My name is Fiona Hutchings and I am an Associate Therapist at The Apple Tree Centre. I’ve offered to write some reflections on my experience of the Creative Counselling for Young People Certificate training last year because I found this course both challenging and really rewarding. I would like to begin by assuring the reader that this is an objective piece of writing and in no way swayed by the fact that I work alongside the course facilitators.
I have worked with young people both as a counsellor and in social support settings since 2002 and I completed my placement as a trainee counsellor with the University of Sheffield. I initially trained in the Person-Centred model and I’ve always tried to be open to working in whatever way makes it easiest for my client to communicate their experiences and feelings. This means that alongside talking therapy in sessions I’ve previously undertaken and used additional training around use of images, image making, writing and music in therapy. I’ve also enjoyed training and peer discussions around narrative and metaphor, incorporating characters from games, books, TV and film, all of which has helped me connect with clients who felt concerned about being judged for their interests. But deep down, I knew that I struggled with the concept of ‘playing’ in therapy.
