Therapeutic Art Techniques

Teapot Trust’s Art Therapist Tips on Supporting Your Child

Your child’s feelings have an impact on their daily function including their behaviour, productivity and creative expression. The Teapot Trusts Art Therapists have passed along some very helpful tips and reminders when interacting with your child to promote their positive wellbeing:

• Be aware: Pay attention to your child's reactions and behaviours from day to day as they indicate how they are feeling at a particular time
• Identify causes: Help your child recognise the causes that underlie the feelings they’re experiencing
• Communicate: Talking about emotions with others can be an effective way to deal with them, so make it clear that you will listen carefully to what they have to say, and offer comfort when needed
• Value self-reflection: Model and reiterate the benefits of thinking things through
• Encourage resilience: Help children develop the ability to deal effectively and creatively when things don’t go right, change, or transition
• Relationship building: Because relationships with family and friends affect the way we feel, it’s important to encourage children to build connections. Help children experience opportunities for active play, sharing, collaboration, and lots of peer and family time
• Self-esteem: Children often face uncertainties and have to cope with challenging environments or situations. Reinforcement and encouragement can strengthen children’s self-esteem and instill feelings such as optimism
• Remember the essentials: There are certain non-negotiables that sustain their well-being: safety, unconditional love, sensible and fair guidance, connectivity, honesty, and understanding and respecting their feelings