Wow! The first week of our flagship project on art therapy and youth work techniques has just wrapped up, and what a journey it has been! This training, part of our KA1 accreditation, was supported by the Portuguese Erasmus+ National Agency - Agência Nacional Erasmus+ Juventude em Ação and brought together professionals and young people facing various challenges: lack of motivation, educational struggles, limited opportunities for further studies, uncertain futures, refugee experiences, and more.
We were honored to welcome colleagues from Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Greece, Bulgaria, Malta, and Spain, alongside psychologists and social workers supporting children and teenagers, young refugee.
Why Art Therapy?
Recent studies show that over 30% of students in Portugal experience depression, and nearly 10% of Madeira's residents have been diagnosed with clinical depression, requiring medication. When we looked at data across Europe, we saw a similar reality everywhere.
Our association has worked with art therapy for years, witnessing firsthand how it empowers young people, gently guiding them towards self-awareness and emotional healing. Unlike traditional therapy, art therapy helps them uncover and address deep-seated issues in an engaging and creative way.
Despite its proven impact, art therapy remains underappreciated as a diagnostic and therapeutic tool. Recognizing this gap, we structured our training with a 50-50 approach:
50% of participants were experienced specialists (psychologists, social workers, and youth workers) already using art therapy in their practice. Through collaboration, we enriched our program with new techniques and perspectives.
50% were newcomers, who, from the very first session—a holistic meditative energizer—fell in love with the process.
Set in an eco-quinta in Madeira surrounded by mountains and forests, with peacocks and sheep as our unexpected guests, the training blended nature, creativity, and therapeutic exploration.
Workshops That Inspired Us
So, what did we try, experiment with, and adapt to our own practices?
Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
A silent art-based team challenge where participants drew a meal that everyone could enjoy, respecting each other's dietary needs. This playful and deep activity encouraged:
Collaboration – understanding others' needs and preferences.
Empathy – thinking beyond personal choices.
Non-verbal communication – the entire exercise was conducted in silence!
A beautiful metaphor for teamwork, intercultural dialogue, and inclusivity.
Art & Storytelling
Each person contributed to a collective story by passing a ball of yarn, fostering:
Imagination – building an unexpected, evolving narrative.
Co-creation – working as a team to create a meaningful story.
Emotional awareness – reflecting on the themes that emerged from the story.
The session concluded with drawing a scene from the story, allowing participants to explore their emotional connection to the tale.
Clay & Art Mediums
Every night, we found ourselves lost in creation, long past 9 PM, realizing how the act of making art without fear of judgment can be deeply empowering.
Sculpting emotions – transforming thoughts and feelings into tangible forms.
Tactile therapy – the calming effect of working with clay.
Self-expression – allowing emotions to take shape in unique ways.
Coffee Painting & Fortune-Telling
A fun, intuitive exercise where each participant interpreted their own coffee stain drawings. This simple yet profound activity encouraged:
Mindfulness – pausing and embracing spontaneity.
Personal interpretation – finding meaning in abstract forms.
Storytelling – creating personal narratives based on the images that emerged.
Proving once again that there’s no single way to see the world through art.
Collage Technique: Visualizing Change
One of the most impactful sessions, where participants:
Visualized their dreams and personal goals.
Assessed their possibilities in a creative way.
Expressed their desire for change through an artistic vision board.
This workshop helped participants map out their aspirations while recognizing the steps needed to bring them to life.
Testing Our New Game: Resilience
We couldn’t pass up the opportunity to test our latest creation—Resilience, a game developed within other our project Empower Canvas, aimed at helping players explore emotional strength, adaptability, and mental well-being.
The feedback was so positive and insightful that we made an important decision—we will now translate the game into Russian and Ukrainian! Many of our participants work with Russian-speaking national minorities and Ukrainian refugees, and making this resource linguistically accessible will expand its impact significantly.
What’s Next?
These were just a few of the workshops we developed and tested during our training. Daily reflections allowed us to adapt techniques to different target groups, community needs, and professional backgrounds.
Now, as we wrap up, we are finalizing an e-book featuring the most effective methods and tools from our training. This free resource will be available on our website.
Moreover, each participant is now preparing their own workshop, tailored to their local community and audience, ensuring that the impact of our project extends far beyond this training.
Final Thoughts
This week reaffirmed the power of art therapy as a transformative tool for emotional well-being, social inclusion, and professional development. Whether through painting, storytelling, sculpture, or collaborative play, art therapy has the potential to break barriers, spark introspection, and build resilience.
Stay tuned for our e-book release, and let’s continue bringing creativity, healing, and self-expression into our work with young people!
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