I’m Lucy and I run Reason 4 Being, a creative mentoring service for children who struggled with anxiety, low self-esteem and emotional dysregulation.
I use creative art therapy and coaching conversations to help children manage their unique brains and create their own toolbox of skills to cope through life.
One of my clients, Timmy, was struggling with feeling ‘AHHH’ as he described: he felt a mixture of anger, overwhelm and overstimulation that would make him sensitive at home and at school which was affecting his mood and self-esteem.
We began working together 6 months ago, starting with weekly sessions, progressing to monthly sessions which was a huge success. When I first met Timmy we explored his emotions, his struggles, triggers and friendships, all of which were affecting his well-being.
We did this through activities like:
Timmy has managed to gain better control over his emotions, he knows how to support himself in the moment and his confidence has really improved! He now regularly tells me how amazing he is, how great his friends are and how his happiness and peace is much higher than his ‘AHHH’ feelings and sadness.
Each session I monitor this through an emotions bar chart; I ask the child to draw a bar chart, label the emotions they most feel, and we pick colours that represent that emotion for them. We then colour it in to see which emotions most are affecting him, Timmy’s now colouring his ‘AHHH’ emotions at a 2, as well as his worry and sadness and scored his happiness, peace and feeling loved at a 10!
🦸♂️ I think we really underestimate how clever and powerful children are and when they are given the right support, they are superheroes and can teach us adults a thing or two!
It is important to remember that all emotions we experience are valid and they are part of us processing what is happening to us in the moment, and that is no different for children. So, when working with children, it is not about ‘getting rid’ of anxiety, overwhelm, low mood, anger or overstimulation as they are natural responses to triggers and often help tell us something is wrong.
If you have an Autistic or ADHD child, they will often experience emotions more intensely than their neurotypical peers and that can be overwhelming for them. Sometimes big emotions require a bit more help and support, so they can manage their emotions rather than being controlled by them, and that’s where Reason 4 Being comes in.
At Reason 4 Being our creative mentoring is designed to make this process engaging, fun, impactful and most of all, helpful. No session is the same and creativity is at the heart of what we do. Timmy regularly says he gets excited for our sessions because he has ‘a lovely lady who helps him with his emotions!’
We believe that creative mentoring is the go-to new early intervention therapy for children who need that gentle support before things escalate, or for those children who get over looked at school because they are generally well-behaved. Therapy can be creative and fun as well as having a focus on learning skills to help your child manage their unique quirks.
If you are interested in our early intervention creative mentoring check out our website at reason4being.co.uk or email us at [email protected]
Please note Reason 4 Being is not a replacement service for psychiatric support and psychotherapy. There are many forms of therapy suited to each child’s needs, and you can explore this more on our website.
Please note that this story has been posted with parental permission and names have been changed to protect anonymity.
Contact details:
Instagram: @reason4beingmentoring
Email: [email protected]
*This is a sponsored post from Reason 4 Being.
