Art Therapy at Home Self Referrals If your child or young person needs urgent, immediate mental health support, please contact the emergency services, NHS, Samaritans (116 123) or Childline (0800 1111). Referral Criteria for Online Art Therapy In order that we can help children and young people living with chronic illness and pain in ways that are impactful, we’ve given an indication, below, of the main issues that we can support –although it is not a full list: Emotions and mental wellbeing that are impacted by their condition Worry, anxiety and/or distress caused by their diagnosis and its treatment Difficulties in expressing themselves verbally –perhaps they haven’t previously been able to engage in talking therapy or they have had limited opportunity for self-expression Low self-esteem and self-confidence Their condition is exacerbated by being socially isolated during the Coronavirus pandemic Treatment or needle phobia Requiring support in understanding their condition and its impacts Children and young people who enjoy using art materials as a way of expressing themselves or are known to be responsive to creative activities such as music, art and drama are, course, likely to benefit from art therapy. Despite having a broad referral criteria, and although some children may appear to fit the criteria, each referral received will be processed on a case by case basis, as there are some situations when we might recommend this is not the right time for a child to begin online art therapy as there are too many risk factors involved, for example, if your child has a high number of other support interventions ongoing, or where there is a current child protection investigation. In order to offer a safe and effective service that is in the best interest for the child, we will assess each individual referral to ensure that we only offer support at a time when it is safe and where the child is able to be well supported by those around them. How can I refer my child? In order to assess whether and how we can best meet your child’s needs, we ask that you complete this enquiry form in order to go through the Assessment Process, which is in place for the safety of our young people. 1. Complete and submit the referral form, which will be sent to our encrypted email address. One of our specialist art therapists will then review your form and get in touch. 2. If we feel we can meet your needs through art therapy, an art therapist will set up an initial assessment session via video call using Zoom, to gain a better understanding of you as individuals and the issues and concerns you have. 3. We provide art therapy in blocks of 8-12, meeting for one hour per week. The sessions will be one-to-one unless the assessment session highlights that working with you as a family might be more beneficial. All our art therapists are fully qualified, background checked, and registered with the Health Care Professions Council and the British Association of Art Therapists. Safety, Security and Confidentiality The information you provide in your form and through any art therapy sessions will be treated confidentially and stored securely on Teapot Trust’s encrypted storage software, Box. This information will be used primarily for the purposes of delivering the service safely and effectively – although if you consent, we may on occasion send you updates about our work. Our online art therapy sessions are run using Zoom video conferencing. We have robust security measures in place to continue our services safely and confidentially. Robust Child Protection, Adult Protection and Online Security policies and procedures have been developed to ensure the safety and security of all online sessions. Important Note Please read through the information below before completing the self-referral process. Please note, whilst we exist to support the mental health of children and young people with physical – often ‘invisible’ or ‘hidden’ - health conditions, there may be situations in which we are unable to offer support – we will only be able to provide support where we feel it is in the best interest of the child. Additional Resources Following your sessions, there are so different ways you can utilise therapeutic arts and activities at home. Children can still benefit from the art therapists' expertise through some of the art therapist videos or our at home therapeutic art exercises. Also, be sure to read through our positive mental wellbeing tips for parents and children. Manage Cookie Preferences