The impact of Teapot Trust’s art therapy is clear and measurable

• 93% of children and young people make positive progress toward their goals.
• Evaluation shows children’s anxiety about their condition and/or its treatment reduced by almost 50%.

We know conclusively that our art therapy:

• reduces anxiety and prevents self-harm and suicide ideation
• supports children to cope better with their condition and not feel defined by it

  

Outcomes achieved – one-to-one, small groups and family art therapy

Outcomes for children and young people, delivered through one-to-one art psychotherapy and condition-specific art therapy small groups, focus on enabling participants to:

1. articulate feelings they might previously have struggled to understand and express
2. come to accept a diagnosis
3. successfully adhere to medicines that have unpleasant side effects through exploring coping methods
4. learn how to deal with the wider impact of their condition on daily life and relationships
5. overcome fear and anxiety and build resilience
6. not to feel defined by their condition
7. take back some control of their lives at a time when they feel they have very little

Additionally, condition-specific small groups enable participants to:

1. see beyond themselves
2. build mutually supportive friendships with others who understand what they’re going through

Family art therapy enables families under great strain (who might, for instance, be struggling to accept a child’s diagnosis, be exhausted from constant care-giving and sibling tensions) – for whom the pandemic has exacerbated the pressures they already felt – to:

1. articulate feelings in a safe space where they can hear and understand others’ perspectives
2. navigate their health journey together
3. build resilience so that the chronic condition does not define family life

 

Progress indicators

Below are examples of the materials that are used as evidence of progress having been made – each with appropriate consents.

1. children’s artwork with explanatory narrative
2. art therapists’ observations
3. case studies
4. quotes from children
5. quotes from family members
6. photography and/or filmed footage

 

Robust evaluation measures used

We use widely respected child-led goal setting and review tools, used in medical contexts, to evaluate consistently the impact of our art therapy.

• The PedsQL (Pediatric Quality of Life) tool is used for one-to-one art psychotherapy.
• The Edinburgh Warwick Wellbeing scale is used for small group work.

 

Examples of children and young people’s personal goals are:

• “I want to worry less”
• “I want to feel happier”
• “I want to process feelings about my diagnosis”
• “I want to feel less anxious about medical treatments and tests”
• “I want to reduce negative thoughts and feel more positive about my condition”
• “I want to feel more confident and build my self-esteem”
• “I want to explore stress and understand its triggers”
• “I want to cope better with the stigma of people not believing my pain”
• “I want to feel more in control of things”

 

Parent testimony