I often come across therapies that overlap each over. I’ve recently finished a training in Drawing and Talking (D&T), which very much overlaps into therapies for anxieties, trauma and behaviours. What I really like about it is that it’s all very much from the sub-conscious mind, with which I work every day.

Where D&T differs from many other therapies is that instead of being a formal therapy it’s very much focused on the child (or adult) expressing parts of themselves, and what they may be going through internally, currently, and/or historically.

When a young child or adolescent is beginning to display unhealthy behaviours,  at school or at home, they don’t have the necessary language to express themselves, so it comes out in other ways, usually negatively, such as anger, violence, sadness, anxiety, withdrawal, etc.

However, when a child has a piece of paper in front of them, and draws whatever they like without interruption, this frees the right part of the brain (where emotions and worries are stored), to be expressed. So, in effect, the feelings and worries are expressed, safely, often allowing the child to feel better and better as the sessions progress.

The core of D&T is not for therapist intervention, or to interpret the drawing, but to allow the child to feel emotionally better.

The standard format is 12 weekly sessions of 30 minutes. The child may, or may not talk during, or after the drawing, but if a conversation takes place, the therapist only talks about the drawing, without interpretations or leading questions. The drawings are kept in their folder, and held by the therapist for safe keeping, until the end of the 12th session, at which point the child can have their work if they wish to.

Often, the drawings become progressively ‘healthier’, and by the last session the child will often feel much better. A very simple but very effective tool.

If you would like to discuss further please contact me.