Alice (Xin) Huang

I am currently employed by the Open Polytechnic as the team lead for the principal learning designer team. Before that I was a senior learning designer for 9 years. I am a qualified Learning and Development professional who has worked as a facilitator, training manager and instructional designer in the private and public sector within New Zealand and overseas

I have been practicing calligraphy since I was little. I enjoyed observing the interactions between ink and inkstone and feeling the brush traveling through Xuan paper, a high quality rice paper specifically made for Chinese brush calligraphy and brush painting.

 Practicing calligraphy often fills me with a sense of serenity. I can’t say I am a master but I am confident that my calligraphy skill is sound and solid. My calligraphy has been exhibited at the Odlin Gallery of the Hutt Art Centre and I have sold a few pieces. 

 Five years ago I introduced this practice to my friend Leah, a qualified counsellor. We found it was a useful practice on several levels, but first and foremost as a tool for reducing stress. This is why we call it ‘calligratherapy’.

It is a new field of therapy which is already being used in places like the UK as an alternative to Cognitive Behavioural Therapy; another one of the activities that are available to you to help with stress.