Art Psychotherapy for Young People
Comunication Using Materials
Art Psychotherapy offers a unique way for young individuals and children to express themselves through the use of materials, no art skills are necessary.
Our client-centered sessions provide a safe space to address challenges including trauma, attachment difficulties, selective mutism, depression, anxiety, and neurodivergent issues including ASD.
Important milestones may cause a sense of overwhelming difficulty for a young person. This may have a negative impact on the young person’s ability to transition to new experiences, develop friendships and relationships and may also contribute to academic challenges.
Learning and creativity are stalled during stress and anxiety. During these tough times it can be impossible for the young person to find the words or to identify the emotions to express themselves.
Identifying and managing emotion is essential for our mental health, relationships, socialisation, education and working lives.
How Art psychotherapy works
When a young person makes an image communication difficulties are bypassed. Image makng has been used by major theorists in Psychotherapy such as Klein, Winnicott and Jung.
Art psychotherapy is rooted in seminal Psychotherapeutic theory further developed by Vasaryheli, a Hungarian Psychotherapist who deveoped this method. Art materials are used to make an image which acts as a bridge between the young person’s unconscious thoughts and the image they create.
This form of therapy helps young people and adolescents to identify emotions and to gain insight into their inner self.
This practice of self-knowledge is necessary to promote healthy emotional maturity and phychological development to allow the young person to flourish in their social and school lives and will impact on all relationship both present and future.
The goal for each young person is individual and specific and may include improving sense of self and self-regulation to advance their journey towards emotional maturity and resilience. This then supports mature expression and improved psychosocial functioning, neurophysiological growth, confidence, and self-esteem. The goal is to identify and manage emotions in support of better mental health.
