Counselling Counselling and Therapeutic artwork with Young People After care works in a fairly unique way with Young People; their therapy is tailored to meet their own individual way of working. Person-centred therapeutic artwork is used as an aid to counselling for family and emotional problems, childhood abuse, bereavement and alcohol & drug use. After Care provides a private, safe and supportive environment for Young People during their sessions. What is counselling and therapeutic artwork?
| Young People have the facility for one session per week (more if required) with a qualified counsellor in which there will be the option to do therapeutic artwork. During sessions Young People are helped to explore, clarify and communicate their feelings and free or contain emotional energy. They reherse new ways of dealing with feelings and are helped to develop feelings of self worth. |
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| A range of art materials is available during therapeutic sessions. This provides the freedom for young people to decide how to use their session so that they can access their creative urges and communicate safely through forms and colours without restriction or censure. Therapeutic artwork facilitates their exploration, expression and understanding of their experiences. It enables Young People to express feelings which they may struggle to verbalise, it also helps to make them feel at ease so that they feel able to talk and build a working relationship with the counsellor. Once a young person begins to express and share their feelings, a process begins of restoring self-esteem often damaged through their experiences, bringing about changes in behaviour and reducing problems. |
The range of art work in sessions
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Images often represent symbolic representations of problems, for example messy and angry. In some cases the Young Person symbolically destroys artwork, for example, in work related to rape or abuse. |
| The materials chosen by Young People are invaluable to them in the expression of what is happening in their inner world. All of which can be emotionally / artistically compatible with or enhancing to a particular piece of work. Young People carry out a range of artwork such as painting, collage work and modelling. Poems, stories and miniature items are also used to prompt Young People to draw a picture or write a poem in response. |
Outcomes of this Approach
- Ways of dealing with feelings and problems are helped, reducing levels of anxiety, depression, self-harm, guilt, fear and feelings of isolation, anger and aggressive behaviour.
- Confidence building.
- Integration into the education system.
- Reduces drug use and criminal activity.
- Improved family and social relationships.
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Talking therapies used by After care The person centred approach. This is the main model used by After Care’s therapists. It is a non-directive approach, which allows the Young Person to be in control and to talk about what is important for them. The core conditions of empathy, acceptance and congruence are used to enable the Young Person to build a therapeutic relationship with their counsellor. Throughout their own unique process of therapy the Young Person will express emotions and become aware of their own beliefs and needs, self-esteem is improved enabling changes in behaviour. click here to return to our main page |
