What we do
Our Creative Therapeutic Arts programmes for children run in different settings to meet a variety of needs.
We engage with children and young people who have experienced difficult and sometimes traumatic situations. Using art, music, drama, play and movement our therapies can offer a safe way to express feelings, process trauma and build confidence.
We run individual Creative Arts Psychotherapy sessions and Therapeutic Arts groups for children from nursery to early secondary school. Where appropriate, we offer support for families and professional staff.
More recently, during the Coronavirus pandemic, our Creative Arts Psychotherapists worked with schools to adapt our therapeutic programmes to online sessions, where possible, which ensured continued support and connection with our clients.
Referrals
Requests for children for all therapy programmes are referred to us through school safeguarding teams, children’s services or other relevant professional people.
Our Programmes
All our programmes are led by fully qualified Creative Arts Psychotherapists. They are designed to encourage children to express their feelings safely, to support them in understanding themselves and those around them and to build confidence and resilience through art, story making, poetry, drama, movement, and music.
Children do not need to be “good” at art, music or drama to access our therapy programmes and we do not teach or measure skill. Children of all backgrounds and abilities can access Creative Arts Therapies.
are living with foster, adoptive parents or guardians and coming to terms with past family histories
may be grieving a death in the family, experiencing loss or isolation
may have their own, or family mental ill health issues
have recently arrived in UK, sometimes from areas of conflict
have experienced domestic abuse or criminal activity in the family
are in danger of exploitation, drug and other abuses
Our programmes can be specially designed for those who:
Our Therapists
Our therapists and practitioners are trained to provide psychotherapeutic support in art, music and drama.
All our therapists hold a Masters degree in their therapy, are registered with their relevant health care body, are DBS checked and undergo personal supervision and on-going professional development.
Therapies that we offer:
Dramatherapy
Music Therapy
Art Therapy
Jungian Sandplay Therapy
Therapeutic Groups
We provide therapeutic music and art group sessions through our programmes such as Play Sing and Move for the under 7s (KS1), and Rebuilding Lives Through Music for 8–12-year-olds (KS2/3). The sessions are run by our trained Psychotherapists and sometimes include school staff. Group sessions might involve painting and drawing, percussion and singing, drama, movement and stories. Children can benefit from using their imagination and creativity in our therapy groups to support the development of social/communication skills, self-empowerment and the expression of complex emotions. Group programmes usually last for 8 weeks and we recommend six participants (max. 10) to address individual needs within the group.
Individual Therapy
Our individual Creative Arts Psychotherapy programmes run for a minimum of a term but usually last much longer. Individual clients are sometimes assessed in a group setting first or are referred by school or social work teams who feel they may benefit from a more tailor-made therapy. A referred child would work with one of our Psychotherapists in a variety of creative ways to support them in safely exploring their feelings in a private, non-judgemental space. Children often find it challenging to speak about difficult things that have happened, and this is where Creative Arts Psychotherapies can help them to understand and process these experiences.
Our Other Work
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Our Chance Arts practitioners also provide CPD opportunities for those working with children and families. An example of this is our Rebuilding Lives Through Music programme that combines a course that explores children’s development, trauma and behaviour with an 8-week therapeutic Music and Drama group for vulnerable children, support staff and music teachers.
Our programmes help us to assess the needs of vulnerable children and find new ways to support and empower them, through working holistically with school staff, social work teams and families.
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We provide regular placements for Social Work students who attend universities in London, currently working with students from the University of East London.