We offer Art, Music, and Drama and Movement Therapies, designed to support a child’s development, encourage play opportunities and help children to express themselves. All therapies help to address individual physical, emotional, cognitive and social needs. Our professionally registered therapists deliver sessions in The Ark, at home or at a child’s school. We also offer therapy groups and some inreach services, such as Music Therapy in hospital, including the Neonatal Intensive Care Units at Barnet Hospital, Great Ormond Street Hospital and UCLH. Our Creative Therapies are available to the babies, children and young people that we support and their families. Our fundraising efforts help to provide this essential service that complements our clinical provision and allows us to give a holistic approach to our care.
WATCH OUR NEW FILM
We put together a video showcasing our Creative Therapies team and the incredible work that they do.
ART THERAPY
Art therapy is the non-verbal communication of feelings and emotions through art. Sessions are either guided or free-flowing, allowing the Therapist to take a very gentle, very accessible approach to support the
individual. Eleanor, our Art Therapist explains:
“Art therapy focuses on processing emotions and encouraging expression. We use a wide range of materials depending on the needs and interests of the child, from paint, pencils, cardboard and clay, to stop animation. We also use digital technology – our Magic Carpet enables children to interact irrespective of their abilities.”
DRAMA AND MOVEMENT THERAPY
Drama therapy encourages the exploration of emotions, feelings and expression.
Using a range of techniques, both verbal and non-verbal, including story making, embodiment and movement, the focus is on ‘doing’ rather than ‘thinking’. “Through play, games and role play we
allow children to explore and express how they feel,” says Pasha, our Drama Therapist. “This can be empowering, helping them to feel in control, process their emotions and build confidence and self-esteem.
“For one little boy, whose sibling had a life limiting condition and also had to cope with the death of a parent and grandparent, and a close friend moving away, drama therapy gave him the ability to explore how he felt about loss. Playing a ‘peek-a-boo’ style game let him choose when he arrived and left ‘the stage’, allowing him to explore feelings of power and reassurance that the ‘audience’ would still be there. A stark contrast to his own life experience. The result was a happier little boy with more confidence, able to regulate his emotions and talk about his sibling.”
MUSIC THERAPY
The aims of music therapy are not educational, but focused on therapeutic change and growth.
Music allows the communication of feelings and emotions too difficult to put into words or for children who are non-verbal. Beth, our Music Therapist describes the service we offer:
“Music Therapy provides the opportunity for a musical conversation that allows the child to feel heard. Drawing on the idea that we all have innate musicality, we can build a therapeutic relationship, exploring difficult
emotions and giving them a ‘voice’. At Noah’s Ark we are with families through some of the most difficult moments and the most joyful. It is a privilege to be there in those moments.”