Bassma has been following closely underprivileged families since it began operating in 2002, within a comprehensive empowerment program that includes many aspects to help these families become autonomous: Food Security, Education, Employment, Home Renovations, and Livelihood.
Psychological follow-up has been an important component in each of these programs, and a pre-requisite for its success. Children and adults are unable to study or work when their mental health is at its lowest.
Therefore, Bassma developed a Children and Youth Development Program (CYDP), as well as coaching program for moms, to help the family remain stable and healthy.
Moreover, Bassma opened its Evening School premises in 2013 and started welcoming 60 students each year. For social and economic reasons, these students were depressed and tend to be suicidal. This is when we launched our ART THERAPY (AT) workshops that would allow the students to express their negative emotions in a pleasant and friendly space.
When the Lebanese revolution started in October 2019, schools could not open their doors, and Bassma’s Evening School also remained closed.
Again in 2020, we could not open our doors because of the Covid-19, which was obviously very bad for our children and youths’ mental health.
Indeed, after the Beirut Blast in Aug. 4, 2020, many have developed shock, grief, and interiorized anger that has a long-lasting impact on their mental and even physical wellbeing. Nightmares were haunting their nights and extreme anxiety had taken over their days. We had to follow-up on each person individually.
However, it would really be much more efficient to reopen our Children and Youth Development Center (YDC) in Ain El Remmaneh, and launch Art Therapy workshops for homogenous groups, which will help them overcome some barriers whilst allowing them to move forward in their life.
ART THERAPY (AT) program by Bassma is a specialized multidisciplinary healing program that targets traumatized and destitute Lebanese children. It is an active workshop developed by Bassma throughout the years that includes many different topics to help children and youths let out all negative emotions, and acquire feelings of well-being and satisfaction, along with friends and coaches.
The ART THERAPY (AT) workshops’ objectives are the following:
1. Build a safe routine
The routine of these workshops is very essential; it helps the children and youth feel safe and secure, because they lack certainty in their daily life.
2. Improve feelings of wellbeing by treating anxiety and depression
These activities increase the level of serotonin in the brain, which helps in treating depression, anxiety, and other mental illnesses.
3. Nourish the participant’s confidence and personality
Through the gestures of doing (acts of painting, writing, pasting, cooking) the participant will feel a sense of control over his life. In addition, physical movements, yoga and dancing, help the children and youth externalize their everyday stress.
4. Increase socialization and communication skills
When children express themselves and learn to communicate better, family cohesion and integration increases as well. These activities encourage the child to initiate conversations with strangers and enable them to build a healthy circle of friends.
