Monthly Archives: February 2010

Playtherapy

Playtherapy is aimed principally at children and adolescents.

It uses the natural expression of the child – play – in all its forms and stages of development.

It is applied diagnostically, preventively and therapeutically.

Playtherapy through the security of the imaginary encourages and facilitates both the child and adolescent to:

  • Process experiences of the past and present
  • Discover his or her personal potential
  • Broaden his or her means of creative expression

Application

Individaul Playtherapy

Group playtherapy

The aims of the group are to:

  • widen the child’s fields of interest
  • discover their creative skills
  • stimulate their imagination
  • develop their psychokinetic expression
  • cultivate their interpersonal skills
  • enable them to express feelings through movement and speech
  • help them to accept and adhere to the conventions of the group

Prevention, evaluation and therapy

As a science. Speech therapy is involved with the prevention, evaluation and therapy of disorders in communication (lexical or not) and speech (written or oral) of children, adolescents and adults.

Specifically:

  • Articulation disorders
  • Speech disorders (coherence, stuttering, inarticulation, etc
  • Aphasia, dysphasia in children and adults
  • Neurological disorders of speech (e.g. inarticulation)
  • Linguistic negativity
  • Delayed linguistic development

Dyslexia. How can we recognise the problem?

Dyslexia comprises a number of learning difficulties and concerns individuals who have difficulty reading, writing and spelling, incommensurate with their intellectual ability, age and educational opportunities. The characteristics of dyslexia vary from individual to individual. Some children undergo difficulties in many areas, while others have difficulties only in one area. However, if the majority of answers to the following questions are positive then it is likely that some form of dyslexia is present:

  • Does the child have particular difficulty in reading and spelling?
  • Does he/she confuse letters like ‘f’ with ‘th’, ‘b’ with ‘p’ both vocally and schematically?
  • Does he/she omit, misplace or reverse letters and/or syllables or joins words together when he/she writes?
  • Does he/she write letters back to front or confuse them with numbers (e.g. d instead of b)
  • Does he/she unjustifiably and inexplicably make repeated mistakes in spelling?
  • Does he/she have difficulty understanding the meaning of a text unless someone else reads or narrates it?
  • Does he/she have difficulty learning tables (e.g. times tables) by heart or series (e.g. months of the year)?
  • Does he/she have difficulty expressing him/herself in writing and/or orally?
  • Does he/she show a lack of interest in books and anything that involves written discourse?
  • Does he/she have difficulty copying from the board?
  • Does he/she have difficulty managing his/her studies and time?

Dyslexia can be treated with special methods of teaching that take into account the cognitive disadvantages of dyslexic children and make learning easier. Each child needs a different approach and an individual therapeutic programme.

EXPERIENTIAL SEMINAR – “The art of theatre and the special child”

Saturday: 17/4/2010, 11.00-17.00

An experiential seminar in which we approach the technique and preparation of a theatrical performance. The scenario will be chosen by those taking part in the seminar and at the end of the day a scene from the proposed theatrical work will be performed.

In the experiential project individuals with Downe Syndrome will work with the coordinator. The seminar is aimed at teachers, mental health professionals and psychotherapists.

Participation fee: 75E abd 65E for students

The seminars will be coordinated by Dr Katerina Kouroukli-Robertson, Dramatherapist, Special Teacher and certified Psychotherapist. She is a founder-member of the Greek Professional Union of Dramatherapists and Playtherapists, and is a member of the British Association for Dramatherpists and secretary of the European Union of Psychotherapists. She is also a founder member of the Institute of Dramatherapy and Playtherapy Athyrma and founder of the Therapy Centre Herma. She works as a dramatherapist and supervisor. She also works as the coordinator of the VSA Hellas special Music-Theatre group.

EXPERIENTIAL SEMINAR “Dreams and Dramatherapy”

Saturday 4 July 2009 from 10.30 to 2.30 p.m.

Hypnos and his beloved Pasithea had four children, the Dreams: Morpheus, Icelus, Phobitor and Phantasus. In this seminar we will investigate the Dreams and try to understand their secrets. We will approach our own dreams through Dramatherapy and get to know two gateways through which they proceed, the gateway of truth and the gateway of deception. The group process, bodily expression, role play, painting and constructions will contribute to the creative approach to the subject.

Group leaders:
Xenaki Hara Teacher-Dramatherapist, MA in Education. She works privately as a Psychotherapist and Supervisor and teaches at the Greek Institute of Playtherapy and Dramatherapy Athyrma.
Dr Katerina Kouroukli-Robertson, Dramatherapist, Special Teacher, Founder member of Panhellenic Professional Union of Dramatherapists and Playtherapists (PPUDP), secretary of the National Society of Psychotherapists of Greece (NSPG), member of ?,?,? and founder member and Head of Studies at the Institute of Dramatherapy and Playtherapy Athyrma.

Participation fee: 70E and 60E for students

EXPERIENTIAL SEMINAR – “The Use of therapeutic cards in Psychotherapy”

Saturday 20 September 2008 from 10.30 to 3.30 p.m.

In this seminar cards will be used as a colourful stimulus to launch the imagination. During the seminar the participants will find out how these cards can be used with small children, adolescents, adults and couples. The seminar will end with a discussion on the theoretical background of the cards.

Coordinators: Hara Xenaki Dramatherapist and Katerina Robertson Ph D Dramatherapist.

The artist within me

A group for children in which they will express themselves through the plastic arts using the stimulus of myths and fairytales. The members of the group will have the opportunity to:

  • cultivate their artistic abilities and imagination
  • learn the basic rules of drawing and painting
  • find out about a variety of materials that can be used to make constructions and paint

This group is aimed at children between the ages of 5 and 12 and lasts 1.5 hours.

Fee: 40E a month.

Coordinator: Phaedra Magrioti (Graduate of the Higher School of Fine Arts in Sculpture)

Creative writing and personal development

We begin with the premise that each of us possesses a creative urge that may not have had the opportunity to manifest itself. The aim of the seminar is to stimulate this creative potential and its expression through oral and written discourse. During this process each member will be called on to draw on material from his/her memory and imagination. The personal experiences of each of us will be processed and analysed, both on an individual as well as a group level, so that they become transformed into literature.

During the group process the coordinators – the writer Elena Maroutsou and the psychotherapist/writer Katerina Kouroukli-Robertson – will prompt the inspiration of the participants using a variety of techniques and will provide them with the necessary tools to compose and write texts. At the same time, the environment will ensure the emotional security of the members and will facilitate personal expression to the extent that each member desires.

Coordinators:

Elena Maroutsou, philologist, teacher and writer.

Katerina Kouroukli-Robertson Ph. D., Dramatherapist, certified Psychotherapist and writer.

The sessions will take place every second Friday between 6.00 and 8.00 p.m.

Dramatherapeutic supervision for professionals

Supervision takes place either on an individual or group basis in parallel with the clinical practice so as to:

  • Provide a secure environment for the support of the professional/student in his/her role as therapist.
  • Broaden his/her knowledge of the relationship between therapist and client and the therapeutic process.
  • Enhance the professional’s/student’s knowledge of specific psychotherapeutic techniques.

Family or couple counselling

Family or couple counselling aims to resolve problems arising out of emotional conflicts within the family or between the couple.

Support is also given to parents by helping them develop a more positive approach to their children so that the children improve significantly through the therapeutic programmes