After a successful pilot run, No5 are delighted to be running our Creative Expressive Wellbeing Workshops again for young people aged 11-15.
There are 10 workshops which will be delivered weekly over zoom, with all creative materials sent to your home (this does include an enclosed pencil sharpener). These workshops will be delivered by Elii, a young ambassador and a qualified Arts and Health Practitioner, and there will also be a counsellor present to help create a safe space and give support if needed. The workshops will focus on healthy aspects of self, healthy behaviours, or habits. Elii and the counsellor will create an accepting, non-judgemental environment for the participants. The process of creating ‘imperfect’ art can mirror the process of self-acceptance and can help relieve stress and anxiety which supports young people to feel they have more control over their lives and choices.
Though the workshops aim to be therapeutic, they will differ from traditional therapy.
They aim to:
- ‘Focus on the undeveloped healthy aspects of people’
- ‘Encourage young people to discover their own creative energy’
- ‘Expand young peoples’ awareness and stimulate their imagination’.
- ‘Increase confidence and encourage people to be articulate’
- ‘Start with the skills and expertise of the group members’
- ‘Not focus on life’s problems or aim to work with a specific pathology’
- ‘Be non-interpretive and to allow the creative process itself to generate energy’
Feedback from previous workshop attendees:
“I have felt a lot happier… I have learned how to express myself through my doodling and drawing.”
“I enjoyed making friends and finding ways to relax”
“I feel a lot less stressed and more able to let out my emotions in a calm way… It’s been nice and its working a lot.”
“I’ve been more confident”
“I have found ways to calm myself down… It’s been really good, and I feel safe on the call [zoom] to say how I feel”
Dates of workshops:
Every Tuesday from 23rd November 2021 till the 8th February 2022, with a 2 week break over Christmas (21st and 28st December).
All workshops will be run from 5:30pm to 7:00pm and will be held on Zoom.
Taking a space on these workshops does not affect your position on the waiting list and you will still have the full counselling offer available to you.
With thanks to funding from Reading Borough Council
If you are interested in having a place on these workshops, please email No5’s Projects Coordinator, Abbie, at projects@no5.org.uk including your postal address.
Deadline for securing your place is Monday the 15th of November.
