What is Drawing and Talking?

Drawing and talking is a child-centred 1 to 1 intervention focusing on supporting the social and emotional wellbeing of children and young people. It is a safe and gentle therapeutic approach, which provides an effective way for children and young people to process emotional pain or trauma they may be experiencing.

What happens during Drawing and Talking?

Your child will work one-to-one with an adult who is a trained drawing and talking practitioner for 30 minutes, once a week over 12 sessions. Within the sessions, your child will draw anything they choose and will be encouraged to talk about feelings using storytelling language to help them make sense of their internal world.

The technique is intended to allow the child to play, by drawing a picture, and process any emotions they are holding internally in a safe and non-confrontational way, working at their own pace.

The sessions remain confidential between the child and the practitioner. At the end of each session, your child’s picture will be put into their folder and kept safely away until the next session. At the end of all the work (12 sessions), when the child is feeling better, the folder is handed back to your child for them to keep as they wish.

Drawing and talking is not intended to be used as a tool to ‘find out’ what is wrong or why the child behaves the way they do. It is not behaviour modification or used to fix a problem that a child has or is experiencing.

Practitioners do not interpret the pictures and do not ask direct questions. The technique should also not be used to replace other specialist services (such as CAMHS, psychotherapy, art or play therapy) but can be used as an interim tool whilst waiting to be seen by, CAMHS or other professionals and can also be used after referral has been completed to compliment external agencies.