OUR MISSION
Blue Box Creative Arts Therapy Centre transforms vulnerable children's lives with innovative, research-based Play and Creative Arts Therapies, fostering Positive mental health and well-being.
About Us
The mission of Blue Box is to provide psychotherapy services to children, young people and their families to help them realise their full potential through research based, innovative, professional and accredited Play and Creative Arts Therapies.
How Blue Box Began
Blue Box was founded following a simple belief that every child deserves access to therapeutic support.
After working with disadvantaged children and training as an Art Therapist in the United Kingdom, our founder Sister Mary Carmel O’ Donoghue returned to Limerick determined to make these services more accessible. Early therapy sessions were delivered from a blue container beside a local school. The children began calling the space “The Blue Box” and the name has remained ever since.
Today, Blue Box continues that mission by providing professional therapeutic services to vulnerable children and young people throughout the Mid-West.
We support the wellbeing and mental health of vulnerable children and young people of all abilities, aged 3 to 18 years. Through Play and Creative Arts Psychotherapy, we address the emotional, cognitive, social, behavioural and developmental needs of children and families living across the Mid West.
Our therapy interventions are designed in direct response to the mental health and wellbeing needs of children, whether delivered in schools, community settings or in our purpose built therapy centre in Limerick City.
We partner with the HSE, Mental Health Services, Tusla, Youth Services, schools and other community organisations to respond to the growing need for child appropriate psychological interventions.
Through the medium of Play and Creative Arts Psychotherapy, we empower children and their families to build healthier relationships and to take a more active role in their lives, schools and communities.
We welcome parent, carer and family referrals for our therapy services. If you are interested in referring your child, please get in touch with us by phone or email for guidance on the referral process.
Please note that we cannot accept referrals from professionals unless they are funding the service. Parents and carers should contact us directly.
We recommend checking with your health insurance provider to see if your policy offers reimbursement for Creative Arts or Play Therapy.
ACE'S
Adverse Childhood Experiences
Since 1998, Vincent Felitti, Robert Anda and colleagues have accumulated evidence that Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) literally attack the structures of a child’s developing brain, leading to “lasting effects on brain structure and function”. This brain injury – acquired in infancy or adolescence – has serious individual and societal costs.
There is a preponderance of evidence that adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) result in harmful physical, learning, social, emotional, and behavioural health outcomes during childhood, with far reaching effects lasting across the lifespan.
Through Play and Creative Arts therapy Blue Box provide therapeutic approach for children who have experienced ACE’s. By providing a safe space for emotional expression and regulation children can process their trauma and can learn to problem solving and coping skills.
The therapeutic trusting relationship that the child builds in Blue Box, children with ACE’s can process their experiences, develop resilience, and move towards healing and recovery.
Ray et al., 2021 states that play and creative arts therapies appears to be a practical and effective intervention for children who have experienced ACEs and at-risk for trauma disorder.