualitative researchers, those working in sensitive fields, and research teams looking to build emotional support strategies.

🎭 Collaborative Clay Workshop: Strength in Research

This tactile, interactive session explores the challenges and rewards of academic life through hands-on clay work. Participants engage in sculptural exercises that encourage them to:

✔ Express their experiences of research challenges through clay

✔ Reflect on personal identity as a researcher

✔ Build a collaborative sculpture representing strengths and support

Through guided activities, attendees will sculpt, reflect, and co-create, fostering team building, trust, and a sense of collective resilience. (Optional follow-up session available for painting and finishing sculptures.)

✂️ Community-Building Collage & Card-Making Workshop

Using collage, this workshop helps researchers reflect on research culture, express gratitude, and explore their own strengths.

Activities include:

✔ Creating collages that represent the challenges and limitations of research
✔ Exploring positive research culture through expanded collage-making

✔ Designing cards of appreciation for colleagues

✔ Writing self-affirmation messages to foster confidence and self-worth

This workshop is designed to reframe challenges, encourage gratitude, and build a sense of community among researchers while identifying ways to improve research culture.

✨ Which Workshop is Right for Your Team?

Participants leave these workshops feeling more connected, refreshed, and ready to approach their work with new perspectives. Check out my reviews for valuable feedback.

All sessions can be tailored to your department’s needs. Want a combination of activities? Let's discuss a custom package!

📩 Get in touch to book a session or discuss a bespoke workshop for your team.

Wellbeing Workshops for Health and Community Groups

Creative expression is a powerful way to process emotions, explore identity, and foster healing. These workshops use creative and tactile methods like body mapping and collage to help individuals navigate their experiences in a supportive, reflective space.

Workshops can be tailored for health-focused groups, community organisations, and individuals navigating personal health journeys.

👉 These sessions can be run as one-off workshops or a series, depending on your needs.

🧍‍♀️ PCOS Body Mapping Workshop

This workshop uses body mapping to explore the emotional and physical experiences of living with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS). Through art, storytelling, and group reflection, participants:

✔ Gain deeper insight into their relationship with their body.
✔ Express emotions around PCOS through visual mapping.
✔ Connect with others who share similar experiences.

No prior art experience is needed—just an openness to explore and create.

🎨 Chronic Health & Creativity: Expressing Your Journey

This workshop is designed for individuals managing chronic health conditions, offering a creative and empowering way to:

✔ Explore the emotional impact of long-term health challenges.
✔ Express personal stories through collage, painting, and mixed media.
✔ Discover new ways to process and navigate their health journey.

The session provides a calm, reflective space where participants can create freely, connect with others, and gain a sense of agency over their narrative

✨ Ready to Book a Workshop?

All sessions can be tailored to suit the needs of your group or community.

📩 Use the form below to get in touch to discuss a workshop that fits your needs!

What to Expect

Creative Exploration: No previous art experience is needed! These workshops are designed to be accessible and nurturing for everyone.
Relaxed, Supportive Environment: Each session provides a judgment-free space where participants can freely express themselves and explore their thoughts and feelings through art.

Past Collaborations

I’ve had the pleasure of working with universities like UCL and Edinburgh University to run arts-based researcher wellbeing workshops, including a body mapping workshop for researchers conducting emotionally demanding research. I also ran a PCOS body mapping workshop for Open Art Folke 24 in Folkestone.

Get in Touch

Interested in hosting a workshop for your team, organisation, or community? Let’s work together to create a workshop experience tailored to your needs. Get in touch using the form below.