Art therapy is a form of psychotherapy that uses art media as its primary mode of expression and communication. Clients may have a wide range of difficulties, disabilities or diagnoses. These include emotional or behavioural or mental health problems, learning or physical disabilities, life-limiting conditions, neurological conditions and physical illnesses.

Dramatherapy is a form of psychodynamic therapy rooted in play. It uses the healing aspects of drama and theatre as a frame for the therapeutic process. It is a form of treatment that uses action methods (being up on our feet trying things out), stories, roles and character, poetry and images to facilitate deeply wanted change by activating the patient's inner strengths; creativity, imagination, energy, insight and power. Dramatherapy is a way of rehearsing for living. The Theatre is the natural home of Dramatherapy and the place where Theatre originated in Greek times; the theatre was the place people went to learn about living and dying and to cry and laugh at the tragedy and comedy of life. It is an appropriate place for making a therapeutic relationship with our young people because it can be private and confidential comfortable and non-shaming; it can also be playful and energising and we can helpfully use the stage and the rehearsal spaces to ‘rehearse for life’ in the course of the therapy as well as step out from behind the curtain and have our voices heard in the main theatre for a boost of confidence.

Dance Movement Psychotherapy (DMP) specialises in using body, movement and dance as tools for self-awareness, communication and expression. Dance skill is not a requirement to start the therapy and learning choreography is not what is expected in sessions. Nonetheless, creative body movement can be used to support the exploration of unconscious or difficult feelings, which may be hard to express in a direct and verbal way. DMP is a relational process where client(s) and therapist can use both verbal and non-verbal reflections. The therapeutic interventions are tailored to the client, taking into account their past experiences and present needs. DMP can be used for a range of neurological, psychological, relationship, and social problems. The embodied approach can support:

• An increase in self-awareness, self-esteem and self-expression through the integration of emotional, cognitive, physical, and social aspects of self

• Discovery of inner resources to manage sensory and nervous systems

• The development of tools through creative movement play to express or manage overwhelming feelings or thoughts

• Broadening of resources and skills in social interaction and communication

• Trust within relationships through opportunity to test interpersonal dynamics in a safe and contained environment

• Space to test the relationship between inner and outer reality and opportunity to increase and rehearse adaptive coping behaviours

• The potential for physical, emotional, and cognitive shifts as DMP promotes experiencing links between actions, feelings, and thoughts

• Exploration of relational and developmental issues arising from early infancy through to older age

Music therapy is a form of creative therapy that uses music to help clients address their specific needs, whether those needs are physical, mental, emotional, communicative, or expressive. It can be used with individual clients on a one-to-one basis, or with groups. It is grounded strongly in theories of psychoanalysis, child development, emotional expression and intelligence, and supported by a wealth of medical knowledge.

The music used is based on a system of live, equal, co-operative playing between therapist and client; the style and mood of music is often led by the client, although familiar songs and pieces can be of use too. Although the music is important, it is a means to an end; the actual content of the music doesn’t matter as much as what is being expressed through it, and a client doesn’t need to be musically talented to benefit from music therapy. At the heart of the process is the therapeutic relationship, which facilitates trust through co-working and can lead to more fluent expression for the client.