Art Therapy Institute of the Redwoods

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Welcome to The Art Therapy Institute of the Redwoods

Located approximately 2 hours north of San Francisco in a tranquil setting, The Art Therapy Institute of the Redwoods has been offering workshops and courses for art therapy professionals as well as other health care and service provider professionals since 1992. Our workshops are limited to ten participants in order to provide ample opportunities for interaction. While most programs are held in Redwood Valley, a few are held at other venues.

On these pages you will find not only course offerings and schedules, but useful resources and articles.

We encourage you to explore our pages and contact us with questions or suggestions.

Strengthening Sensory-Motor Systems

It is increasingly common to identify sensory and motor delays in children with diagnoses of Attention Deficit Disorders and Bi-Polar Disorder who are referred for therapy.

In an effort to help build or strengthen these systems, I utilize some art techniques to improve and strengthen the sensory-motor systems. It works with young children and teens, and my explanation for doing these simple techniques is to strengthen particular part of the brain.

Some examples that have resulted in dramatic improvements in behavior, and improvement in school performance are discussed in my article in this newsletter. These are easy, fun, and impossible to do wrong and require very little skill or drawing ability.

The following activity is designed to enhance eye-hand coordination, visual-perceptual, and gross and fine motor skills.

Bi-lateral Scribbling: Tape 4 sheets of butcher paper to cover a large table. The papers can be taped on top of each other, as they will be removed after use and the next paper will be ready. I offer the client markers and ask them to select two, one for each hand of different colors. I then pick two of different colors. The directive is to begin scribbling when I say “go” and then follow my spoken directions. I begin with asking the child to scribble all over the paper with me. After about 30 seconds, I ask the child to make the following, in this order: random marks, back and forth horizontally, up and down vertically, make arcs like a rainbow, make the rainbow in to big circle, make the circle in to a sun, and stop. After giving the client a chance to comment if desired, I remove that paper and give them a turn to be the leader which, in my experience, is enjoyed by any age child.

After completing the child-led drawing, I remove that paper and ask them to now draw anything they want with a marker in each hand. I remind them that one side of the drawing will be way off as they are using their non-dominant hand. After this is complete, I remove the paper and the last directive is for them to tell us what to make with two hands.

I utilize this and other simple art activities which aid in development (my first directions replicate early graphic development), foster the development of the visual perceptual system, eye-hand coordination, and are fun and enlivening. The results of these activities, done for just few moments at the beginning or end of the art therapy session, have produced exciting results.

Neuro-Developmental Approaches to Treatment

It is apparent that many contemporary models of treatment for child and adolescent trauma resolution therapy utilize the integrative capacity of the brain. Several bodily based treatment models are emerging, and some are conducing large clinical trials to determine, hopefully longitudinally, the lasting effects mind/body treatment approaches. It is fascinating to see the application of neurobiology to treatment strategies emerge in depth and breadth over time.

In 2006, and most notably, Bruce Perry, MD, developed Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics (NMT) , an approach to treatment that begins with body based treatments such as massage, art therapy, play therapy, sensory-motor, and other body based therapies. I know of clinics in Oakland, California that are being trained in the model and it is being implemented elsewhere with large scale investigations. Last time I heard Dr. Perry speak, he mentioned that physical restraint procedures in one group home had been reduced from over 70 to 2 in one month of implementing the program. Dr. Perry is author of The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog & Other Clinical Tales from a Psychiatrist’s Notebook and Born for Love: Why Empathy is Essential and Endangered. More information, www.childtrauma.org

Disconnected Kids, by Dr. Robert Melillo, is the creator and cofounder of the Brain Balance Center. Dr. Melillo’s program is based on years of research and the basis of the program is the integration of the hemispheres of the brain. He claims to have treated over 1,000 children with autism, ADHD, dyslexia and other neurological disorders. Careful assessment is followed by specifically designed activities that bring the hemispheres into balance. More information, www.brainbalancecenters.com

Neuro-developmental Art Therapy is a model of treatment I developed for treating child abuse and neglect in the late 1990’s that begins with bodily based art experiences that integrate the sensory and motor systems with an approach to regulation from bodily based affective states. The goal is to create experiences to recreate those bodily based affective states that move to emotional and cognitive regulation followed by integration. The model includes a brief treatment intervention for acute traumatic episodes, and a four–stage model of treatment for developmental and attachment based child abuse and neglect.