Dramatherapist
Susanna Kester
Creative Arts Therapist , Heath and Care Professions Council and British Association of Dramatherapists accredited.
Susanna has been a practising Therapist for over 22 years, specialising in working with children, adolescents, and young adults. She has much experience of working within psychiatric hospitals, overseeing and implementing creative therapy sessions for groups and individuals on the adolescent unit at The Priory Hospital ( Southgate) for over eight years. She also many years of experience of providing solution focused work with young people at Henrietta Barnett School, and currently works in both primary and secondary schools. Susanna also runs a successful private practise working with children, adolescents and adults.
She has been a teacher on the University of Surrey, Roehampton Dramatherapy MA course and continues to work closely with students of dramatherapy providing group and individual sessions for students and also providing supervision for newly qualified professionals.
Creating a warm, safe and accepting space, Susanna uses varied creative techniques such as art work, creative writing and imagery, to help people express themselves and explore the issues that they are struggling with. Creative ways of working are particularly useful with children and young people who often struggle to find the words or even identify the difficulty. Using artwork, imagery and metaphor can illuminate and highlight an issue and act as a useful frame of reference for the young person to keep returning to.
For example, using the image of a bridge. I might ask the young person to draw a bridge, and ask what it looks like on this side of the bridge (how they feel now), what do they hope it will look like on the other side of the bridge?( how they want to feel). What does the bridge feel like to cross? (how might the journey to feeling the way you want to feel look like?) Is it stable, with good foundations, or old and rickety? What support do you need to get to the other side of the bridge and what will you need to take with you to make the journey manageable? What might you want to leave behind? This drawing can then be referred to in future sessions. How far along the bridge do you feel? Does the bridge feel safe at the moment or is there need for more handrails etc?
Sessions are always led by the needs and wants of the client. Susanna believes that the grounding and safety of the therapy lies in the secure and trusting therapeutic relationship. The relationship comes first and the tools with which to explore personal material and deeper processes follow.
Creative arts therapy can help:
- find perspective.
- express ones thoughts and feelings.
- Realise, explore and change unhelpful habitual patterns (in relationships, life).
Types of issues that are worked with are:
- Anxiety / stress
- Depression
- Obsessive thoughts
- Low self - esteem
- Exam / study problems
What people say:
'Susanna's sensitive approach was exactly suited to our teenager's demeanour, enabling her to explore issues in a way that grew her sense of self-reflection on an incremental basis. It was lovely to see our daughter's self-confidence, grounded assurance and even sense of fun restored through these sessions.' Father of client
“I have found Susanna to be patient, professional and perceptive. The exercises she initiated were illuminating and ultimately very useful. She had a flexible approach and thus I feel we made a lot of progress in a short period of time, and thus I was very satisfied with the help I received.
I would wholeheartedly recommend her as someone you could trust, who you could build a working relationship with, and someone who knows what she is doing, and who knows how to achieve and maintain a momentum with respect to achieving one’s therapeutic goals.” Individual client
“.........thank you for all you have done, and are doing. There are large numbers of students who have gained considerably from your care, input and support, and for that we are extremely grateful. We are also really appreciating your helpful feedback on the students, which is helping us to support them appropriately during the week.”
— Head Teacher, Henrietta Barnett School.
“Susanna’s support for the most vulnerable offers a level of expertise and therapeutic experience that we don’t have at our school. Her professionalism and kindness help them to understand and cope with some of the difficulties they face and they are able to manage more emotionally and focus on their studies.”
— Maureen Holder - Head Mentor, Tudor School, Finchley.
