what is doodle dialogue?

Since moving to Devon 23 years ago, I have worked in a Primary School and more recently a local High school. After completing my Degree in Education I realised I could marry up my passion for Art with supporting children, especially those living with  Special Educational Needs.

The Reggio Emilia teaching practice has had a huge impact on me and so I wanted to carry the idea into my teaching. I started an Art and Language group specifically to help children with no or very little English to help develop language skills that would actively support them in accessing the curriculum. As well as spelling interventions, speech and language groups and Art Clubs, more recently  I have been working with school-age children with  Holistic Art Therapy. I have found the Art Therapy groups or 1 to 1 interventions are proving to be valuable. So, From this “Doodle Dialogue” has evolved.

Having a daughter who was diagnosed way too late with Autism, leading to extreme anxiety, Non-Epileptic Attack Disorder and Epileptic Seizures, I have lived in experience. However, I started to notice a definite shift in her self-esteem, confidence and calmness when she was painting or drawing. 

As a parent, I was desperate for support with her anxieties but with services being fully booked or with huge waiting lists, I’ve noticed that there are very few interventions available that are not necessarily going to fix the issue. I just wanted something where my young person could find a way to ease the stress and anxiety of their worries.

I am not a qualified psychologist but I have vast amounts of experience with mentoring and allowing children and young people to use their sessions to talk through their worries or concerns safely and calmly. I enable them to be able with their voice through Doodle and Dialogue.  

I believe every child has the creativity to draw through their struggles. Allowing them the time to enjoy being creative and to explore their feelings, thoughts and emotions. The sessions can be planned around a specific topic, or they might like to create a sculpture using junk modelling, or simply explore any creative media. This is where the child can choose their art pathway, or I can lead the sessions for them to follow along.