QMLAC facilitates its first Creative Reflection Workshop
At the end of another busy semester, the QMLAC ran a creative reflection workshop, offering student advisers a way to pause and reflect on the cases and clients they have worked with over the last few months.
What is Creative Enquiry?
Creative enquiry is a way of exploring our interactions with messy, real, human life, through discussion and the arts. There is a lot of work done in this area with students in the medical school, allowing them to process, explain and explore the human dimension of their clinical work. This reflective practise is hugely beneficial to medical students’ mental health and wellbeing, and is a way in which they are encouraged to flourish (see more here: Creative enquiry and the space to flourish in medical education | Advance HE; Flourishing).
Professor Louise Younie, a professor of medical education at Queen Mary School of Medicine, has extensive experience in the creative enquiry methodology, and assisted our Public Legal Education and Street Law Coordinator, Eve Haynes, in upskilling, finding links between the work that is done with medical students in creative enquiry, and the applicability to Student Advisers working in the QMLAC.
QMLAC Pilot Workshop – December 2025
The QMLAC encourages reflective practice for all Student Advisers working with clients; students are provided with training in vicarious trauma and are required to attend post-appointment reflective discussions with their peers. Earlier this month, a pilot session was held at the QMLAC for student advisers to reflect further on their cases and client interactions through discussion and artistic enquiry. This session was a way to understand their clients, and how they processed and felt about their role in the client’s life while working on their legal advice letters.
Students were introduced to the concept, then dived straight in to exploring their cases this semester through art pieces.
Student Reflection
Blue Umbrella · Brooklyn Museum*
“Your choice, your life” reminds me of my client’s current situation. It is raining around her, and she is staring into space. It is her choice to remain stationary while it rains, standing under an umbrella that offers only temporary protection. She could have taken other steps, such as running to find shelter elsewhere and aiming for more permanent protection. Her choice may not seem perfect to someone else, but it made sense to her.
She looks dazed as she stares into space, yet she is still optimistic, as shown by the colourful scarf she is wearing. At the end of the day, the rain will stop, she will put away her umbrella, and everything will be okay.
I can truly relate; it has been the story of my adult life. I make decisions and live with the consequences, and I have no regrets because I have always believed there is a silver lining, and no situation is ever permanent.
Student Reflection
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A Bar at the Folies-Bergère | Courtauld Gallery Collection Online* Edouard Manet, 1882, Courtauld Gallery, London (Samuel Courtald Trust). Image courtesy of the Courtauld. |
A Season of Hope (i)‘, Georgie Hopton, 2018 | Tate* A Season of Hope (i), 2018, Georgie Hopton. Tate, purchased 2020. © Georgie Hopton. Photo: Tate |
Regarding the art pieces, I chose the first one since it depicts a woman who is bothered by something but still has to set her emotions aside and continue her work. I feel that my client from the SEN clinic could relate to this, because as a mother, you often have to hide your emotions and stay strong for your child.
When I was young, I loved drawing colorful flowers. I hope that my client’s child can get the education she deserves and that her mind will be free enough for her to draw colorful flowers as well, which, for me, symbolize hope. That is why I chose the second art piece.
Feedback
On attending the creative reflection session, one student fed back:
I really enjoyed how it took place after the [QMLAC] clinic closed.
I released that with all the studying and appointments, it has been a long time since I sat down in a quite space, outside of my room, and simply talked. That is something I truly appreciated.
Even though my cases did not have a huge emotional effect on me, I am sure this session would be very helpful and comforting for others who had a harder time with their cases.
We want to thank our students who took the time to get involved and welcome further exploration and collaboration in this area.
*Images included for illustrative purposes only. Copyright for these image may belong to their original creators. If you are the rights holder and prefer this image not to be used, please contact us and it will be removed.