Professional meetings of Smile

From March 2023, articles on the Smile Blog invited our therapists and other interested professional parties to explore a new field and therapeutic approach. By writing about the importance of ecopsychology, ecotherapy and the relationship with nature, we wanted to raise awareness of the relevance of the subject and the potential of this approach for children when planning therapy sessions. This was also the theme of the Smile Retreat in spring 2024: introducing this approach to the therapeutic work of Smile through different pathways and from different art therapy disciplines.

We held an online workshop to discuss the key points of Smile’s newly developed child protection policy, the Smile Guardian (link). During the course, led by Anna Kovács Ágnes and Henriette Horváth, our therapists were given insights into the specifics of the signalling system, as well as practical information on situations that require signalling. We also helped them to work on child protection issues and cases with a knowledge base and protocol tailored to Smile, which is equally useful in everyday life.

The difficulties created by the Covid-19 virus also presented many challenges for the professionals who help. The two-day tale therapy group in Balatonrendes, led by Ildikó Boldizsár, used the language of fairy tales to explore how professionals can draw on their own inner resources to strengthen their own mental health after a difficult period.

At the two-day meeting of Smile therapists, professionals gave case presentations, workshops about best practices, insights into their own work and tried out proven techniques and methods used by other colleagues. The exchange of experiences also allowed therapists working in different cities and institutions to get to know each other better, and for new professionals to integrate into the team and thus to bring the Smile professional community members even closer to each other.

Ildikó Boldizsár held a two-day self-knowledge workshop in Balatonrendes for Smile therapists where participants explored the role of supportive professionals through fairy tales. The event was also an opportunity for therapists from different cities to exchange their professional experiences.

The two-day workshop for Smile therapists was held by Erzsébet Komáromi and Erika Pap, founders of the MURMO Therapy Centre (www.murmo.hu). Their aim was to expand the range of art therapy tools for our professionals and to introduce new techniques for them to integrate into their work. In March 2018, a one-day supervision session provided an opportunity for therapists to discuss with the workshop leaders how they could apply in their own therapeutic practice what they had learned at the workshop.

During this two-day training session, we sought answers with Smile therapists and grief counsellor Renáta Révész on how we can make our relationship to existence and death more harmonious and how we can help others to do the same. The training, based on Ildikó Boldizsár’s Metamorphoses Narrative Therapy, was complemented with relaxation and child psychodrama.

In 2015, Smile Foundation, celebrating its 18th anniversary, held its third professional meeting and brought together professionals from a wide range of fields that work with children. During the event, we sought answers to questions about why it might be worthwhile incorporating body awareness techniques or working with the body through different approaches in tale and art therapy. The two-day meeting offered a range of exciting presentations, workshops, case studies and opportunities for self-knowledge based on the latest international research and local practices in different aspects of tale therapy and art therapy.

During a one-day workshop for Smile therapists in October 2014, we worked with body and awareness of body sensations, incorporating traditional and modern body awareness techniques into the toolkit of storytelling therapy. The aim of the workshop, led by Hajnal Korbai and Dorka Hoppál, was to bring therapists closer to this field through their own experience and experiential learning. The workshop was also an important starting point for common reflection on how to involve the body in the therapeutic work of children in hospital to make psychological support more effective. In these institutions, neither the condition of the children nor their circumstances allow for classical movement and dance therapies, whereas working more consciously with the body and learning constructive ways of coping with body awareness techniques can be a key element in psychological rehabilitation.

Between June and November 2014, we held a 50-hour training course in storytelling for Smile therapists, led by Ildikó Boldizsár. Since the method had developed a great deal and had undergone several accreditations in the previous years, we felt a need to transfer the new knowledge and experience to the Smile community tailored to our own target groups. By completing the training requirements, the participants were awarded the title of Smile fairytale therapist.

Health and social care professionals, psychologists, educators, art therapists and storytellers attended this professional meeting that included inspiring presentations and workshops. The aim of the event was to bring together professionals from different fields who work with storytelling and art therapy methods, and to give them the opportunity to exchange experiences and try new methods.

For the first time, the therapists of the foundation presented their work to a wider professional audience during a two-day event. Among others, participants were able to learn about Smile’s art therapy, music therapy, tale therapy, child psychodrama or animal assisted therapy, and representatives of other similar organisations also spoke about their programmes at this colourful professional meeting.

Since 2009, we have organised several fairytale therapy workshops led by Ildikó Boldizsár for Smile and external professionals to provide useful storytelling practices. The first two-day workshop held in August 2009 started Smile therapists on the path of mastering fairytale therapy, which was then followed up by several consultations and supervision sessions in the following years to help our professionals to put the method into practice.