Have you heard about narrative therapy before? I think it’s wonderful the way art and media can play a role in therapy, the way we express ourselves and communicate.
Joanna Young, who has a great blog with helpful writing advice, recently posted about MADaboutART
From their site:
MADaboutART’s HIV and empowerment programme for children and young people uses art-based and narrative therapy interventions and experiential learning to build knowledge, skills and confidence. We have established a purpose-built arts and education centre at our base in Nekkies, a township outside Knysna in the Western Cape of South Africa where we run after-schools MAD clubs where children aged 10 upwards can learn about HIV and AIDS and how to protect themselves in a fun and safe environment. We also undertake outreach work with affected and vulnerable populations, both directly and by training teachers and youth workers. We collaborate with libraries and art galleries to create HIV art competitions and community awareness exhibitions. We have just begun our first programme with pre-school children.
You can download Joanna’s Powerful Writing PDF (featuring a quote by yours truly) and make a donation to MadAbout Art on her blog post.
Storytelling is so powerful, isn’t it? So I wonder if blogging, tweeting and putting photos on Flickr counts as therapy?
So I wonder if blogging, tweeting and putting photos on Flickr counts as therapy?
Absolutely.
Shall we call it “Web Media Therapy”? I plan on running programmes.
Thanks so much for highlighting the work of MAD About Art. I find them a very inspiring charity, giving young people the chance to tell their stories and become the heroes of their own lives.
Joanna
And thanks for highlighting my blog too!
@Shai fantastic! I’ll sign up.
@Joanna you’re welcome. It certainly does seem inspiring. You’re welcome for the blog shout out – I have found it to be very encouraging, especially if I ever feel writer’s block.
i agree with shai – narrative therapy is about re-authoring our own personal story and adjusting our relationship with the world. i often use art in my practice with adolescents and adults as a way of putting them in a mind space to externalize their emotions or habits. once it is on paper it becomes easier to talk about “it” as something outside of them as a person – “it” can be handled and moved on from. i think blogging, flickr, tweeting, etc can help someone re-author their story to the world.
The term ‘narrative therapy’ forced me to ponder deeper the relationship between the visual picture and its description. ‘Thank you’ came out of itself.
I can put my feelings in words now.
I would name my painting as the meditation in color.
When the picture is done, time cames to its title – that’s the narrative part, that witness what was grasped by me.
In other words, the narrative depicts the level of our consciousness.
I want to invite you to my blog ‘discovery of oneself in my artworks’ Just click on the link http://artbytomas.blogspot.com/
I hope you will have a good time with my pictures there.
Please browse the archives and leave your comments to me.