Therapeutic Art

👉 Assessing your child to determine level of maturity, developmental emotional level and overall functioning.  
👉 Building a good, trusting, therapeutic connection with your child. 

👉 Intentional use of art materials and directives based on their psychological & emotional properties to help your child with their specific challenges and meet therapeutic goals. 

👉 Structuring discussions and conversations in an intentional way to lead to better understanding & insight from your child.

👉 Having a collaborative relationship with parents through open communication to understand your child's needs and progress. 

We integrate emotional guidance, support and psycho-education and even play into sessions when appropriate. 

Additionally, creative strategies such as role-playing, scenario exploration, and relating artwork to real-life contexts are often woven in. 

All therapeutic art sessions are led by Catherine Ling, who is a certified art therapist professional. With a passion for supporting children, she creates a warm and welcoming space for your child's growth. You can read more about her here.

Art Lesson (Out to In):
Focus: In an art lesson, the focus is primarily on imparting artistic knowledge and skills from the "outside" (external) to the individual. This includes learning specific techniques, mediums, and methods.

Goal: The goal is to guide students in mastering these external techniques and creating aesthetically pleasing artworks.

Approach: The approach is structured, with instruction starting from external concepts and gradually guiding students to apply them in their work. There's an emphasis on learning and practicing external skills to create art.

Therapeutic Art (In to Out):
Focus: Therapeutic art shifts the focus from the "inside" (internal) to the external. It encourages your child to explore their inner thoughts, emotions, and experiences through creative expression.

Goal: The goal is to facilitate the externalization of internal experiences, promoting self-expression, emotional release.
Approach: The approach is more open-ended, starting from the individual's internal experiences and guiding them to externalize these through art. There's no pressure to conform to external standards or techniques; instead, the emphasis is on the individual's unique journey of self-expression and exploration. The directives are tailored to the child’s needs and challenges. This personalized approach allows the art therapist to meet the child where they are in their journey and provide support and guidance accordingly.

Through the process of creating art and engaging in therapeutic dialogue with the art therapist, children experience a range of benefits – from increased self-awareness, emotional catharsis, stress reduction, improved self-esteem, and enhanced coping skills.