Clearing a Space with Art ~ Project Outline

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The heart of this project is sharing a skill for life with children or young adults taking their first steps towards  Self-Managing a Long Term Health Condition.

  The heart of this skill will be: Listening through the Body and seriously playful Art making.

This will be of profound and practical benefit to each participant in exploring the richness of their experience, strengthening connections within themselves and enhancing their ability to express a non-verbal bodily sense of whatever they come across inside themselves, through art making.  My intention is to be as flexible as possible towards a wide variety of situations. The project venue will most likely be in the child or yound adults' own  home, or wherever is most appropriate.

   Each child would be offered around 1Hr of attention, once a week, for 9 ~12 months.

The child’s parents and/or closest care providers will be included from the start and  invited to practice this skill too, if they wish, so that they may also benefit and be able to support each child in the same way, when the project is completed.

A preliminary meeting to offer more in depth information about the boundaries of the project would come first: then an introductory session to this way of working for the childs parents or care givers after which I would ask if the child would like to meet, to check with them if they want to participate ~ only then would we proceed. Even though the intention is to provide 9~12 months support, split into 6 week blocks ~ where possible and practical the whole process is best led by the child, letting them determine when and how the project will best move forward.

       It is vital that the project be guided by the inner sense of rightness in each child.

Tel:  0141 535 1924    Mobile: 07940 224 365   Email:  thomasbinns@hotmail.com       LTCAS has a very clear vision, supporting anyone to better Self-Manage a Long Term Condition.    

Life Support Partnerships shares that vision, of people being better equipped  to fully enjoy their    lives and seeks to expand on it by taking a vital step beyond our outer lives. This project proposes a new approach and is concerned with the dynamic balance between Outer and Inner Self Management beyond an existing view of Self-Management as described by many organisations. It is vital that we address our Inner-Self Management skills if we are to have any real hope of adopting a truly person centred approach to our Outer-Self Management and the neccessity of good quality, clear communication between Parents, children and the many agencies support us in dealing with Long Term Conditions.

This project is founded on respect for the helpful approaches that already exist and the understanding that by supporting Parents, Children and their Care workers to practice the skills of Creative Communication and Listening through the Body and add them  to whatever is already working well ~ then we can offer some real substance to the universal desire to give families the tools they need to truly enjoy their lives and give some ground to the inner voice of each parent and child.