What is Art Therapy?

It is important to know that I am not a registered Art Psychotherapist, the work I am able to deliver with pupils is a precursor to this and can support emotional health and wellbeing of pupils, through the tool box of Drawing and Talking and Art Therapy. 

I am not able to diagnose or make recommendations for my clients.  

Art therapy is a form of psychotherapy that uses art media as its primary mode of expression and communication. Within this context, art is not used as a diagnostic tool but as a medium to address emotional issues which may be confusing and distressing.

Art therapists work with children, young people, adults and the elderly. Clients may have a wide range of difficulties, disabilities or diagnoses. These include emotional, behavioural or mental health problems, learning or physical disabilities, life-limiting conditions, neurological conditions and physical illnesses.

Art therapy is provided in groups or individually, depending on clients' needs. It is not a recreational activity or an art lesson, although the sessions can be enjoyable. Clients do not need to have any previous experience or expertise in art.

The training I have received has covered the following;

• Introduction to Attachment Based & Trauma Informed art therapy 
• Primary school-based art therapy
• Art therapy with looked after children
• Co-production & lived experience
• A client's experience of art therapy for symptoms of PTSD 
• Art therapy practice with people diagnosed with Psychosis
• Attachment based art therapy within perinatal services 

What is Drawing and Talking?

 The Drawing and Talking therapeutic technique empowers a whole school approach that supports the mental health and emotional wellbeing of our entire community. Drawing and Talking is a powerful and simple child-centred therapeutic approach, our school can offer effective therapeutic intervention in-person or online, should the class be in quarantine or the child unable to be at school. Drawing and Talking Therapy sessions are 30-minutes, once a week for 12 weeks. This is perfect for children, who would otherwise go untreated, get the help they need before problems become entrenched. 

Shifting school culture from reactive to proactive

Drawing and Talking is a Tier 1/2 therapeutic intervention that complements rather than replacing the work of CAMHS, art or other specialist therapists.