Art Therapy is usually a very effective way of working with children who may be going through a difficult time. This may be due to specific changes in the child’s life, for example, divorce, bereavement, trauma, bullying, arrival of a new sibling etc. What may be difficult to put into words, or even unknown in spoken language, can be expressed through the artwork or sandtray
Additionally Art Therapy would be a recommended approach for children who are having more long-term difficulties be they in school or at home eg. specific learning difficulties, ADHD, illness, relationship issues, low self-esteem, depression etc.
The London Art Therapy Centre has art therapists who have specialised in working with children of all ages including those with special needs and autism. One of our team is an integrative child psychotherapist. There are sandtrays in every room for Jungian sandtray work. We offer short to medium term interventions and arrange appointments to fit in with school timetables.
If you would like your child to try out some art therapy for any number of reasons, we would like to meet parent/s and/or carers first to discuss the background to the referral. Thereafter we usually suggest an initial assessment session with your child, followed by a series of 6 sessions. At this point an informal review is useful to ensure your child is benefitting from the process. When needed we will liaise with schools, undertake child assessments, coordinate with teachers and write reports.
Art therapy is continuous throughout the year and is not a term-time extra-curricular. Please let your art therapist know of any family holidays or breaks so the work can be paced accordingly.
One of the unique services we offer is to provide parents and carers with parallel treatments. If you would like to have a massage or reflexology treatment while your child is seeing the art therapist, please call in advance to request an appointment.
For more complex family issues we offer family therapy and couples work with our senior psychotherapist.