Art therapist, activist and soon-to-be mother of three Hannah Elsche talks about her work, creative work, women's roles and self-image

Hannah Elsche is an MA art therapist and alternative practitioner for psychotherapy with her own studio in Berlin.

Pregnant with baby number 3, we talk to Hannah about her work as an art therapist, self-image and identities, the role of women, as well as her goals and visions, and quickly realize that we could have kept chatting forever.

1. You are an art therapist and alternative practitioner for psychotherapy. How did that come about?

After graduating from high school, I studied art education and German studies to become a teacher in Regensburg and Nuremberg. However, I was never really comfortable with the profession and the idea of ​​working as a teacher. I was passionate about my own artistic work, but the school system, with its pressure to assess and follow standards, didn't correspond at all to my understanding of art.

After my first state examination, I moved to Berlin in search of alternatives and came into contact with art therapy for the first time when a friend who was studying psychology herself told me about it.

I applied for the master's program in art therapy at the Weißensee Academy of Art and Design and was accepted. Within a very short time, I realized that working with people as an art therapist was exactly what I wanted to do.

During and after my studies, I worked in various fields, but like many women, I quickly realized that it wasn't always easy for me to get a job or work with small children.

In Germany, it's a bit of a problem with self-employment when it comes to therapies not approved by statutory health insurance. One way around this is the Heilpraktiker (Heilpraktiker Certificate) for psychotherapy, which I obtained relatively quickly. But that's all it does. It's like a driver's license and simply authorizes me to practice psychotherapy and bill private health insurance companies and a few statutory health insurance companies.

And so I implemented the idea of ​​self-employment a little faster than planned. I've been self-employed for a little over a year now, working with women on topics related to pregnancy, childbirth, the desire to have children, after (traumatic) birth experiences, or after a loss. My goal is to use creativity and the experience of being empowered to give back a measure of autonomy and self-determination at a point where everything changes. For me, the path is artistic creation.

2. Has art always played an important role in your own life?

Definitely. I can't really remember ever wanting to be anything other than an artist; whether I was penniless or not didn't really matter to me.

Even as a child, I loved drawing, painting, and working with clay. My parents supported me in this and allowed me to attend drawing and pottery classes for many years.

Art continues to play a very important role in my life. On the one hand, I enjoy looking at it, of course, but artistic work in particular is a lifeblood, a source of strength, inspiration, a break, a constant challenge, and, of course, an outlet and a way to process daily impressions.

I am firmly convinced that many of these parts can be made accessible to other people and that they can learn how to make artistic creation useful for themselves.

3. You are a mother of two children yourself. Do your personal birth experiences play a role in your work? Do you share personal experiences with your clients to help them?

I've set very strict boundaries for myself regarding what I reveal and what I keep to myself. I see it this way: each of us has our own baggage to carry, a past, a family, friends, good and bad experiences that shape us, our lives, and our actions forever. I'm certainly no exception.

Of course, my personal experiences play a role insofar as they guided me on my path in the first place. My birth experiences certainly include them. I feel comfortable sharing them and other fundamental experiences in a reflective and selective way.

After all, these are always just snippets. I keep most of it to myself because it shouldn't play a role in my work or influence the development of a (therapeutic) relationship. Specifically, this means that I can talk about the fact that I've already had a cesarean section, that I found this birth rather traumatic, and that I subsequently had a vaginal birth. Everyone can know (and, of course, see) that I'm pregnant again and also roughly when my baby will be born. I'm also happy to share anything that might help the other person open up.

If there are too many questions, it's more of a reason to examine why one might want to distract from one's own experiences. The underlying principle is that therapy should be exclusively about the clients. Here, they are allowed to be who they are at the moment. They are the focus. Essentially, the clients dictate the topics; they are the ones around whom everything revolves; they are the experts in their individual world of experience, who receive my full attention, my professionalism, and my artistic expertise. Everything else is unimportant for therapy.

4. What does your daily work routine look like? Can you describe in more detail how art therapy works?

My daily work routine is very varied due to being self-employed. I have to admit that the actual art therapy work unfortunately takes up the least amount of time, but that's probably the same everywhere in freelance work. So I'd rather explain how an art therapy session goes:

I offer both workshops for groups and individual sessions. The one-day creative workshops incorporate art therapy elements but are not a substitute for therapy.

Clients who attend therapy regularly should attend at least five times. As with any therapy, there's often a lull after the beginning and insights that aren't necessarily pleasant. I'd like to address these so that they remain in the art therapy and don't remain unresolved.

At the beginning, I ask how everyone is doing, how their week went, and what topics they've brought up. After that, the creative process begins.

Everything that emerges comes from the clients. I studied a depth-psychological form of art therapy. This means I work psychodynamically, based on Freud, with analytical aspects, and above all, non-directive. I don't have themes or guidelines. Everything is allowed to happen, nothing is mandatory, everything is welcome, and we can work with anything.

I offer a creative working environment that encourages experimentation, a wide variety of materials, and my professional experience as an artist and art therapist. I don't expect or judge anything. Nothing really has to come out of the process, and certainly not a "pretty" picture.

Time and again, clients come to us who say they can't paint, who aren't used to not being judged, who have very high expectations of themselves, or who put themselves under pressure – just like in real life. They often experience the creative approach in art therapy as something very inspiring and positive, and feel empowered in their creativity.

For women who come for the first time and are still a bit unsure, I try to offer them some initial access through the material experience and let them try things out. Usually, things develop quickly, and often, by the second session, they're already bringing ideas. I support them in how the materials can be used, but not in what they develop.

At the end of the session or workshop, I talk to the clients about what they have created and about the process. I don't interpret anything into the images myself. Usually, everything comes from the clients themselves. It doesn't even have to be about pregnancy or birth, but these are usually the reasons why the women come. The participants always see something in their images and are quite surprised by what they recognize themselves. I then reflect back to them what I observed during the process, for example, if it was more difficult at some point, or if I felt that something was sluggish, or if they were coping very well. And I respond to what they tell me.

However, they are and remain experts on their inner images and should go home feeling good. It is important to recognize that there are ways forward, that they have resources with which they can act. The important thing in art therapy is that clients experience themselves as active, that they see that they have achieved something and have overcome paralysis. That they have brought something inner to the outside, which is now visible, something they can look at or change. If they don't like the image, they can cover it up or actively change it, for example by painting over it. You can work on an image, and this very feeling can then be transferred into everyday life.

5. What do you think are the most important elements that make art a successful form of therapy?

I would say that art is something very fundamental. It is one of the oldest and most primal forms of human expression, across all cultures. Even as children, we try to express ourselves with drawing, paint, and pen. While we eventually leave this playful approach behind, the instinctive element remains to a certain extent and can be reawakened through appropriate stimuli and during an art therapy process. Because creative work awakens so many feelings and instincts that we often have no opportunity to express.

In addition, something externalized is created, something that lasts, something that makes the feelings that were present at that time tangible and visible, even years later. The works from art therapy can be brought out again or even hidden. This can also be beneficial. Some women leave their work packed away, others might hang the painting in the bedroom.

I think that's one of the greatest benefits of art therapy: doing something, being active, creating something, and then having it visible in front of you.

I find the opportunity to help others through creative work and to open up their inner world of experience to be a wonderful and fascinating approach. Especially in connection with the topics of self-determination and activating resources, art therapy can achieve fantastic results while still retaining the practical aspect.

In addition, anyone can work artistically. The approach doesn't require any introspection, reflection, or language skills. This makes it very inclusive.

6. You have asked yourself the question: " What motivates us to want to be “good pregnant women,” “good mothers,” “good partners,” or “good daughters”?"

I believe that many of us are under, or create, pressure to seemingly please others or conform to a societal image. In doing so, we tend to overlook ourselves, even though we're pushing ourselves to or beyond our personal limits, or behaving differently than our gut instincts suggest.

This is especially true for pregnant women and mothers, although of course, these aren't phenomena that suddenly appear in the context of childbearing. We're familiar with them from many other areas and have learned to behave in a conforming manner since infancy, because we need the feeling of belonging and being loved.

Our self-image, our identity, and our behavior are influenced not only by our family environment, but also by social images, media, advertising, school, and sometimes even church, etc. We grew up feeling like we have to conform to certain expectations in order to fit in well with society. Of course, this doesn't always align with our lives and our real needs.

Especially with children, where authenticity and naturalness are so highly valued, we often realize that the way we behave or have behaved is very far removed from who we are. And this conflict unfortunately leads to us feeling miserable, developing a guilty conscience, and looking for fault in ourselves. We don't want it to reflect on us, because really, all we really want is to be loved and to belong.

To be there for our children, however, it is perfectly sufficient to be a "good enough mother" (according to Winnicott), able to respond to her baby's needs, at least to the extent that the baby never feels completely abandoned. And that is the crucial point.

It's about finding compromises that provide sufficient options for everyone, not about trying to please everyone. It's about being there, meeting the most important needs, understanding, and enduring conflicts, crises, and frustration. Because we and our children cannot and must not avoid these. The important thing, and this is especially true for children, is to stay connected. We can apply this to all other aspects of life as well.

Our needs, feelings, and actions are okay and allowed to be. Especially when it comes to having children, it's important that we find our own path and are able to follow it. We owe this to ourselves and our children, and only through this will we become sufficiently good parents. It's certainly not the easiest path, but it's worth taking.

7. Do we women often put too much pressure on ourselves and expect to be the "perfect mom" all of a sudden? What are the consequences?

We definitely do. But I wouldn't look at it so one-sidedly and blame us women alone.

The truth is, no one wants to slip into the new role of "mom" unprepared, so we look for role models, consider in advance who and what we'd like to be, and believe that with the right preparation, we'll automatically slip into the role of the good, caring mother. Of course, this preparation is important, and it also lays the groundwork for us to embrace the new role. But truly preparing is simply impossible. Usually, the physical changes during the first pregnancy play a major role, and then we take advantage of offers like yoga, photo shoots, etc., and are repeatedly told that if all of this isn't done, it's a sign that not everything is being done for the child...

Unfortunately, the psychological changes are initially neglected or ignored. The pressure, which eventually becomes too much, builds up gradually and can have far-reaching consequences.

Women who do not like being pregnant, who are extremely aware of the psychological changes or fears, often feel left out and are under more immediate pressure to fulfill a certain image or fail.

The realization that one's own standards cannot be maintained often hits many women and families hard during their child's first year. Suddenly, other things become important, or the distribution of roles in the relationship has shifted. These changes must find their place. Who am I as a mother, as a pregnant woman, as a parent? How does life as a family of three even work? Am I striving to emulate a certain role model? How much do social norms influence me and my relationship? Am I putting too much pressure on myself or on us?

It won't stop for a while. It's something that's constantly evolving and functions dynamically. It's no use just tinkering with one aspect of the process. By the time we have a child, at the very latest, we've created a system in which there must be balance.

I wish that women would emancipate themselves from having to conform to certain traditional values. Only when they know what is important to them personally and that they themselves are important, when they stand up for their rights and take care of themselves, can they follow their own path and become more invulnerable.

The concept of a good enough mother could take a lot of pressure off. Because we don't have to give 120 percent of our best. We are good enough.

8. What is your vision and what are your plans for the future?

My short-term plans are relatively simple: I'm going to take parental leave for now and get to know the little one who's coming to us in peace and quiet, giving us time to bond as a family. Although I have to admit, I'm already making career plans for this time. I'm not really good at sitting still and letting my self-employment rest... Because, admittedly, my ideas are becoming more and more frequent.

With my work, I want to create a space, not just through art therapy, where women can feel comfortable and cared for, where everything is allowed, everything can stay, everything can be tried out, and the joy of creating can simply arise. My vision is also, in a figurative sense, to provide a place where it's okay and natural to simply be, to experience understanding, to express and experience feelings, or simply to do something good for yourself.

Specifically, I envision a collaborative practice or projects at some point in the future involving a strong, interdisciplinary team of smart, visionary women who share a similar understanding of mental health in relation to pregnancy and childbirth. They work hand in hand, and thus also politically, to ensure that women have better and more equal rights in our society, so that they can give birth independently and in peace, just as they wish. The goal would be for women to receive the recognition they deserve without being affected by old-age poverty, external control, trauma, and loneliness simply because, for example, they have had children—which should actually be the most normal and natural thing in the world.

That is another vision that I want to work on and as an activist at Mother Hood eV , where an incredible number of energetic, enlightened and intelligent women are involved, this is already happening on a voluntary, political level.

The physical space already exists with my studio, the vision beyond that is at least in development, and the synergies and women's solidarity that are emerging in social networks and in real life impress and inspire me greatly.

Because beyond the actual work, I would like to help create social added value by creating understanding and acceptance for female and queer lifestyles and situations.

9. Last but not least – we know you already have a few mara mea pieces in your closet. What's your current favorite?

I'm actually waiting to finally be able to wear only dresses, but summer seems to be taking its time this year and I'm slowly starting to think that I won't be able to experience a summer pregnancy anymore.

I've gotten through the winter quite well with skirts, though. Skirts with elastic, like your wild horses (I just love the color!) or the full bloom skirt, were and still are my absolute favorites because they're so easy to layer, and it doesn't matter if the tops underneath don't cover my belly. I expect to be able to wear them long after the birth. They're comfortable and quite eye-catching. Plus, they work great with flats and sneakers.

Dear Hannah – we were really looking forward to the interview with you and your answers, and thank you very much for your time and the super exciting and detailed interview! I'm sure we'll speak again.

Click here to go to Hannah's website and here to go to her Instagram account.