My approach
The therapeutic support I provide is done in groups. The participants are linked together by a common problem. Thus, they understand, encourage and support each other, without leaving any room for judgment.
The workshop takes place in a neutral space, in which everyone can feel free to abandon themselves to creation in complete safety. The setting is designed to be enveloping and reassuring. Instantly, we leave our daily life behind and enter the imaginary world. There, everything is allowed, as long as it is done with respect for all. The basic rules are regularly reminded:
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Respect for the group and the workshop framework,
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No judgement of others, but also of oneself.
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Respect for confidentiality. What happens in this room stays in this room.
Certain moments of the workshop are ritualized, in order to reassure and ground everyone. A time of return to oneself is planned, with a short-guided relaxation, or if necessary, a more dynamic warm-up. Then, through some small games, the body is mobilized in space. Later in the session, we will often experiment with some improv, during which each one can totally abandon oneself to their imagination, and have fun playing the characters. I regularly associate other mediums with that of theater. Thus, movement, storytelling or even writing can be used during a session.
It is important to note that there is not any standard workshop. I adapt my approach according to the needs and specifics of the group I am accompanying.
In order not to put the person in difficulty, it is better not to go in am approach that is too direct. Even if links with the intimacy of each person can sometimes appear, the goal is not to voluntarily awaken traumas. I prefer to meet with the creative sensibility, the part of poetry that lies dormant in everyone. Everyone can discover this part of themselves, and dare to put it forward without feeling judged. By the “strategy of the detour” the notion of play is privileged, and the work of internal maturation of the person is done afterwards.
At different intervals, the group takes a moment to share together how they have lived this or that exercise, what went through them during their exploration, what was difficult or what brought a sense of well-being, etc.