Goodbye to Violet

Goodbye to Violet

Violet Oaklander: 1927 to 2021 Violet Oaklander died aged 94 in Los Angeles on 21 September 2021. She was born in Massachusetts in 1927, the youngest of three children, to parents Joseph and Mollie Solomon, Jewish immigrants from Russia.[Footnote 1] Though Violet grew...
The drama of being an adolescent

The drama of being an adolescent

This blog post originally appeared on the Gestalt Centre’s website Approximately 10 per cent of children and young people aged 5 to 16 suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder; around 1in 13 deliberately self-harm. Nearly 80,000 children and young people suffer...
A flavour of therapeutic arts group work

A flavour of therapeutic arts group work

A Gestalt approach to working with children: Oaklander method NB the following is a composite account, based on several years of delivering an Easter intensive, arts–based workshop in London, UK. All names used are fictional. “Can you cut the clay into lumps, Khalid-...
Helping children to sleep: part 2

Helping children to sleep: part 2

This month’s entry continues exploring some ways of helping children drop off to sleep, with assistance from natural sensory aids and soothing dialogue. Sight  All lights should be off. If a child is afraid of the dark, however, a low-powered night-light can be used....