What We Do
Children & Teens | Girl’s Group | Tween and Teen Groups
Consulting Programs
CHILDREN & TEENS
Transition into Adolescence Program
This 6-month program is designed to help children/teens and parents manage behaviors and emotions with art therapy and creative problem solving strategies. The program involves 3 phases of treatment to help children/teens and parents develop new strategies for social, emotional, and behavioral development. This program is for children or adolescents who need more individualized support to treat low self-esteem, anxiety, depression, anger/aggression, stress, grief/loss, fears/phobias, divorce, oppositional behaviors, trauma, social and relationship issues, acting out and shutting down behaviors and developmental and learning differences.
Who Benefits:
For children, teenagers and families who have difficulty positively expressing and managing their behaviors and feelings.
The individual sessions will teach your child tools to:
Reduce negative behaviors of acting out or shutting down; by teaching your child tools to be successful at managing their behaviors and communicating their needs at home, with peers and in the classroom.
Help your child find positive ways to manage their feelings (such as anxiety, anger, grief, frustration, low self-esteem), so your child copes better with stress and feels more self-confident and happy.
In addition, the program will:
Provide parental support and concrete tools to help you best support your child to create long-term changes. You’ll get clear, concise, strategies to help your child change their behaviors so you are not responding from a reactive or passive position, but rather from a place of parenting power.
This 6-month program is designed to help children and parents manage behaviors and emotions with art therapy, creative problem solving strategies, and parent support tools.
Target goals:
Encourages the development of creative tools and strategies to manage behaviors and emotions. Helpful for those who are encountering stressful life situations or are in need of specific strategies and coping tools.
Girl’s Group:
The Creativity Circle
Group Art Therapy Intervention Program
BOLDLY and PROUDLY Transition into Adolescence System:
- Building relationships, what to look for in a friend, exploring trust in self and others and become a thinking about others person.
- Exploring fears. What keeps her stuck when dealing with friends, siblings, difficult, stressful or new experiences?
- How to communicate to others what you need. Specific tools to help her be heard without rolling her eyes, shutting the bedroom door on you, or melting down into tears.
- Exploring the importance of respect. Specific tools to help her respect herself from the inside out and respect others at home and school.
- How to cooperate and be flexible with others by sharing, letting go to grow and going with the flow.
- Explore the importance of having choices and taking responsibility in an “it’s not fair” world.
- How to make a difference, by helping ourselves and helping others too.
I’d like to introduce you to the Creativity Circle, a program I created to support and encourage your girl’s personal growth and development. The Creativity Circle is a weekly 60 minute group art therapy program that meets for 12-weeks to help your girl (between the ages of 9-16) create new ways of thinking so she can overcome the everyday challenges she encounters in a positive and playful manner.
The Creativity Circle was born from the idea that many of our girls receive unrealistic messages from society, friends and school about the way they should act, think, feel and look that causes an endless search for perfection and often leads to “I’m not good enough” thinking. Imagine your girl was given the opportunity to strengthen her ability to handle and manage overwhelming thoughts and feelings of fear, anxiety, sadness, anger and low self-esteem in a positive strength based way? Imagine she was given the opportunity to step out of her “girl box” and into her true self where her strengths, confidence and dreams live?
The Creativity Circle steps outside of the “girl box” and encourages each girl to accept her WHOLE self…even the parts that are sometimes kind of hard to love. It’s about sharing tips, tools and strategies with her so she can find her true voice, confidence, courage, fearlessness, acceptance, empathy and creative spirit.
If you are ready to help your girl shift from melt downs, shut downs and “I’m not good enough” thinking to flexible, creative, ” I am good enough and I can solve this” thinking you have found the right program! Your girl will grow in confidence, respect, and understanding if you provide her with opportunities to change how she is thinking and behaving. Imagine how your personal relationship with her would change and imagine how her relationship with others would be positively impacted too! Imagine how this can affect her life right now and in the years to come!
Who Benefits:
For children, teenagers and families who have difficulty positively expressing and managing their behaviors and feelings.
The group sessions will continue to teach your girl tools to:
Reduce negative behaviors of acting out or shutting down, by teaching your child tools to be successful managing their behaviors and communicating their needs in the classroom, at home, and with peers.
Help your child find positive ways to manage their feelings (such as anxiety, anger, grief, low self-esteem), so your child copes with stress and feels more self-confident and happy.
In addition, the program will:
Provide parental support and concrete tools to help you best support your child to create long-term changes. This 3-month program is designed to help children and parents manage behaviors and emotions with art therapy, creative problem solving strategies, and parent support tools.
Target Goals:
Encourages the development of creative tools and strategies to manage behaviors and emotions. Helpful for those who are encountering stressful life situations or are in need of specific strategies and coping tools.
Imagine the possibility of seeing your girl grow into to the caring, responsible, confident, respectful, individual you know she can be! You don’t have to imagine, it’s possible! We can help you to change the relationship you have with your girl so you can encourage her to become the bright, unique and creative spirit that she truly is.
Tween and Teen Groups
Anger Management Group
Beginning January 2011
Do you feel frustrated when your child/teen slams the door, screams or gives you an eye rolling “WHATEVER?”
Do you dream of having more peaceful moments at home?
Do you wish you had tools to create a more balanced, loving and open relationship?
Through the use of art, enactment, creative problem solving and discussion this group will help children/teens:
- Recognize and become more mindful of stressors.
- Communicate to others what they need by responding rather than reacting.
- Explore the importance of developing respect and empathy.
- Learn how to deal with conflict.
We know how difficult it can be to parent from a place of loving kindness when your child/teen is consistently making poor decisions. Therefore, we are excited to invite you to participate in a parent group, jam packed with tips, tools and strategies, designed to enhance your relationship with your child/teen and create a more peaceful home.
Tween & Teen Support Group
Beginning January 2011
Does your child struggle with:
Self-esteem?
How to deal with conflict and gossip?
Building and maintaining friendships?
Their sense of self/identity?
Having an accurate perception of how others see them?
Through the use of art, enactment, creative problem solving and discussion this group will help tweens/teens:
- Explore their self, identity and image.
- Build and maintain friendships.
- Learn how to deal with challenging friendship situations.
We know many tweens and teens feel misunderstood, rejected, ignored and alone. Often times, these feelings can lead to a negative self image, poor decision making, self inflictive behaviors, drug use and more. Our goal is to be proactive and partner with you in order to prevent this from happening. If you have even the slightest worry that this may be true for your child, please contact us.
Group Leader Information
CLICK HERE for information about Elissa Bowes-Arbeitman, MA, ATR-BC, LCAT
Lisa Hillman, MSW, LCSW, CP is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Certified Psychodramatist who works with at risk children and adolescents, adults, groups and families. Lisa has served as a school social worker, a behavioral consultant for the New Jersey public schools, has a private practice and has led over 100 hundred therapeutic groups. Lisa has presented nationally, and serves as a trainer at the collegiate level as well as at private schools.
CONSULTING PROGRAMS
Higher Art custom-tailors playful art therapy programs jam packed with tools, tips and strategies for organizations throughout New Jersey. Please call Elissa at 732.252.5489 for more information.
Programs have been implemented at:
- IEP Youth Services, Inc.
- Marlboro Township Board of Education
- Meridian Health, Manor by the Sea
- CPC Behavioral Healthcare, Children’s Partial Care Program/Circle of Friends, Red Bank
- Very Special Arts of New Jersey (VSA of NJ)
- The YWCA of Eastern Union County
- The Community YMCA of Monmouth County
