When a young child or adolescent begins 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 Drawing & Talking 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.