March 7th, 2016
I had the opportunity to offer a stress management art therapy workshop to a group of high school students. I thoroughly enjoyed it and so did the students.
When I started my business, Art & Soul, I was marketing myself to women in midlife. I felt that I could help them because I was also a woman in midlife so I could relate and understand what they were going through. I did get clients in this demographic but many of them asked me to see their children or teenagers.
I ended up with a larger than expected teenage clientèle. Here is what I have noticed about teenagers doing art therapy.
1-Teenagers don't necessarily want to look at an adult while they talk. Have you ever noticed that your teenager talks to you the most when you are driving? Does your teen prefer texting you than talking to you face-to-face even though you are under the same roof? It can feel awkward to talk to an adult while they are looking at you. Eye contact in general can feel intrusive. Art therapy works because the teenage client can get to work painting, drawing or sculpting as we talk.
2-Teenagers are very creative and, it is part of their development to explore ideas, thoughts, beliefs. They are forming their sense of self and naturally turn to creative pursuits to explore different personas, ideas, beliefs and behaviors. The art is a perfect tool for this. Rather than dread the moment when they must meet with an adult and talk about problems, they can look forward to an opportunity to represent issues in a 3D, visual way, externalising and manipulating it.
3-Teenagers don't necessarily trust adults. When teenagers have been beaten or physically/emotionally abused, they may feel very vulnerable during a conversation with their therapist. They have a set amount of time and they are expected to sit down and tell this stranger what they are experiencing. The art provides an option to express information in a progressive way as trust levels grow. The therapist becomes a witness of this creative process, not an interrogator (which is how teen clients have said they feel during verbal therapy).
4-The element of choice is important to everyone, especially teenagers. My teen clients may have chosen to see me, often it is the parent who is sending them. In art therapy, they have many choices which helps them feel empowered. They choose whether to talk or create or do both at the same time. They choose which art material to use and how to apply it. They can add messages in writing on their work to provide additional information to the therapist or parent, something they wouldn't be able to say in person.
Teenagers have told me that they like having a quiet space where they can come and work at their own pace. They are very bright and enjoy observing the progression of their work when we do an art review. They notice the patterns in their work and find journaling helpful in making connections to these patterns. They are in control and feel more and more confident in their creative process. The art miroirs back to them and they gain a strong, grounded sense of who they are and what they are about. Creative exploration should be a valued part of the curriculum in high schools. Once a safe class environment is created, students could learn more compassion for one another as they each work through their issues in a creative way.
Anne Walsh
www.artnsoul.org
Showing posts with label youth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label youth. Show all posts
Wednesday, 9 March 2016
Wednesday, 24 February 2016
Teen Poverty
February 22nd, 2016
On Monday evening, I went to a meeting at The Branch Restaurant in Kemptville. The meeting was organized by the Share the Love campaign officer, Heather Sansom. I was invited to speak about the art project I facilitated at Oxford on Rideau Public School. A gentleman from Youth Centres of Canada provided sobering statistics about poverty and the results of rural poverty on our community. Robin Heald from the Kemptville Youth Centre spoke at length about the situations she encounters through her work, youth who need shelter and have nowhere to go. She described the lack of resources in our area, like shelters and, explained the difference between agencies that offer referrals and agencies that conduct referral management. The Kemptville Youth Centre can refer clients to resources in adjoining communities like the Ottawa Shelter or the Prescott Shelter which is currently conducting a pilot project. Referring means she can give clients a phone number and a telephone, the rest is up to them. Once the teenagers leave her centre, she has no idea where they ended up.
We discussed the impact of poverty on community health: inadequate food or cold homes so children get sick. We examined the correlation to dropping out of school, teen pregnancy, obesity (by eating cheap, processed food) and relocation. Youth will choose to go to the Ottawa shelter, given a choice because there are more accessible resources there and transportation. Once they get there, there is no follow-up so they may end up on the streets which can lead to drug use or prostitution. Robin would rather have referral management services. This means you actively connect youth to resources, you contact those resources for them and coordinate them accessing the services. You then follow-up for a set amount of time to ensure they are gaining the skills or contact necessary to their success. They may need job skills or assistance with housing. Once teenagers leave our area, chances are they will not return to our area.
We met Mario, the manager of the new ReStore in Kemptville who just moved to Kemptville from PEI. The Restore raises funds for Habitat for Humanity by accepting donations of used construction materials and selling them to the public, home builders etc. The money helps to pay for their next building project. Habitat for Humanity chooses a family in need and works in partnership with them to build a home. They have a mortgage but is in interest-free and adjusted according to their income. The home is theirs and they can choose to sell it once they have lived there for a year. Mario reported the many benefits for families who become homeowners. Children have a space of their own, a home they can be proud of, they have sense of ownership and learn to take care of their home, they can have people over for playdates.
Having the ReStore is good news. However, the lack of resources for teens means many local youth fall through the cracks. Robin lead a brainstorm of potential solutions. Initially, the discussion was focused on how we can gather data re: how many local teens are actually homeless, couch surfing or stuck in abusive situations. There were many suggestions including having an intranet database that social service agencies could use to enter information about teenagers who were using their services, using the youth's initials to ensure confidentiality while avoiding counting the same person twice. Others talked about policies and procedures that exist elsewhere. We could contact them and ask for their service map to learn from their experience. One success story came from Medicine Hat where homelessness became a priority and was drastically reduced. The Prescott Shelter Pilot Project is likely to expand to our area. For now, Robin encourages everyone to contact their MP and MPP and demand that the issue of teen homelessness be addressed. This is a crucial time as our Municipality is discussing policies that will affect affordable housing in Leeds-Grenville.
Anne Walsh
www.artnsoul.org
On Monday evening, I went to a meeting at The Branch Restaurant in Kemptville. The meeting was organized by the Share the Love campaign officer, Heather Sansom. I was invited to speak about the art project I facilitated at Oxford on Rideau Public School. A gentleman from Youth Centres of Canada provided sobering statistics about poverty and the results of rural poverty on our community. Robin Heald from the Kemptville Youth Centre spoke at length about the situations she encounters through her work, youth who need shelter and have nowhere to go. She described the lack of resources in our area, like shelters and, explained the difference between agencies that offer referrals and agencies that conduct referral management. The Kemptville Youth Centre can refer clients to resources in adjoining communities like the Ottawa Shelter or the Prescott Shelter which is currently conducting a pilot project. Referring means she can give clients a phone number and a telephone, the rest is up to them. Once the teenagers leave her centre, she has no idea where they ended up.
We discussed the impact of poverty on community health: inadequate food or cold homes so children get sick. We examined the correlation to dropping out of school, teen pregnancy, obesity (by eating cheap, processed food) and relocation. Youth will choose to go to the Ottawa shelter, given a choice because there are more accessible resources there and transportation. Once they get there, there is no follow-up so they may end up on the streets which can lead to drug use or prostitution. Robin would rather have referral management services. This means you actively connect youth to resources, you contact those resources for them and coordinate them accessing the services. You then follow-up for a set amount of time to ensure they are gaining the skills or contact necessary to their success. They may need job skills or assistance with housing. Once teenagers leave our area, chances are they will not return to our area.
We met Mario, the manager of the new ReStore in Kemptville who just moved to Kemptville from PEI. The Restore raises funds for Habitat for Humanity by accepting donations of used construction materials and selling them to the public, home builders etc. The money helps to pay for their next building project. Habitat for Humanity chooses a family in need and works in partnership with them to build a home. They have a mortgage but is in interest-free and adjusted according to their income. The home is theirs and they can choose to sell it once they have lived there for a year. Mario reported the many benefits for families who become homeowners. Children have a space of their own, a home they can be proud of, they have sense of ownership and learn to take care of their home, they can have people over for playdates.
Having the ReStore is good news. However, the lack of resources for teens means many local youth fall through the cracks. Robin lead a brainstorm of potential solutions. Initially, the discussion was focused on how we can gather data re: how many local teens are actually homeless, couch surfing or stuck in abusive situations. There were many suggestions including having an intranet database that social service agencies could use to enter information about teenagers who were using their services, using the youth's initials to ensure confidentiality while avoiding counting the same person twice. Others talked about policies and procedures that exist elsewhere. We could contact them and ask for their service map to learn from their experience. One success story came from Medicine Hat where homelessness became a priority and was drastically reduced. The Prescott Shelter Pilot Project is likely to expand to our area. For now, Robin encourages everyone to contact their MP and MPP and demand that the issue of teen homelessness be addressed. This is a crucial time as our Municipality is discussing policies that will affect affordable housing in Leeds-Grenville.
Anne Walsh
www.artnsoul.org
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