An example of Drawing Therapy in action to help a child tell their story.

1. This is an example of the workbook used in drawing therapy

2. This book tells some of the story of a P6 child whose mother died from alcohol abuse

3. This is an example of an esteem-o-meter. The unhappy face depicts ‘I wish I was dead’ and the happy face depicts ‘Life could not be better’.

4. Before getting children to look at the awful things that have happened in their life, it is important to help them to see that awful things happen in nature and are part of the world we live in.

5. This picture tells the story of the many times her mum was rushed away to hospital following an overdose or particuarly bad binge session. She often did not know if she would see her mum again.

6. She now has gone from living in the city to living in the country and has a pony!

7. From an early age, this girl would find bottles of vodka hidden about the house and soon learned the hard way that lemonade bottles didn’t always contain lemonade!

11. This is a very useful tool to discover the main feelings a child feels and where. This child felt a lot of sadness and guilt. She believed she could have prevented her mum from dying.

12. The evenings were always the worst. Her mum would become so drunk that she could only crawl and this child would have to attend to her mum’s most basic needs when she herself was only 6 or 7 years old.

15. She asked me if she could draw more than one thing in this picture, as there were many things that made her sad.

16. This picture has an uncanny resemblance to where she now lives!

17. By this drawing, she was starting to find a peace within herself and was able to draw a picture of her mum watching over her.

18. It is important that children know there are people around them who they know care for them also.