BELGIUM

Type of mission

Clinical programmes: art therapy, music therapy and dance therapy

Background

In Belgium, like in most developed countries, cancer is a serious disease whose incidence on the general population is very important. In 2020, 83,267 new diagnoses of cancer were made, including 33,079 new cases in women and 38,572 in men. In the period from 2014 to 2025, the yearly number of new invasive tumour diagnoses in Belgium is projected to rise 17%.

While the bulk of cancer care remains the quality of medical treatment, it is equally important that patients, during their illness, feel good about themselves and their minds.

Cancer is a very stressful disease that can pose a wide range of challenges, including lifestyle changes, interpersonal tensions, existential crises, and social isolation. It is therefore very important that patients have adequate psychological and emotional support.

Partner organisation

The Red Pencil collaborates with hospitals and centres for cancer patients, such as the King Albert II Institute, which is part of the Saint-Luc University Hospital. The Institute is the clinics' cancer centre: it provides comprehensive and multidisciplinary care for patients. It is recognized for its expertise and the quality of its treatments.

RPE also collaborates with BOfort – the Brussels Meeting Place for everyone affected by cancer – and Re-source, two places where people can go for a listening ear, relaxation, workshops and gathering information in a homely and casual atmosphere, and whose mission is to improve the quality of life of patients and those around them in order to live better with cancer.

Donor

Where

King Albert II Institute, BOfort & Re-source Chirec Delta Center, l’Essentiel

Art Therapists

Natacha Pirotte
Tanais Verbist
Sophie Descampe
Julie Verkist

Beneficiaries

The beneficiaries are outpatients who undergo cancer treatment at the Institute, at any stage of the treatment.
Cancer is often experienced as a rupture, an intense existential experience. It upsets one's personal and professional spheres, it disrupts one's social, emotional and family life, it transforms one's relationship to oneself, one's changing body, one's entourage and to the world in general.
Cancer patients generally suffer from high anxiety, which is accompanied by phases of anger and feeling of injustice (“why me?"). The fear of dying and giving up others is very present. For some it is also a time to come back and look back at their existence. Many patients also describe a feeling of isolation, great loneliness in the crossing of the disease, and the fact that their families and friends may have a hard time understanding what they are going through, which can generate melancholy, depression and relationship difficulties. The image of self is impaired, particularly the feminine part for breast cancer patients. Some patients even feel guilty of this situation. Psychic suffering is then added to the decrease in quality of life already induced by the disease and its heavy treatments.

Objectives

The objectives of the mission focus on encouraging participants to express themselves and find coping mechanisms through art making in order:

to relieve stress and somatic tensions
to express, accept, regulate and possibly transform emotions to offer new perspectives, instilling hope and connect to creativity
to strengthen one's sentiment of existence and self-knowledge
to create meaning about the disease and integrate it into a personal narrative

Examples of proposed activities

Art Therapy

Using clay, modelling a place where you feel safe
Make a collage of “what is present inside you”
Draw your breath
Make a visual poem
Approach difficult emotions through tenderness and compassion
Draw a difficult emotion and transform it

Music Therapy

Connection to the body through vibration and movement (voice, drum and crystal bowl)
Connection to one's voice: singing vowels, spontaneous singing, yoga of sound
Connection to the group: spontaneous and intuitive chants by connecting to the energy of the group. “Acapella" songs or with drum support.

Dance Therapy

Connection to the body through intuitive movements and personal rhythms
Connection to the surrounding space through movements beginning from the ground and from the feet
Connection to parts of the body that feel pain with breathing exercises, expression of the pain through movements.

Type of mission

Clinical programmes: art therapy and dance therapy

Background

Adolescence is a critical phase in human development, and for some teens this transition presents difficulties that require specific intervention.

Adults dealing with psychiatric issues requiring daily care, such as addictions, psychoses, personality disorders, anxiety, can benefit greatly from art therapy as a complementary activity to their daily treatment.

Partner organisation

The Adolescents Unit at Erasme Hospital welcomes patients between 13 and 18 years of age with mental distress, such as an eating disorder, a school phobia, depression or the like which prevents them from functioning normally in their external environment. The Unit can accommodate 20 adolescents. They stay there for a period of approximately 6 weeks.

The Therapeutic Center for Adolescents of St-Luc Hospital has a capacity of 20 teens too. The teens stay there for a period of 6 to 9 months.

The day unit at the Clinique de l’Europe offers therapeutic care to adults with all types of psychological difficulties or psychiatric pathologies. Their stay is structured around support interviews, community life and various activities that aim to re-mobilise the creative and human potential of each individual.

Donor

Where

Unité psychiatrique pour adolescents, Hôpital Erasme
Centre thérapeutique pour adolescents, Cliniques St-Luc
Centre de Jour de l’Unité Pyschiatrie, Cliniques de l’Europe (Etterbeek)

Art Therapists

Amy To
Mireille Toubac
Sophie Descampe
Natacha Pirotte
Caroline Van Outryve (intern)

Objectives

The Red Pencil project complements the support offered by the multidisciplinary teams which include psychiatrists, nurses, specialised educators, psychologists (individual and family), occupational therapists and physiotherapists.

The programme was built to address the emotional and social needs of the beneficiaries: the need to increase their internal security, build self-confidence, step back and consider new ways to progress.

The overall objectives of the program are to provide participants with an opportunity to:

relax, connect with yourself
create links with others
let emerge what needs to be expressed
support a personal creative expression
boost self-esteem
connect with their bodies, their selves and others
wellbeing through movement and self-expression

Type of mission

2021/2022: Rode Neuzen Dag (Red Nose Day) training programmes for teachers

2019 : Training for teachers (Pilot programme of 2 days training)

Background

In many schools, the school management and the teachers are confronted to pupils who have to deal with aspects such as fear of failure, social and economic difficulties, cultural adaptation. This can lead to conflicts in the class, some time to bullying and might cause extra stress to the teachers.

The Red Pencil project is part of a continuing education for the school management and teachers, with a focus on topics such as conflict prevention and harassment, and self-care techniques.

Partner organisation

In Flanders, Red Nose Day is an initiative that raises money for projects that make young people stronger, especially in schools and also aims to support teachers as much as possible. As part of this initiative, The Red Pencil organised training days through art therapy for conflict prevention and harassment and self-care, for teachers in 8 different schools in Flanders.

In 2019 , two primary schools in Brussels- the Sint Jozefschool and the Sint Vincentiusschool – hosted the pilot teacher-training project.

Both schools were interested in counselling through art therapy, in order to cope better with this stress, to guide the children in their growth process and to teach them how to deal with a multitude of feelings when confronted to difficult situations such as conflict and bullying.

Donor

King Baudouin Foundation – Rode Neuzen Fund

Where

2021/2022:

De Schommel
De BroeBELschool
Sint-Luciaschool
Freinetschool TintelTuin
Huveneersschool
GBS De Springveer
De Zonnewijzer
GBD De Boomhut

2019:

Sint Jozefschool and the Sint Vincentiusschool

Art Therapists

Natacha Pirotte
Lesley Vermeyen
Ester Sing See
Joost Willems
Roxana Van Daelen
Karen Mosselmans

Beneficiaries

Around 100 participants. Teachers or members of the different school administrations, teachers from the elementary section (children aged between 6 and 12y) and pre-schools teachers (children aged from 3 to 5y).

Objectives

The content of the program was built to reflect the demand expressed by the teachers, that is, have additional tools to inform, prevent and resolve conflicts in the classroom and the playground, to detect possible cases of harassment and also to take care of oneself as an education professional.

Type of mission

2021: online training for educational staff

Background

The migration journey is frequently traumatic and involves many changes and adaptations for the migrant. Because of this, many migrant children suffer from attention problems, emotional hyperactivity, insecurity, difficulty remaining in place, trust issues and low self-confidence. This prevents them from learning effectively in class, which makes teaching challenging for the educational staff.

In 2021, we collaborated with schools with DASPA classrooms; an education structure within the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles aimed at welcoming, providing schooling and integrating students from a migrant background into ordinary education.

Partner organisation

Schools from Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles network

Donor:

Art Therapists

Natacha Pirotte
Julie Verkist

Beneficiaries

12 teachers of DASPA classes who are working with more than 90 migrant children students.

Objectives

Equip the educational staff with knowledge on the use of creative tools that they can integrate into their work with migrant children, enabling them to address the specific needs of their students
Improve their student’s wellbeing and learning experience

Type of mission

Clinical programmes and arts-based capacity building and trainings

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic has had devastating consequences on the mental health of young people and children especially. The Red Pencil has focused its attention to serve the most vulnerable, especially children and youth in the context of the COVID pandemic.

In Belgium, we collaborated with youth services, school drop-out prevention services, schools, centres for unaccompanied minors and a day-centre in a psychiatric hospital. In addition to programmes for the young people, we have also worked with the teams at the different organisations to provide them with tools to help support them through this difficult period.

Partner organisation

Siloé ASBL – La Fermette, L’Accueil, Ricochet, Logements Autonomes, Le Panel

Services d’Accrochage Scolaire (SAS) – Mons, Huy, Liège, Waremme

3 schools with DASPA classes (l’Ardoisière, Natoye, Arlon)

Le Quotidien

Donors:

Art Therapists

Catherine Lemaître
Julie Verkist
Jean-François Delforge
Sophie Descampe
Frédéric Bastin
Natacha Pirotte
Frédérique Degand
Sarra Latrèche
Johanna Leps
Gaëlle Rogier (intern)

Beneficiaries

Clinical programmes :

Children and teenagers between 5 and 18 years-old
107 attended our programmes

Trainings :

41 caregivers and team members participated in the arts-based training

Objectives

Clinical programmes:

Encourage self-expression of thoughts, ideas and emotions
Building and strengthening self-confidence
Promote tolerance, respect for others
Ease communication with peers
Develop creativity
Promote the expression and identification of feelings
Strengthening the bond in the group

Trainings:

Learn new tools that develop team reflection on professional activity and self-care skills
Learn tools to use with their public to facilitate communication and self-expression
Stimulate the young people's creativity and motivation
Help towards the team's self-fulfilment

Number of missions:

Long-term ongoing partnerships focusing on 4 sectors: social inclusion, health, education, response to the pandemic in children and youth.

Global impact in Belgium:

Social inclusion : Around 500 beneficiaries (asylum seekers) since 2017

Health: Around 200 beneficiaries since 2018  

Education: 100 teachers since 2019

Response to the pandemic: 500 beneficiaries over a 2-year period (2021-2022)

Partners:

Social inclusion: Fedasil, The Red Cross – Belgium

Health: King Albert II Institute (Saint-Luc University Hospital), BOFort, Erasme University Hospital, Therapeutic Center for Adolescents (CThA), Re-source Chirec Delta Center, Espace Bien-être l’Essentiel, Cliniques de l’Europe (Etterbeek), Fond’Roy hospital

Education: schools

Response to the pandemic: Services d’Accrochage Scolaires (SAS), Siloé ASBL, schools

Programmes:

Clinical sessions and arts-based capacity building and training programmes (referred to as ‘training’)

For further information on these programmes, please contact rpe@redpencil.org

BELGIUM

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