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THERAPY
Art Therapy is a type of psychotherapy that combines traditional verbal (‘talk’) psychotherapy with nonverbal communication through the creation of artwork.
At ACAD we realise the importance of understanding how Young People experience their world and the world around them. Art directives help release complex feelings that can often be difficult to express. A key aspect of this approach is that no artistic talent is required or necessary and mistakes are actively encouraged. Our qualified Art Therapist is a valuable addition to our specialist team and contributes to a Young Person’s overall care and development. These sessions are structured to meet the needs of each child through group work and individual sessions.
The following criteria describe who might benefit from a referral to our Art Therapy services:
- Involving the young person in shaping their Individualised Education Plan
- Young Persons whose verbal skills are not fully developed and are experiencing emotional difficulties
- Young People who are experiencing physical or emotional pain and have difficulty talking about what they are going through
- Those who have difficulty in verbalising their feelings
- Any Young Person in need of a non-threatening, nonverbal means of communicating
Our Art Therapy provision is also available as an outreach service to other agencies, schools, carers, families and individuals (see Outreach).
"You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation." - Plato
Play Therapy uses a variety of play and creative arts techniques (the ‘Play Therapy Tool-Kit’ to alleviate chronic, mild and moderate psychological and emotional conditions in Young People that are causing behavioural problems and⁄or are preventing Young People from realising their potential. Our Play Therapist forms a short to medium term therapeutic relationship with Young People and often works systemically taking into account and perhaps dealing with the social environment of the clients (peers, siblings, family, etc). Clinical supervision is essential.
Play therapy may be non-directive (where the child decides what to do in a session, within safe boundaries), directive (where the therapist leads the way) or a mixture of the two. Play therapy is particularly effective with Young People who cannot, or do not want to talk about their problems.
Our Play Therapy provision is also available as an outreach service to other agencies, schools, carers, families and individuals (see Outreach).
