Tuesday 20 December 2016
On stage at the Vigádo
It
seems like years ago that I was asked by Dr Erzsébet Balogh and Dr Júlia Horváth
to take part in one of the three discussion tables at the WCCE9. It probably
was more than a year ago when I said yes, then I worried about it for months
even though I am so passionate about the subject that I had been asked to speak
about – art, art therapy and my conductive work.
I was
delighted when I discovered that I would be taking part in the discussion at
the Vigádo where I have attended several concerts over the past twenty-five
years.
I realise
now that I need not have worried so much about this event. I ended up quite
enjoying it but the worry did mean that I was well prepared. When I got up on the
stage last Sunday, in that beautiful auditorium, I was not as terrified as I had thought
I might me.
I had
wonderful support before the event and on stage from Mel Brown and Júlia Horváth
and felt very much at ease sitting beside my teachers from 1989-93, Anna Klein
and Eszter Daróczy. Dr Zsebe broke the ice by conjuring up coffee and tea for
us all.
The
pictures above are courtesy of the Pető
website –
Below
is the text of my contribution to the
discussion –
WCCE
2016
Discussion
Sunday 11th December 2016
14.30-15.30
Vigadó,
Budapest
Chairpersons
Dr Júlia
Horváth (H, PAC), Dr Melanie Brown (UK, NICE), Thorsten Gegenwarth (A)
Participants
Dr Andrea Zsebe (APC), Eszter Daróczy (APC), Anna Klein (APC), Susie Mallett (Germany)
Guidelines
· Clients for Cond. Ed
· Conventional and unconventional indication for
Cond. Ed (borderline problems)
· Acceptance of children/adolescents/adults with
undiagnosed status
· Vocational training lead to be skilled worker
(workman, trade)
· Question of integration/inclusion
· College level training of Cond. Ed
The question put to me was –
How do working conductors incorporate other professional knowledge
that they might have into their conductive practice?
As an
art teacher and art therapist, I knew some pedagogy and psychology but I did
not know about disability or learning difficulties.
Merging
conductor training to my previous expertise gave me a holistic conductive
philosophy – just as Professor Schaffhauser was saying this morning – this
framework enveloped all my skills, bringing them together in an all-encompassing
framework of learning and upbringing.
Creative
art, also including creative writing, became a powerful motivating tool in
conductive groups. Other conductors merge their own areas of expertise with
great success, such as swimming, gardening, woodwork, sport, cooking.
My conductive
work is never without my art teaching or therapy expertise. Being an expert in any
field gives a conductor more confidence, we can use passions to motivate clients
and build task series’ around them, and maybe even new hobbies will be taken up
– so important in developing a healthy soul.
Artistic
creativity in art therapy and conductive groups constructs a path towards
psychological and physical development, giving a focal point to discussions,
reasons for making active movements.
I
learnt to implement art skills and art therapy techniques into conductive
sessions, especially with adult stroke survivors; encouraging communication and
movement through painting. The artwork can be large, encouraging the artist to
open up, to stand up, to lift their head and look out at the world, encouraging
large motions as a brush held in a closed fist sweeps across a canvas, resulting
in activity previously not thought possible.
Small scale
art encourages different skills, focusing eyes on fine detail, pincer grasping
a small brush while making fine deliberate movements with hands. Art in
whatever form can prevent unwanted movements.
In art
therapy and conductive sessions art works are not the important factor, but the
learning and development through their production is and should be observed and
documented.
I have
developed my own method of assisting families to construct their own conductive
lifestyles. You can see this in my poster. Art has been important in this, a frequent
path to developing happy souls, essential before the real hard work can begin.
Successful
conduction not only brings together the development of clients’ personalities,
it is also brings together everything that the conductor has to offer.
Susie
Mallett
December
11th 2016
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