Painting together: A parent-child dyadic art therapy group

Abstract

The Painting Together Group was a slow open group which used art making, play and talking to strengthen parent-child relationships. This 10-month pilot was co facilitated by Shona Lavey-Khan, a CAMHS clinical psychologist and Dean Reddick, an art therapist working in a local authority nursery school and children’s centre. This report evaluates the pilot group using both quantitative data and an analysis of themes developed from clinical notes, observations, supervision and artwork. A critical assessment of the group provides reflection on areas of challenge, opportunity and planned future developments.