Mag march issue 2 english

What I can do - children’s pictures

What “Being the outsider” can mean

Making a drama

1 A Space to Speak Up

Production teamEditor – Roy Smith Design and graphics – The MRS Consultancy Illustrations and editorial assistant – Jack Robert Smith

ContentsA Space to Speak Up 2

We have had a very encouraging response to our 1st edition in December 2013. Have a look on page 26 and you will see some comments from readers from all walks of life. We want to hear more because this magazine is for you and we want to feature the kinds of issues that you feel are important in the project.This time round the focus is on the local workshops that partners are running with various groups of young people in their own countries. There is an inspiring range of different activities taking place with all kinds and ages of youngsters in Austria, Bulgaria and Germany. We also have some reflections on how the workshops have been going in Spain. We will continue to feature the workshops with our next issue covering the activities in Italy and the exchange visits between partners.

We are also keen in A Space to Speak Up to tell you who is involved in the project and what they do - as you may want to become involved and use some of the methods and exercises that we employ. So two more partner organisations and trainers are featured and the Borgorete team explain just what our core notion of Transitional Space can mean.So, exciting times for Transpace, and more to come over the next few months. But we are very keen to know what you think and what you are doing in the area. We want to hear from you so If you have relevant events such as workshops, conferences or exhibitions or interesting web sites and social media then please get in touch with me and the team on [email protected]

A warm welcome – or welcome back – to Issue 2 of A Space to Speak Up

What is Transitional Space? 3 - 4

Local workshops – where are 5

they taking place and what happens

“What I can do” – from young 8 - 10

children in Bulgaria

Profiles of the trainers: 11

Maya from Bulgaria

Who are the partners? CJD 12 - 13

Frechen and MHC provides some answers

“Being the outsider” – 15 - 16

some role playing by groups in Germany

Profiles of the trainers: 17

Andrea from Austria

Making a drama – young people 18 - 20

from Austria explore family

relationships

Report on the workshops from Spain 21

Reflections on a Learning Journey 24

Regular features: Comics 22-23

Reader comments 26

What’s coming up 27-28

Pages 18 - 20

Page 21

We would like to hear from you, the readers, about what you thought of our magazine – and – do you have anything that might help us spread our message. If so email Roy Smith at [email protected]

There is a psychic reality, which is an inner and personal reality. There is external reality, which is objective and separate. There is inner and there is external. But are these two realities really all that there is? Where are we when we listen to a symphony by Beethoven, when we contemplate a work of art? Where is a child while he’s playing, sitting on the floor? Where are adolescents when they daydream?

In order to answer these questions, it is necessary, according to the paediatrician and psychoanalyst Donald Winnicot (1896-1971), to hypothesise a “third intermediate area of experience, to which external and inner realities both contribute”; a sacred space which, like a bridge, lies between the individual and the environment. It is a space which allows to understand how it is possible to “keep inner and external realities separate and, at the same time, interrelated”.


Transitional SpaceThe notion of Transitional Space is at the heart of the Transpace project. Michela Lupi and Letizia Bargelli from, Borgorete, our Italian partner based in Perugia, explain what lies behind the concept.

The first experience of this “third area” belongs with childhood, when a shift occurs between an initial state of omnipotence and fusion with the mother figure, to a time when the child begins to perceive him/herself as separate from the mother and begins to experience the “non-me”, perceiving objects and phenomena as outside his/her omnipotent control. “It is the place, in terms of space and time in which, in the mind of the child, the mother transitions from being as one with the child to being, on the other hand, an object perceived rather than conceived” (Winnicot, 1971). If the child enjoys a “sufficiently good” mother, who is able to instil trust and self-confidence, the transitional space will become an infinite area of separation, which the lactating baby first, and later the child, the adolescent and the

adult will fill with play, creativity and imagination. The transitional experience, in fact, exists at all ages, and does not only refer to a specific phase of development. In the adult, it is the space of “play, artistic creativity, religious sentiment, dream, and also of fetishism, of stealing, of the origin of loss of affectionate sentiment...” (Winnicott, 1971).

Paintings by Ciro Palumbo: Ciro Palumbo is an Italian painter from Turin. His paintings are a magical journey into unknown worlds, populated by dreams, mythological figures, colourful toys, silent moons and flying islands; where the stars live inside little houses, like they live inside of us.”www.palumbociro.it

A Space to Speak Up 4

Letizia is the one in the orange tshirt

Michela

www.palumbociro.it


What we are trying to do in the workshopsThe Transpace project is currently in the “workshop phase” in which the trainers and support staff from partners are working closely with groups of vulnerable youngsters in a series of learning sessions. It is in these workshops that we aim to achieve our goals for the training:l Protect children and youth suffering from emotional and behaviour disorders from violence.l Reduce violence, bullying in young people.l Foster self-prevention of violence. l Help our target groups to transform/manipulate their space to self-protection. l Built a strong self-esteem among our target groups. l Empower individuals suffering from emotional and behaviour disordersl Teach victims to promote empathy in aggressors. l Create a safe group / safe space for our target groups.

Introduction to Workshops

One of the many challenges facing the project and partners is the variety of target groups – ages, contexts, cultures. But this is also one of our strengths because it encourages and promotes a broader understanding of the issues and the sharing good practices.We can now have a look at some of the activities that took place in Sofia (Bulgaria), Linz (Austria) and Frechen (Germany). Some reflections follow from Intras on their workshops in Valladolid (Spain).

In our next edition we join workshops in Perugia (Italy) and see what happened when the youngsters and partners exchange some of what they have learnt and experienced as they visit each other’s countries to learn and work together.We can only give you a flavour of what the workshops were trying to achieve and how the youngsters took part. In the Autumn of 2014 the project will be publishing a guide to the project and its methodology.

l Inpatient and outpatient psychiatric help

l Night and day emergency psychiatric

care

l Child and adolescent psychiatric help

l Forensic psychiatric activities

MHC also works in European projects

and partnerships such as HORGANIC,

and Peer2Peer and for this project it is the

lead partner in developing the project’s

Methodology. This approach is the

innovative core of the project and requires

MHC to help define and structure the

methodological framework and prepare the

training programmes that integrate notions

of transitional space and practices of

psychodrama

The role of MHC owes much to Galabina

Tarashoeva, the manager of MHC and the

Director of Psychodrama Center Orpheus. Dr

Tarashoeva is founding member of FEPTO

(Federation of European Psychodrama

Training Organizations) and active member of

its research committee. She is a member of

the Board of Directors of IAGP (International

Association of Group Psychotherapy).

Child centred approachThe focus of MHC in Transpace is on its

work with children under 18 years living

in Sofia municipal region with mental and

conduct disorders. The team is led by a Child

psychiatrist and Child clinical psychologist who

cover a range of services:

l Development and learning disorders

(Dyslexia, Dysgraphia, Dyscalculia)

l Adjustment disorder (after events,

causing stress and leading to changes in

behavior)

l Anxiety disorders

l Obsessive-compulsive disorder

l Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

l Emotional disorders, Conduct disorders

l Pervasive development disorders

(autistic spectrum disorders)

l Mood disorders

l Schizophrenia

l Mental retardation

The Mental Health Center “Prof. N. Shipkovenski” Ltd

(MHC) is a municipal service for the Sofia district in Bulgaria

operating and social rehabilitation activities in the field of

mental disorders and mental health. The Center provides

services in:


Dr. Gabi Tarashoeva


MHC works with many other organisations, groups and institutions to provide both long and short term therapeutic programmes including child protection agencies, foster families, orphanages, institutions for children and adolescents with cognitive and emotional difficulties, the Regional Inspectorate of Education and the Medical Commission for the Evaluation of Disabilities.

The work on Transpace will be in the Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Ward of Mental Health Center “Prof. N. Shipkovenski” where the facilities and support staff will ensure the most conducive context for the development of the young people and the tools they will need to combat aggressive behaviour and maintain their own space.


The out-side of the building

Natalia Borislavova

Maya Kostadinova

Aftertheparty!


The first groups the MHC ran were with young children 8-11 years old. The groups proved to be a handful as one of the team remarked “…Maybe we would do a smaller group for that age and the session shorter, because nearly half of the children in the group have a problem with attention”.But despite these difficulties the children after the last session thought the workshops successful “All of them said that they wished we had more sessions and the group didn’t have to finish and that they enjoyed it very much. They separated as friends. They did photos in the corridor.”

MHC Workshop

Our First Creative Workshop

Maya explains what took place in the one of

the workshops:

“During our first creative workshop children

had to do drawings on the topic “What I like to

do and what I am good at. They used pencils

and colorful papers to do their pictures. They

were expecting that workshop very much

because all the time they were asking when

they were going to draw. We discovered

unexpected artistic abilities in some of them.

One of them happened to be very skillful with

the scissors and to have a lot of imagination.

Other one drew a book and said that he likes

reading and read very well although he is

dyslexic. But for sure all of them had a lot of

fun and enjoyed it very much.

At the end of the session they were glad that

we took pictures of their drawings.”


I am good at creating

a football playground

I am good at reading

books watching TV

and playing on the

computer

On the back

Creating a “safe space“The objective was to create boundaries around own safe space and learn when, for whom and how much to open it. The children were told to think about their favourite hero and to become

that hero, to organize their place and so on. The children were given different clothes, hats and

a rope…they began to play. After that the MHC trainers went to each of them to tell his/her story.Here are some of their safe spaces


The castle

of the evil

queen of

darkness

A carriage of wishes

A castle of sports

A house in the

forest


I was born in a small town in the eastern part of

the country 30 years ago. When I was little my

parents moved to live in Sunny beach, which is at

the seaside of the Black Sea. Actually it is famous

tourist destination. It is very sunny and beautiful

place. I love it because in the summer it is full of

people from different countries and you can meet

many interesting people there. I grew up there.

I graduated from Commercial High School in

Bourgas. But I have always wanted to help people

so that’s why I decided to study Medicine. In

2002 I moved to the capital Sofia and started my

education. In the university I met a lot of friends.

We had to study a lot but when we could we had

a lot of partying too. We really had a good time

together. Some of them are my closest friends till

now.

I graduated university in 2008 and a year later

I started my four-year training in Child and

Adolescent Psychiatry at “Alexandrovska”.

University Hospital. I finished my residency a few

months ago and now I am working as a Child and

Adolescent Psychiatrist at Mental

Health Center. What I actually do

is consulting with children who

different mental problems and

giving support to their families, as

well as advising and prescribing

medications when needed.

I love travelling, meeting new people and

discovering new cultures. In my leisure time I like

going out and meeting my friends. I like sport as

well. I take step aerobics classes which I like very

much because it is refreshing and cheery sport.

My participation in this project is a real challenge.

I am interested in psychodrama and especially

psychodrama with children. I took part in some

psychodrama trainings, including with children.

When I heard about that project I decided it is a

great opportunity to learn more, to

experience and to see things in

practice. Our first group has just

finished. We had our challenging

moments but all in all we all

enjoyed it very much and had

really good time together.

Participants became friends.

Nobody of them wanted

the group to finish.

I am looking

forward for

starting

the new group.

Hi, my name is MayaI work as Child and Adolescent

Psychiatrist at Mental Health Center in Sofia, Bulgaria.


CJD Frechen is a Vocational Training Centre. The main aim of CJD Frechen is the vocational and social rehabilitation of youngsters and young adults in the region around Cologne. Mostly the participants are learning handicapped and in risk of social exclusion. About 250 young adults live in our boarding home during a two or three years vocational training. Others commute between their home and their working place. We offer vocational training in more than 20 different working fields. Our goal is the officially acknowledged final examination. The vocational school is located on the campus as well. The teaching contents are taught practically in workshops and theoretically in school. There is a strong emphasize on supporting the trainees in an individual way. Additional to adapted framework conditions like e.g. learning in small classes a team of pedagogues, psychologists and social workers supports each participant individually. The trainees are also trained in social competences, especially teamwork and communication. There are four key

competences, which are anchored in the guidelines of CJD: sports, religious-, musical- and political education.Amongst others CJD is cooperating with the following institutions:l Politics in the Province Bergheim, City of Cologne, Region North-Rhine-Westphalia and the Federal Republic of Germany.l The social, youth and health administration on each level in the country.l Employers and Enterprisesl The National agency of labour with local and regional departments.l Universities and High Schools in the province and cityl Psychologists, hospitals and other important stakeholders in the German Public Health System

CJD is a large, nationwide organisation for youth, education and social work. Every year CJD offers orientation and future prospects to 150,000 adolescents and young adults. More than 8000 employees in over 150 locations offer support and teach skills providing education.


The main emphasis of our work is professional and social rehabilitation. In CJD BBW Frechen 250 young women and men live and study during their rehabilitation during which they receive vocational training in over 25 professions. The training ends with an examination at the responsible chambers for industry and trade.An experienced team of instructors, teachers, social education workers and psychologists accompanies and supports the rehabilitation process. The process is completed with close collaboration with our partners.

Target groupsOur rehabilitation program is primarily aimed at young people who have left special schools for educationally handicapped people or from a junior high school who, due to their special needs, are not able to find or complete any training vacancy on the general training market. Reason for this lack often

are learning handicaps or/ combined with mental health problems. To support them the best way, an experienced team of instructors, teachers, social education workers and psychologists accompanies and supports the rehabilitation process.

International workCJD - BBW Frechen is engaged in the international work for many years, which includes projects with various partners in Spain, Austria, the UK, Italy, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Hungary and many more. Currently we are partners in the EU - Programmes Transpace (http://www.transpaceproject.eu/de/), Outart (http://outart.intras.es/), Horganic (http://horganic.intras.es/) and 3in1, for which we do not yet have a homepage.

Work

International Projects

Leisure Time & Sports

http://www.transpaceproject.eu/de/

http://http://outart.intras.es/

http://horganic.intras.es/


Bullying and what you can do against it!

Martin Kroeber of CJD Frechen led a 2 day workshop with a group of young people in their late teens. We hope to see more of their work in a later edition of A Space to Speak Up but these are the activities that

they got up to on their first day


Objective: The promotion of co-operation withina learning group. Revealing of similarities and differences creates reasons for communication.

What The participants sit on chairs in ahappens: circle. There is one chair less than

participants. The one who does not have a chair stands in the middle of the circle and says:

SMS for all those who...

"SMS for all those who are wearing pink." Every participant who is wearing pink has to leave his chair and to sit down on a different one in the circle. The person who couldn't get a chair sends the next SMS.

Identifying and

naming bullying Position barometerObjectives: lInsight into how different bullying is perceived lFinding the position within the topic "Bullying"

What happens:Posters reading "0%

approval" and "100% approval" are hanging at the

front end of the room. The statements are presented to the

participants. They have to decide on what position they take towards

the "bullying statements"


Powerlessness and Power as the main element of bullying

Leading others by the noseObjective: Raising awareness for the ambivalence of one's own feeling of powerWhat happens: The group is split up into pairs. Each pair has one ball. One participant has the ball and holds it close to his partner's nose. This one has to follow the ball with his nose no matter where his partner takes the ball. After 2 minutes the partners change roles.

“Being the outsider” - forming little groups, excluding other participantsObjective: l Raising awareness for exclusion processes through personal experiences l Reflecting on the role of participants being out siders and bulliesWhat happens: Participants leave the room. The remaining participants are divided into small groups. Their task: It’s Monday morning, they are in the schoolyard talking about the weekend.

One of the three participants is told to enter the room. He is instructed to take part in the conversation. Whenever he tries to get in touch with the others, the members of the group move very close to each other, thus preventing the one who has been called in to participate in the conversation. The workshop leader stops the exercise if the pressure exercised on single participants is getting too high. Then the remaining two participants are told to do the same.stops the exercise if the pressure exercised on single participants is getting too high. Then the remaining two participants are told to do the same.

Watch the movie on: www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWe0Oo5baGw


I grow up in a small city with 5000 inhabitants

in Mauthausen, Upper Austria, Close to the place

where I work now. Although in the meantime

I have lived in different places in Austria and

abroad - but let´s start at the beginning.

First I thought I want to become a Kindergarten

pedagogue. But after finishing my education I

worked in the summer holidays as a kindergarten

pedagogue and I could not imagine working

with small children for my whole life. Although

I wanted to work in a job where I interact with

people. That was the reason why I went to study

Social Work in St. Pölten, Lower Austria.

In 2003 I moved to Vienna and enjoyed living in

a big city with all the cultural and pulsing social

life. You especially enjoy that when you are still a

student.

Although I loved being in Vienna, I always was

keen to travel around and get to know different

cultures and see other

countries. In 2009 I got the

change to move to Australia and

was lucky to stay there for a bit

more than a year and experience the way of life in

OZ with sunny beaches and great weather. After

that I spend 6 months in New York City, and had a

blast in the “City that never sleeps”.

In 2011 I came back to Austria and shortly

after that I settled down in Leonding, near Linz

with my partner. We live in a house with a great

garden where we enjoy every minute of summer

time. But, it is not only the summer time, which

I like. I also enjoy the wintertime, outside in

the countryside, either snowboarding or cross

country skiing.

My work at pro mente right now, is a mixture

of coordinating EU projects and carrying out

workshops for youngsters. In my daily work

previously, I did more of organizational, scientific

work and less work with the youngsters itself, but

it is very fruitful and useful work that makes a lot

of sense for myself and I hope for the youngsters,

too.

I´m Andrea, from Austria and I work as a trainer for pro mente Upper Austria


Workshops

A Day in Space “Cool event. Snow and frost – real fun!” If someone had the chance to watch a group of 16 to 19 year old girls and boys at 8:30 am on a cold and frosty morning in Linz (Upper Austria) they would have seen the following scene: all of them standing in a circle gesticulating with fingers, arms, feet - and sometimes with the whole body! That was the way the youngsters introduced themselves to each other. With this and other fun

kind of games we created a safe atmosphere to hear more about the main topic of the day: the role of boundaries in space and ways of speaking and communicating.In several role playing games they experienced different kind of situations and how to react in a safe place. The youngsters’ feedback for the first day was a wholehearted.

The team at pro mente, based in Linz, Austria, has taken advantage of some unique fa-cilities to support its groups of young people. Here we can have a look at what happened when the group had “A Day in Space” and when they used the theatre facilities at KUK, the art and culture club of pro mente.


“I never experienced being a parent as that difficult”. This quote is from a girl who played the mother in our little improvisational theatre story. This picture shows her (the blonde) as a mother, her husband is the one sitting at the table. Here, the daughter is the other girl. She came home late from having a night out. Her parents were still up in the kitchen and waiting for her. The mother was very strict and the father was more a liberal and a nice dad.

Her there is the mother, the father, the pizza delivery guy (with the orange t-shirt) and the brother of the father in the grey shirt. In this scene it is the day after the event that the girl came home late. The brother (in grey) is living in the same house as the rest of the family. He is always drunk and unemployed and a coach potato. The delivery guy was sent away the first time as no one ordered pizza. In the end it showed that the brother ordered it with the money of the mother. She got very angry. The guy who was playing the delivery guy afterwards said that he learned that it is not good to interrupt in certain discussion.


Story for the Creative Workshop

Improvisational theatre:


In the picture above everyone is in the family house - even the delivery guy, still waiting for his money. The daughter is looking out of her room, as the police man is here. The guy with the black/reddish t-shirt. He is here as the son of the brother (the guy left in the grey long sleeve shirt). He was dealing with drugs at school and even taking drugs and the police caught him and brought him home. The police was having a discussion with the father of the “drug dealer”. When the police came in everyone was in shock and very quiet.

In the picture below the daughter is telling her parents that she is pregnant. At the same time the mother is shocked and is telling her, that she too is pregnant. The father is not her husband - it is the brother of him, the coach potato. Everyone is shocked and the daughter is faints and falls to the floor.

This was the end picture – the “wrap”. Everyone was posing to express how they felt during the workshop. Everyone had the chance to step forward and take a “fake” picture themselves.


* Annalisa Pellegrini – She is a Clinical Psychologist and expert on ADHD: Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. She has four years of experience working with children and youth.

* Clare Conboy – has a joint BA in Fine & History of Art, with further training in Young Adult Leadership. She has three years experience of working on youth committees and artistic programmes.

Report on the workshops in Spain

To understand diversity not as a resource, but as a stigmatizing element, is something that participants of the Transpace workshops, know well. Some of them have moved from one school to another trying to find new people, appearing to be happy and smiling, but carefully trying to avoid the pain of being bullied again. The first activity aimed to create an atmosphere of openness. It was important to create a place where everyone felt safe, free to talk about anything and where everyone showed respect to their companions. Role-play games, ice-breakers, group dynamics, counselling, moments for reflection and lots of fun were used to discuss bullying and to encourage the participants’ feedback. Little by little, workshops started to engage the participants, they began to show enthusiasm together with the need to open up and talk about certain topics. Some activities turned out to be interesting for both the participants and trainers: “Magic Castle” was one of them. Participants were asked to think about their safe place and share it to their peers; it was a good chance to share and become more open

to the benefits of intimacy. “Super-hero”: If you were a super-hero, what powers would you like to have? We talked about facing the evil powers of others and how the participants would like to protect themselves and their loved ones. This provided a clue for the next sessions. “Role-playing” consisted of performing both the role of victim and aggressor, neither role had good feelings attached to them! After six sessions some changes became noticeable, even the most resistant youngsters participated in the activities! They began to feel like members of the group. They grew more confident in sharing their thoughts, knowing how and when to speak, how best to be respectful of others beliefs and how to identify when other people do not show respect for their beliefs! The participants are now more aware of their abilities, of their value and their limitations. The participants were excited about the project, both they and their trainers wanted the workshops to continue. The empowerment of learning to “deal with daily life” is something that requires more long term training; this was just the beginning for them.



Airplanes

Airplanes

A Boy

A story…a conversation


Throughout his years at school, teachers reported that Lucas had difficulty paying attention, with abstract thought processes and deficiency in language and vocabulary abilities in relation to the level expected for children of his age. In schools he previously attended he had serious problems with bullying and he did not want to continue in his studies.

Another challenge for Lucas were his social skills: he was unable to interact successfully with the people who surrounded him. He was not aware of his mistakes: in his eyes, he was better than his companions, and tried to spend as little time as possible with them; he did not want to be stigmatized by being associated with those people!

During the early sessions, Lucas was not active and participated very little; he frequently tried to point out his fellow participants’ difficulties. In group situations, he often tried to hold the attention of the group, presenting himself as the leader.. As the sessions progressed, he began to want to participate more in the group activities, he started to think about the feelings of others and to respect his companions. Lucas has now helped another participant with physical difficulties several times to facilitate his participation in some activities, even though it results in his inability to take a leadership role. We cannot say it is a happy ending, but it seems like a very good start.

Lucas, 23 years old.


Professionals from six different European countries met in Frechen (Germany) to set new challenges in

preventing violence in children and youth.The TRANSPACE Project is funded by the Daphne Programme of the European Union.

A report from Sara M IspiertoProfessionals from six European countries met in Frechen (Germany) over two days in order to establish a plan of action for 2014, confirm objectives and to further share and improve their expertise and practices. The organisations in attendance were the INTRAS Foundation from Spain, CJD Frechen (Germany), pro mente Upper Austria (Austria),

Borgorete (Italy), Mental Health Center (Bulgaria) and The MRS Consultancy (United Kingdom). The exchange of experiences and ideas was particularly interesting. Following the feedback at this meeting, we can say with confidence that the current pilot courses in progress are essential tools for identifying potential areas of action to establish more equal relationships between participants and their environments.

For more information about the project and its impact:

www.transpace.eu

Partners also took the opportunity to

tour round CJD Frechen. Senior Executive manager, Markus Besserer, explained how the young people that CJD supported

are producing goods and services for the local economy.

l


Readers Comments


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Mag march issue 2 english