Group Counselling session using Art -November 12th

Venue: Kellys Girls Home

Center for Counselling conducted a half day Counselling session, for the young women of reception unit in Kellys Girls Home using Art therapy. It was  organized and funded by World Vision.

Parents workshops at Alpha School

Venue: Alpha Matriculation Hr Sec School, November 10th, 2010

Center for Counselling organized an interactive session  with the parents of 10^th and 12^th students of Alpha Matriculation Hr Sec School.

The issues that were discussed surrounded the problems and anxieties commonly faced by parents of 10th and 12th children.

Objectives
1)Both, parents and children face Exam fear due to the pressure of Expectations.This is a common problem for children who are struggling hard to perform well.Brilliant children who are anxious to keep up the expectations also face intense Exam Fear.This can have a negative impact on their performance. In order to tackle Exam fever, breathing techniques to be practiced before writing the exam were taught; this would help the child calm down and focus.

2)The program stressed the importance of physical and Emotional health of children and its crucial role in their academic performance.

3)Most of the parents stop the children from participating in any extra curricular activity, they also stop the child from continuing his/her hobby. The session stressed the negative impact of withholding the child from doing such activities. It stressed the positive impacts of hobbies and extra curricular activities that would help the child perform better in all aspects of life.



5)Motivation is a very important factor in any performance therefore we discussed  the different ways to increase a child s motivation.

Parents of 10th and 12 students


Parents Workshop for Parents of Pre schoolers on 3rd December 2010

Venue: Alpha School

An Interactive session with the parents of Preschoolers(3 to 4 ear olds) of Alpha Matriculation School was conducted by us. Some of the important issues discussed were

Nutrition

The essential nutrition required  for the particular age group [3-4] was discussed

Developmental Milestone

Physical,Cognitive and Emotional development of the children belonging to this age group were discussed.

Effective ways of parenting pre-schoolers was also one of the main objectives of the session.

Counselling Workshop for TANSACS ART Counsellors

Follow up Counseling Toolkit Training workshop for TANSACS-ART counsellors from Oct 25th- 29th
Objectives- 

1)To train the counsellors for follow up counselling in terms of improving  the

 lives of PLHA and stopping the spread of HIV via prevention with positive

2)To demonstrate the appropriate ways to use the follow up counselling toolkit with HIV clients.

Tools Applied:      
Lectures
Case studies
Role plays
Large and small group discussion
Worksheets
 Individual work and discussions
Brainstorming sessions
 Trigger Videos & activities
 Quiz

ART Counsellors training

Counsellors doing various activities

Rotary Club - Oct 21,2010

Meeting with Rotary Club Members

Psychodrama workshops

Psychodrama Workshops with Dr Herb Propper

10 & 17 Jan, 2011 - Workshop on Psychodrama for the students doing the Counselling Certificate Course of the Stella Maris College

13 to 16 Jan, 2011 - Personal growth/work group for women at ICSA, Egmore

17 & 18 Jan, 2011 - Personal growth using psychodrama, on invitation only

Expressive arts therapy workshop 27 Sept to 20 Oct, 2010

Center for Counselling is organising a series of workshops on Expressive Arts therapy. We are honored to host Jennie Kristel (to read more about Jennie look up http://centerforcounselling.blogspot.com/2009/07/art-therapy-workshop-jen-kristel.html)

Workshop One: Sept 27th until Oct 1st 2010. Below are some pictures of the work we did.

We did movement, music, art, masks, mandalas, clay, poetry writing, collage, stick wrapping and dream circle.

We did sociometry, locograms, spectograms and barometers to build group trust and safety.

It was a riot of colors and creativity while processing several emotions and feelings. Look at some of the photos taken on the last day of the workshop.

Workshop 2: Oct 4 to Oct 8, 2010

All participants were from World Vision. It was easy to put together this training as some of the participants had already attended the training I conducted last year on Child centered counselling, they came back because they had given a good feedback to World Vision. We have a history of conducting trainings with World vision either for their staff or for the children they work with directly. I am particularly thrilled that participants had come from Kolkotta, Goa, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to attend this training. A big thanks to a special person in World Vision who made this possible - Dr Anita Victor who had the faith in me, that I will recommend only the best for her and her team. We did drawing, movement, clay, collage, singing, painting, games, sculpting, puppets and creative writing.

Participants got a certificate of 25 hours of training at the end of the 5 days.

Workshop 3: Meeting the past year students.....

A small group of us met to connect with Jennie this year. Rupa, Bhuvana, Raji and I got together for some intensive work over the weekend. We did some incredible work together. Dolls, clay, murals, movement, sound and painting.

Workshop 4: Oct 11 to 13, 2010

Women's christian College - Psychology department

A special thanks to Ms Veena professor in the Psychology department and dean of the student hostel. Another ally to Center for Counselling. She never says "no" to any of my recommendations and suggestions. A big thank you to Veena - my friend and colleague.

Workshop 5: Oct 14 - 15, 2010

Stella Maris College - Social Work Department

My own department! My college! The special connections I have has made this possible. My teachers who are so dear to me, who believe and trust me, I am ever so grateful to my department for helping my vision materialise in college.

Sr Colleen North, Mrs Sandra Joseph, Ms Benita, Mrs Sheila and the other wonderful staff for making this possible. There were 34 students and one professor who participated.

Workshop 6: 20 Oct, 2010

Faculty of Social Work Department, Stella Maris College

We had a very intense workshop as a small group. We did some very interesting and thought provoking activities. All the workshops and trainings are completed and we had another successful collaboration with Jennie Kristel, Journey Works, Vermont, USA.

Expressive arts therapy course 27 Sept to 1 Oct 2010

A brief background to Expressive Art Therapy(including Art Therapy)

Art therapy has evolved since the beginning of humankind. In the 1800’s Hans Prinzhorn observed that the art of those in mental institutions seemed to help and support those doing the art by creating a place of release. It developed more strongly after World War II as Margaret Naumburg, worked with children who were dealing with trauma of losing their families and displacement from their homes. It is a gentle non judgmental approach, allowing the person to experience through art materials what is happening for them in their unconscious. “Making the unconscious, conscious”.

Through visual art, action methods such as sociometry, psychodrama, drama therapy and theatre games that promote wellness and community, clients are supported in looking at and understanding deep and often complex issues. The creative arts; drama, visual art, writing (prose and poetry) dance, storytelling and music involve creative expression as a means for healing the mind, body and spirit. The therapist acts as a guide in a co-creative process as the participant develops a relationship with her/himself through the artistic medium. In one manner, the participant removes their “conscious” ego selves in order to be able to understand the unconscious world, of feelings, spirit, and dreams. Feelings of all nature can be explored in a safe environment. Using the arts allows a person to unconsciously uncover and understand blocks through symbolic language, that keep one from going forward with their lives and dreams for the future. As one paints, moves, writes or acts from this place, one creates a dialogue with the self. One can draw or paint, dance or write from many different view points. One can go deeply into one aspect of an issue a little piece at a time in order to understand it more fully. By expressing oneself through the creative arts, one is utilizing both physical and emotional bodies to explore issues, through color, kinesthetic, shape, texture, and form. One is not limited to one art form to understanding oneself through the creative arts. The diverse arts complement each other.

The goals of this training is for participants to explore and sample the use of art therapy, in the context of supporting people in times of crisis as well as on going support.

• Theory and practice of group building through Sociometry exercises
• The theory and uses of Art as a therapeutic tool
• Neurobiological effects of trauma (or other experiences)
• Neurological effects of the use of art to treat differing psychological issues
• To practice different aspects of Art Therapy daily
• To learn about different ways to use art and therapy, in differing populations (Family, Couples, Psychiatric illnesses, Children, physically challenged, Autistic, Using for empowerment, groups and issues concerning community social action.)
• To look at the influences of Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Carl Rogers and others on the world of Art Therapy
• Ethics of Art therapy from a western perspective- Discussion of ethics from an Indian perspective.
• Leading an art therapy session, Warm up to Cool down how to do, and decide which exercise?

Although this is primarily an experiential training, there will be time for discussion, processing and sharing.

We are doing a 5 day training the 27th Sept to 1st Oct, 2010.

for registration please contact us at 9884100135

More about Jennie Kristel please look at the following link:

http://centerforcounselling.blogspot.com/2009/07/art-therapy-workshop-jen-kristel.html