Help Your Child Thrive - Word from a Therapist

TOPICS IN THIS EPISODE

• What is art therapy?
• How to ensure good mental health in kids ?
• How can parents make a real difference ? 

HELPFUL  LINKS

• About the Host  - Ela Senghera 
• Start Your Transformation - Book Here
• Audiobook   Finding Love
• Get Free Brochure  -Be True You in Your Relationship
• About the Guest  - Katie Price

Transcript

Ela:       Hi Katie, welcome to the show!  

Katie: Hi Ela, thank you for having me! I'm excited to be here! 

Ela:       Can you tell me a little bit more about yourself? 

Katie: Absolutely, so as you already explained a little, I'm trained as a Drama and Arts therapist, and I work across lots of different school settings around Hertfordshire, here in the UK. I’ve been doing this for about 6 years now and within that time I've worked with lots of children with ranging needs and experiences.

Ela:       So -  Katie, some of us have heard of art therapy before, but to some of us this is a completely new term. What exactly is art therapy? 

Katie: I'm so pleased you asked this! The definition I tend to give, is simply that it’s creative counselling. And then to give you a more technical definition, it’s a non-direct form of psychotherapy. So in a session clients are encouraged to use a variety of artistic materials in order to support self expression. 

Ela:       How did you end up working in this field? 

Katie: So I actually started my working life as a support worker for children with autism and challenging behaviour, whilst also studying for my first degree in the arts. This job made me realise that the children who really need support are sometimes the ones most difficult to reach in, perhaps, “typical” ways. I started to read into different modalities of therapy and was really taken by arts therapy. And I think I had a real understanding of the importance of this type of work for children. So I left that role in order to pursue a masters degree and here we are. 

Ela:       What do you love the most about your role? 

Katie: This is my favourite question! I think, firstly, working with children. Childhood, as we know, is probably the most crucial time in one's life and I find it a real privilege to work with children during that stage of their lives. The other thing I love about my role is the diversity of the work from one session to the next, each client is an individual and so their journey of work is always completely different. Children also have this special talent to catch you off guard! You can go into the session with all the knowledge and preparation in the world but within seconds the child and the session has taken you down a completely different route, I do enjoy those moments!

Ela:       What are the most common issues in today’s children ? 

Katie: Commonly children are referred for anxiety, unregulated emotions, self harm and negative behaviour conduct. Circumstances in the child's family also play a huge part in the issues I observe. Families who have split up perhaps Illness or death in the family. I also see a lot of looked after children who have just been placed in the care system, as well as children who have undiagnosed autism or ADHD. 

Ela:       What steps can young people take to become more confident and happier?

Katie: I'm aware you’ve said, what young people themselves can do to become more confident and happier. However, I have to say that it starts with us: the parent or caregiver. Demonstrate that confidence and happiness show a child what that looks like. Also, listen to your child and I mean really listen to them, validate their feelings and what they say. Nothing builds confidence quicker than feeling seen and heard. It’s also important to encourage independence, allow them to fail and then recover, you know, celebrate their mistakes and then lastly show them love! Tell them that you love them and that you will love them no matter what. 

Ela:       And what can parents do better to help their children build resilience? 

Katie: Lead by example. You know literally demonstrate that, as a parent or caregiver, that you’ve done something you’re proud of. Equally I think it's important to model when things are difficult too. You know, a parent could say “I'm feeling nervous about this interview at work, but I know it's going to be ok because I've prepared” or something like that. Also I think we need to get better at giving permission for certain emotions. Often when children show difficult emotions we run away from them or try to ‘snap out of them’. Resilience can be built by allowing those emotions the space they need, let's not be scared of anger or worry, sit with your child and acknowledge the fact that, actually, you know how that feels and then remind them that, yeah, it's hard now, but they will recover from that feeling and you know that they’re strong enough to move through that feeling. 

Ela:       And finally where can our listeners find you? 

Katie: So you can find me on linkedin or by searching for Katie Price.