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Heads, Shoulders, Knees & Toes... & eyes & ears & mouth & nose - joining the sensory, motor, interoceptive, proprioceptive and vestibular dots. A child development model of creative intervention

Updated: Apr 2

To celebrate World Autism Acceptance Week 2024 we are offering 10% off the advertised price of our specialist course which includes self regulation activities devised by autistic CYP.

 

The Centre for Creative Therapeutic Practice is excited to launch their two-day course in Creative Therapeutic Practice to Support Children with Neurodiversity and/or Autism.  This course is endorsed by the Counselling and Psychotherapy Central Awarding Body (CPCAB).

 

⁠The significant year-on-year global increase of autism diagnoses presents a particular challenge for a Health Care system already under considerable stress. NICE guidelines recommend maximum waiting times of 13 weeks for clients referred for autism assessments, however waiting lists in the UK are generally around 5 times this length, preventing best practice from being implemented.⁠


This also means that creative therapists and other professionals are being referred more children and young people pre or post assessment and are required to adapt their interventions to address and support additional needs.

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Early creative intervention for autistic children and young people provides a unique golden opportunity to support development, social communication and emotional regulation, mitigating some of the more distressing accompanying symptoms.⁠

 

With significant experience in delivery and creative therapeutic service design for autistic children and young people The Centre for Creative Therapeutic Practice is delivering a 2 day training that will support practitioners working with autistic children and young people.

 

This course draws on researched interventions to combine theory and practice with opportunities to design effective interventions for autistic children and young people with the support of Mary Rose and Patricia. We also have the honour to include some sensory-motor exercises designed by autistic CYP.

 

Total cost for two-day course - £240 running on Friday 17th May and Saturday 18th May 2024.  There is also an optional 2 day follow up course with tuition and supervision support from Mary Rose and Patricia.


Please follow the link below for more information and don't forget to ask for your discount!




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Every Voice Matters: Using Creativity for Children's Mental Health Support


At the Centre for Creative Practice, supporting practitioners to hear children and young people’s voices is at the heart of what we do. 


Our Founding Directors Mary Rose Brady and Dr Patricia Watts highlight the role that creativity can play in helping every child and young person to have a voice.


For children and young people who may struggle with verbal communication, creative outlets such as art, music, or dance provide alternative ways to express  emotions, thoughts and experiences. 


Giving children and young people a creative outlet helps them to externalize and make sense of  their feelings.


By representing their emotions through art, children and young people can explore different aspects of themselves and their environment, helping them better understand their emotions and giving them a sense of control.


Creative activities, such as drawing or mindfulness exercises, can also help children and young people to relax and focus on inner thoughts and can offer strategies for self-regulation that can be used in a number of different settings.


Engaging in creative activities gives children and young people a sense of achievement that can positively impact their self-esteem, and showcasing their creativity also helps children and young people to build confidence. 


Being creative in a group setting can also facilitate social connection with peers and can promote a sense of belonging and shared experience.


Creativity is an effective  tool in  helping  adults to engage with children and young people and can aid important conversations about their emotional well-being and mental health.  This is all the more important for quieter voices, and for the children and young people who experience barriers to communicating verbally.


Incorporating creativity into therapeutic conversations with children and young people facilitates self-reflection, and can include activities such as journaling, personal artwork or storytelling.  


By integrating creativity with mental health awareness, children and young people’s practitioners can contribute to the overall well-being of the children and young people they support and help them to voice any issues that inhibit their well-being.


At the Centre for Creative Therapeutic Practice, we upskill the children and young people’s workforce, to recognise signs of mental health difficulties and apply creative therapeutic approaches to their practice to support children and young people effectively and timely, and in the here and now.


We are committed to supporting practitioners in their work with children and young people to facilitate therapeutic conversations through creativity and to ensure that the voices of all children and young people are heard and to promote the message that their voice matters.


For further information on how we support children and young people’s practitioners, follow the link to our services.


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"Prioritising the Mental Health of Education Staff on World Mental Health Day 2023"

To mark #WorldMentalHealthDay2023 Founding Director Dr Patricia Watts shines a light on the mental health needs of education staff.


As we mark World Mental Health Day 2023, the echoes of the challenges faced by education staff in the post-pandemic era resonate louder than ever. The nature of the education profession can lead to staff burnout due to the high levels of responsibility, workload, and emotional labour. Education staff often navigate emotionally charged environments, dealing with the diverse needs of children and young people.


The toll of stress and vicarious trauma is felt deeply within educational settings where staff work tirelessly to support the mental health needs of children and young people, and in many cases taking on a dual role to act as a buffer for the gaps in children’s mental health services. It is recognised that regular self-care can act as a protective buffer for education staff, preventing burnout and sustaining long-term well-being.


Self-care practices contribute to emotional resilience, enabling educators to feel regulated and better handle the emotional demands of their roles. Education staff also act as role models for children and young people and by prioritising self-care, they demonstrate the importance of well-being and model regulation which can teach children and young people valuable self-care strategies that can be applied out with the classroom.


The Department for Education's 'Education Staff Well Being Charter', which prioritises mentally healthy schools, underscores the critical importance of proactive measures to safeguard the mental health of those within the educational community. Recently, the TCCTP Directors had the privilege of hosting our Creative Therapeutic Self-Care for Schools programme at an all-staff wellbeing day at a secondary school in the South of England. Here we offered a safe space for school staff to consider the impact of stress on their physical and mental health and the learning environment. Staff then engaged in a number of short guided activities to implement creative therapeutic self-care into their daily school routines and support them to promote self-regulation.


Creativity is a valuable asset in education, and this is something educators usually facilitate for children and young people. The common themes we heard from educators participating in our Creative Therapeutic Self-Care for Schools programme was that ‘it felt good to have the time to do something creative for themselves, it was a relief to only focus on one activity at a time and it was satisfying to have the opportunity to complete an activity’.


We also heard from several staff that having time to be creative helped them to re-connect with what they love about their jobs and facilitated reflection on why they embarked on a career in education. Although it is not always easy to make self-care a priority with the competing demands of the role, self-care activities, such as making time for art making, mindfulness and relaxation techniques can improve concentration and overall cognitive function.


In essence, self-care is not a luxury for education staff; it is fundamental for sustaining their well-being and positively impacting the learning environment for children and young people and is an investment that pays dividends in both personal and professional realms. As we mark World Mental Health Day 2023, we encourage all education staff to take a proactive step towards prioritising their mental health and making space for self-care and creativity.


To learn more about our support for education staff, visit our website www.tcctp.org or contact us at hello@tcctp.org

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