|
|
|
Treatment Offered |
|
|
|
|
Individual Art Psychotherapy involves a one-to-one process with the client and therapist. It allows the client to become self-aware and deal with emotional and psychological issues through a collaborative process, utilizing simple art materials such as tempra paint, oil pastels, chalk pastels, markers, and clay. In this process, the art therapist facilitates the client’s non-verbal and verbal expression and understanding of the thematic patterns emerging through the art, helping their clients to discover what underlying thoughts, feelings and significance are being communicated in the artwork . Through this process, clients will not only gain insight and judgment, but develop a better understanding of themselves and the way they relate to the people around them.
|
|
|
This kind of therapy focuses upon helping couples reexamine their relationships and make changes in them to improve their lives. At times this means examining early relationships to learn how relationship patterns developed. At other times it means focusing on making significant changes in current interactions. Sometimes these changes are designed to 'fix' problems, but sometimes these new ways of behaving are 'experiments' designed to help you see a new way of thinking about your relationship.
Couples art psychotherapy aims to help partners increase their understanding of underlying problems as well as more obvious difficulties between them. It may also reduce the power of disappointments and hurts, both past and present. Thereby, freeing them to discover new ways of relating, and open a pathway to greater fulfillment both as part of a couple and as individuals.
|
|
|
Family art psychotherapy involves all the members of a nuclear or extended family. It may be conducted by a pair or team of therapists. In many cases the team consists of a man and a woman in order to treat gender-related issues or serve as role models for family members. Although some forms of family therapy are based on behavioral or psychodynamic principles, the most widespread form is based on family systems theory. This approach regards the family, as a whole, as the unit of treatment, and emphasizes such factors as relationships and communication patterns rather than traits or symptoms in individual members.
Family therapy is a relatively recent development in psychotherapy. It began shortly after World War II, when doctors, who were treating schizophrenic patients, noticed that the patients' families communicated in disturbed ways. The doctors also found that the patients' symptoms rose or fell according to the level of tension between their parents. These observations led to considering a family as an organism or system with its own internal rules, patterns of functioning, and tendency to resist change. The therapists started to treat the families of schizophrenic patients as whole units rather than focusing on the hospitalized member. They found that in many cases the family member with schizophrenia improved when the "patient" was the family system. (This should not be misunderstood to mean that schizophrenia is caused by family problems, although family problems may worsen the condition.) This approach of involving the entire family in the treatment plan and therapy was then applied to families with problems other than the presence of schizophrenia.
Purpose
Family therapy is often recommended in the following situations:
- Treatment of a family member with schizophrenia or multiple personality disorder (MPD). Family therapy helps other family members understand their relative's disorder and adjust to the psychological changes that may be occurring in the relative.
- Families with problems across generational boundaries. These would include problems caused by parents sharing housing with grandparents, or children being reared by grandparents.
- Families that deviate from social norms (common-law relationships, gay couples rearing children, etc.). These families may not have internal problems but may be troubled by outsiders' judgmental attitudes.
- Families with members from a mixture of racial, cultural, or religious backgrounds.
- Families who are scapegoating a member or undermining the treatment of a member in individual therapy.
- Families where the identified patient's problems seem inextricably tied to problems with other family members.
- Blended families with adjustment difficulties.
Precautions
Some families are not considered suitable candidates for family therapy. They include:
- Families in which one, or both, of the parents is psychotic or has been diagnosed with antisocial or paranoid personality disorder.
- Families whose cultural or religious values are opposed to, or suspicious of, psychotherapy.
- Families with members who cannot participate in treatment sessions because of physical illness or similar limitations.
- Families with members with very rigid personality structures. (Here, members might be at risk for an emotional or psychological crisis).
- Families whose members cannot or will not be able to meet regularly for treatment.
- Families that are unstable or on the verge of breakup.
|
|
|
Group psychotherapy is a form of therapy in which a small number of people meet together under the guidance of a professionally trained art psychotherapist to help themselves and one another.
Group therapy dynamic - Group therapy is like jump-start therapy. People tend to be terrified of group therapy, but it is a safe environment. And once someone feels safe in that environment, it’s really where you can pull things apart, and ask yourself what is happening here?
Group therapy helps people learn about themselves and improve their interpersonal relationships. It addresses feelings of isolation, depression or anxiety and helps people make significant changes to enhance the quality of their lives. Group therapy can be a tool to better understand conflicts in your life. Even more, it will help you to see better ways of moving beyond those conflicts in your interactions with others.
Our Approach
Our approach to group art psychotherapy utilizes the interpersonal model which assumes that each person develops his individual personality through interactions with others. We draw upon various psychodynamic theories to understand personality development, and seek to help clients identify roles and patterns first learned in their families of origin and early peer groups, and later replayed in their lives more or less consciously. These roles will naturally recur in the therapy group and you will have an opportunity in the group to learn more about them and to experiment with new ones. Each participant in the group has committed to offer honest, responsible feedback and use others’ feedback to uncover old, ineffective ways of relating. This process is also a way to learn to appreciate your strengths and resilience.
In other words, the group’s purpose is to help you know yourself better and to help group members know themselves better. As such, the group becomes a “laboratory” – a chance to learn more about your patterns of relating: how you get close to others and how you push others away, and what triggers your feelings, and how you get stuck.
Current Groups Offered:
- Children New into Foster Care
- Empowering Teens
- Child Victims of Sexual Abuse
- Children of Addicted Parents
|
|
|
This is a clinical assessment, aimed at identifying reactions and adjustment following a disclosure of abuse. Any information gathered is not intended for use as a comprehensive assessment for litigation purposes in family or criminal court – but is gathered for therapeutic reasons only. The assessment information will help determine if trauma has occurred and, if so, the specific affects it has had on the child’s functioning and development. Once this is determined, recommendations can be made for treatment strategies to meet the needs of the child and family.
|
|
|
This treatment modality is for children separated due to foster care issues but need, wish, and want to continue to see each other. These children will be helped to visit with one another without being triggered by their past experiences. The aim in working with children in this capacity is to re-establish relationships with siblings and assist in formulating new positive memories and healthier relationship experiences with each other.
|
|
|
This is a program for parents who struggle to work cooperatively on issues related to access involving their children.
Art Psychotherapy Counselling Services™ offers an opportunity for access between a parent and child to occur in a supervised setting with a therapist intervening, promoting healthy parenting , relationship building, and cooperation between the parties. This is a specialized short-term intervention aimed at assisting the parties towards non-supervised access while meeting the needs of the children. It works especially well in reintegration cases where the parent has had little or no contact with the child for quite some time, where there was a sudden departure of the parent without explanation, or misunderstanding of why the relationship changed. It works well with cases where therapy as well as supervision can be of assistance. Referrals can be made directly by the parents , lawyer , or as a result of a court order.
|
|
|
Often children who have experienced emotional disruptions have difficulty learning and focusing while in school. Working from a positive team approach, and only if requested by the parents or supportive caregivers, Art Psychotherapy Counselling Services™ is happy to work with your child’s school in order to help his or her school experience be successful.
|
|
|
Art Psychotherapy Counselling Services™ offers psycho-educational sessions that you can take advantage of in gaining knowledge of a particular diagnosis that a family member, relative, or friend may be subjected to. The common features in these types of groups is that they focus on a specific topic, they are time-limited (usually 6 – 8 sessions), and they are mainly educational in nature. Most clients find this type of group or workshop fairly comfortable to be in. Although personal sharing is welcomed as it pertains to the topic, it is not necessarily an expectation of the groups. Think of it more in terms of a workshop where you can learn new behaviors, skills and attitudes about particular diagnoses.
|
|
|
|