We're delighted to share the June cover for Therapy Today, illustrated by our brilliant artist Frances Castle. This poignant image accompanies an in-depth feature titled Anxious and Absent by journalist Heidi Scrimgeour, which explores the troubling rise in school avoidance due to anxiety, and how therapists can help.
Frances was commissioned to visualise the emotional weight of this issue and she was given a few evocative starting points including some excerpts from the article itself.
"When Alice Jones’* 13-year-old daughter first started displaying signs of anxiety about going to school, it came out of the blue... by January, Hannah was unable to attend school at all due to extreme anxiety and panic attacks. ‘She was shaking at the school gate and very tearful, which had a huge emotional impact on the whole family but especially me, as I was dropping her off each morning,’ Jones says. ‘It was very stressful, with tears all round..."
With these in mind, Frances brought her own distinctive perspective to the subject, creating a classroom scene that balances stillness and tension. The final artwork shows a child’s desk standing eerily empty, while classmates carry on around it. It’s a powerful image that echoes the feature's core message: the emotional fallout of school anxiety touches every part of a young person’s world, and it leaves a mark on the entire classroom.
As part of the creative process, Frances explored multiple visual routes and we're excited to share the evolution of the cover design here, from initial pencil concepts to the striking final artwork in full colour.
Frances Castle is known for her emotionally intelligent approach to visual storytelling. Her work often blends narrative depth with an elegant graphic style - perfect for editorial commissions that need to speak softly but hit hard. Explore more of Frances’s work in her portfolio here.
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