Although I am primarily a creative arts therapist, I do offer a more ‘talking therapy’ approach for older children, teens and young people who ‘just want to talk’. Often this has some link to counselling using creative arts, but not always, as I will always be client led in my approach.
If this approach fits better for a child or young person that you know, then please feel free to reach out and discuss their individual needs with me.
Counselling Using Creative Arts
Uses established skills and techniques based in Gestalt therapy as well as drawing on the work of Carl Rogers, Virginia Axline and Phenomenological Theory. Traditional ‘talking therapy’ skills are used, but often clients are asked to explore ideas and themes using play and creative arts including sand, clay, paint and drawing to further deepen their understanding. It’s not about being an amazing artist but more about representing something complex in colour, line, and shape so that things that are unspeakable can be voiced.
Counselling works best with older children, teens, and young people so it is generally offered to clients from the top end of primary school upwards. However, I work in client-centred way, so often just blend therapy and counselling to meet the needs of my clients. The CORE 34 is used as an assessment tool at the start and the end of an episode and CORE 10 is used in each session if a client is happy to complete them.
Children’s Accelerated Trauma Technique (CATT)
Is an integrative trauma-focused therapy that helps children, teens and young people with a PTSD or C-PTSD diagnosis to overcome PTSD and complex trauma by helping them to process their traumatic memories in a safe and age-appropriate way. CATT is NICE and WHO guidance approved and was specifically designed for supporting this age group as young people have different mental and emotional capacities to process trauma when compared to adults. CATT combines creative arts therapies with cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and human rights principles into a 10-step programme and it is a holistic and client-centred intervention.
