Expressive Art Workshop for parents and children
Many health studies such as research from the World Health Organization have shown that COVID-19 and related public health measures have dramatic impact on the children’s mental health such as anxiety and depression. Mental health is as important as child’s safety and wellbeing. To address this aggregating issue, we collaborated with the Hong Kong Expressive Arts Therapy Service Center (HKExAT) last April 23 and June 18 to help low-income families cope with the stress and uncertainty during the post-pandemic period.
Marina Fairfax, Project Leader of Flying Young Program and Horizon Club, invited the therapists of the HKExAT to host two special Expressive Art workshops for parents and children. Therapists Derek Lum together with some interns of Hong Kong University to conduct a workshop for a total of 15 families with children of 5-12 years old. The therapists introduced the Expressive arts therapy which adopts psychotherapeutic approach to improve mental wellbeing.
During the workshops, the therapist demonstrated some movements to express their current feelings. The families were then divided into smaller group to have some art crafts. By making some instruments for making sound and designing a dream photo, they learnt everyone has a special way to communicate with each other. Some would prefer to communicate in a loud way but some prefer in a more silent manner.
Mrs. Mok, parent of a 11 years old boy, said, “The past three years have been extremely stressful for us. We constantly worried about the health of family members, financial instability, lack of food supply, social isolation and conflicts among family members during the pandemic. The workshop was very helpful. My son and I enjoyed the bonding time very much.”
