Teapot Trust art therapy garden

Art therapy for children and young people with chronic health conditions

One in four children and young people in the UK live with the pain and stigma of chronic health conditions that cause anxiety and depression. Almost a third of those aged under 20 who take their own lives have a long-term chronic illness. Typically, young patients with chronic conditions need regular invasive tests, injections and treatments. They often feel misunderstood, saying others don’t believe they’re in pain because their condition is “invisible”. 

Through art therapy, we support them to express and process their feelings about their diagnosis, their treatment regime, and how this affects them day-to-day. This enables them to find effective coping tools to build resilience. 

Showcasing the benefits of art therapy to children through plants 

The Teapot Trust Elsewhere Garden, designed by garden-design team Semple Begg, was created as a metaphor of a journey through art therapy and enabled us to showcase the benefits to children through plants. 

Semple Begg initially sat in on a Young Voices group of children who had benefitted from art therapy and were blown away by their imaginations. Normal rules didn’t apply and the children were supported to use their imaginations and creativity to explore their fears – and ultimately resolve them. This was followed by focus groups at the Royal Hospital for Children, Glasgow, the ultimate destination for the garden, which included clinicians, nurses, patient support groups, and families. 

A place where imagination blooms

Out of these consultations grew the Elsewhere Garden – a place where a child’s imagination blooms in response to the freedom gifted by art therapy. A place where the inner world of a child’s anxiety is expressed as an outer wonderland, using plants to paint a picture of what ‘elsewhere’ might look like. There’s fun, there’s fear, and there’s things that can’t be entirely explained – dancing grasses, for example.

We were delighted to be awarded a gold medal for the Elsewhere Garden. Chief Executive Sarah Randell said “winning gold is a fantastic acknowledgement of the brilliance of Semple Begg’s design in conveying the freedom gifted by art therapy. The most important point is that we’ve never lost sight of the reason we created the Elsewhere Garden – to reach more children so that their lives can be transformed through the healing power of art therapy. For us, that’s gold.”

Relocating to Glasgow 

The Elsewhere Garden is being permanently relocated to the Royal Hospital for Children, Glasgow this Autumn. Glasgow is an area of profound health inequalities and enables us to meet needs where they are most felt.  The garden will be used as an area for outdoor art therapy combining the power of nature and art, as well as providing a space for young patients, their families, and hospital staff to enjoy. We are also fundraising to build a sustainable, weatherproof studio within the garden, a dedicated space to enable us to provide year-round art therapy away from the clinical environment.  

Patricia Watts, Teapot Trust lead art therapist at the hospital said, “there is currently no dedicated therapeutic space and the clinic rooms are in demand. We are fortunate to have use of a clinic room, but it can be triggering for children and young people coming into a clinical setting for art therapy as there is the worry that they might be having a blood test or examination. Having a studio will help children and young people to enjoy a creative space that doesn’t remind them of having medical procedures and can help them to have a positive experience of attending hospital.

The opportunity for outdoor art therapy introduces children, young people and families to ways that they can look after their emotional wellbeing using the natural resources around them and can offer accessible tools for self care.  

The garden will also give children, young people and their families a space to relax and spend time together in nature that offers respite from the hospital environment which can feel quite stressful, busy and overwhelming for some children, young people and families.” 

The Teapot Trust Elsewhere Garden is being replanted at the hospital this November, with an official opening planned for Spring 2024 when the garden is in bloom. The garden and studio will provide a lasting legacy for Teapot Trust art therapy in Glasgow. 

Additional information

Since 2010, Teapot Trust has supported 13,000+ children and young people, working with hospitals, patient support groups and GPs. Art therapy is usually delivered one-to-one or in small peer support groups. Find out more about the Teapot Trust.