Comments about working creatively:
“The arts activities took me away from my logic/thinking way of dealing with stuff and helped me unlock how I really felt.”
“The arts activities made it much easier and clearer for me to understand myself.”
“Sometimes it’s easier to express feelings with objects than with words”
“It was a different way to process thoughts, otherwise they go round and round in circles in my head.”
“I loved the use of little objects – they completely helped me in visualizing thoughts, feelings and experiences.”
"I never thought of myself as creative but I really surprised myself with how focussed the drawing, sculpting and image creation made me. I developed a way to think about things differently and can now talk about them more easily.”
The following comments are from mothers who have attended a postnatal therapy group:
“I attended the group after the birth of my son. I was initially referred by my Health Visitor as someone who may be in need of additional support...My son, now 5 months old, is a ‘spirited’ (!) character and was very difficult during at least the first three sessions. Domini’s gentle encouragement, without offering unsolicited advice, was most gratefully received, and this was the tone set throughout the whole course of the sessions. I found her to be unfailingly warm and approachable, knowledgeable, supportive and ‘real’, with the sessions themselves both thought-provoking but also light-touch and non-confrontational.
I found the sessions to be inspirational, challenging, moving, humorous… Domini’s creative approach to the subject matter, focusing on a different aspect of parenthood each time (or, if more appropriate, led by the specific needs of the group that week), meant that we approached topics from different angles and were challenged to think in new ways, and, crucially for a group of strangers, were not overly-reliant on too much of the dreaded ‘sharing’ too early on!
I was extremely interested, although not surprised, to hear that many of the women Domini has helped over the years she has been running the programme have been professional people, women in their 30s with responsible jobs and stable relationships – ‘copers’ – but people for whom motherhood has been challenging, or whom have at least appreciated a safe space to discuss their concerns without the danger of those around them labelling them or jumping to conclusions.”
“This group has turned out to be a real lifeline for me. I never imagined that other mums felt the same way as I did. Having a forum where you can speak your mind in an honest and non-judgemental way has been my route back to normality….I would not be as healthy today if it were not for this service. Not only have I made friends I have received support that my family, through no fault of their own, could not provide me.”
“I feel more myself, more positive.”
“I took something away from every session. I couldn’t be more thankful for this group.
“The sessions gave me confidence to talk about my emotions.”
“ The sessions helped put us back on a road to feeling like us again.”
“I feel less confused, scared, anxious, alone and much more able to tackle life with a baby. I feel proud of myself and my baby.”
“The group helped me recover emotionally and psychologically from what had happened before and after I had my baby. It also helped me process some elements of my life, family, relationship and past that I have always found hard."
“I feel more confident about having negative feelings and being able to sort through them and understand why I’m having them.”
“The group covered all the different, relevant elements so it touched on the needs of all the group.”
“I looked forward to every session and I felt revitalised and enlightened after every week. The ‘work’ done in the class and with the group always continues throughout the rest of the week and my life has been improved and I have felt understood and uplifted from these sessions.”