Commitment to our CSR journey brought us this time round, towards a group of children out in the community who are in need of delicate care and nurturance.  Often times, this group of children is misunderstood for they communicate through challenging behaviours resulting from trauma of abuse and neglect.  Without healthy attachments, the children’s susceptibility to poor life outcomes in their adulthood is likely to be greater.

For these reasons, we chose to help the young beneficiaries at Pertapis Children’s Home - a place of Safety under the Children and Young Persons Act for abused and neglected children.  In the same vein as the charity’s mission to enable their young beneficiaries in growing to their fullest potential, our consultant Emylia Safian and her team focused the work on application of an Art and Expressive Therapies framework to value-add to PERTAPIS’ [http://www.pertapis.org.sg] portfolio of community welfare services.

Child maltreatment covers a spectrum of abuse by perpetrators, which includes neglect, physical and sexual abuse.  Within the realm of psychology, the long-term effects of chronic maltreatment when occurring early in a child’s life contribute to many psychiatric disorders and relationship difficulties in adulthood.  Challenges include alcohol and drug abuse, anxiety and depressive disorders, as well as cognitive abilities and issues to do with self-concept.

Regrettably, compared to their peers in school, common problems clouting the care for these children include people around them having low aspirations for them, the lack of foundation in learning social skills and a safe therapeutic space to ventilate their negative emotions they sometimes have no words for.  Presenting issues common in maltreated children include, for instance - appearing to lack in moral development, age inappropriate behaviours, and inability to reflect and understand behavior of others.

We saw Art and Expressive Therapies to hold a special function as a treatment modality for maltreated children as they allow for a wider range of expressive techniques beyond words and language.  The route towards healing involved bridging of both brain hemispheres through joyful learning of the ‘Self’, maintaining the free-spirited nature of childhood.

The programme we funded for Pertapis Children’s Home incorporated - visual art, music, bioenergetics, symbol work, storytelling as well as expressive writing activities within a culturally sensitive framework.  Working with the premise that all of us have within us an innate desire to develop, grow and change, our aim became merely to ignite a spark - through promoting expression and insights towards building self-awareness and positive experiences.

Through the CSR funding of a programme development and facilitation, we aim to help the children to;

• Regulate feelings of rejection, anger, abandonment, shame and guilt, which are common in children in foster care
• Develop positive self-concept
• Improve confidence and sense of self-efficacy
• Experience positive relationships
• Develop sense of mastery and accomplishment
• Become self-reflective

*Our programme combined modalities based on field of Art Psychotherapy, as well as techniques of Expressive Therapies developed by Mark Pearson and Helen Wilson.

Feedback received:

What staff of PERTAPIS liked best about the training sessions:

• Aspect of experiential learning and the practical activities
• Modality differing from conventional counseling
• Participant involvement and active engagement
• Ideas sharing
• Opportunities for self-expression
• Well-presented slides

"We are grateful to have both of you to undertake Project Heartfelt.   You have chosen the most appropriate name for this project – HEARTFELT.  It is through your hearts and compassion that you are with us.  There is no better word that has a greater sense and meaning than – THANK YOU. The children had a great time.  It does make a difference, to show that you care.  Children are quick at picking the small unseen and unsaid things – but they know."
Mr Belsha Aibil, Executive Director, PERTAPIS