AMAKA and Mercy Corps are offering a three-day experiential  art therapy workshop for professionals and the public, within the framework of Art Emergency initiative.

Art Emergency is the innovative art therapy program for young refugees, designed and implemented by AMAKA in partnership with Mercy Corps. It begun in Spring of 2016 in camps of Epirus, Lesvos and Attica. The new cycle of workshops is set to begin in the first months of 2017 in Kos, Leros and Attica.

The safe space of the art therapy workshop reinforces creative expression, dialogue and communal and social ties with the goal of approaching and eventually appeasing the trauma of the participants as well as mitigating their negative experiences. The methodology and the instruments are selected after bibliography and field research, while the carefully structured schedule of activities encourages individual expression and simultaneously boosts the validation of self as part of the community.The target age group is predominantly youth (male and female adolescents and young adults) between 14-25 years old. The main nationalities of the participants are Syrian and Afghan. The program was initially implemented to camps prioritized due to the lack of supporting services there. Each cycle of workshops lasts approx. 8 weeks and the group exhibition organized by the participants themselves at the end is integral part of the process.

After our valuable experience and insight gained with Art Emergency, we noticed the need for special training and support of the professionals who work in the field with refugees (social workers, psychologists, educators etc.). The Art Emergency workshops for professionals will cater to this lack and the participants will have the chance to learn by creating. Core modules will include: Art as Therapy/ Applied Art Therapy for Refugees and Creative Methods/Ways to Design an Intervention/ Theory on Psychological Symptoms of Migration and War, with Focus on the Effects on the Teenagers.
The workshops will focus on experiential learning; through practical and group work the participants will eventually have to plan their own interventions, using the tools and methods provided during the training.
The second stage of the training will offer the chance to five participants from each training to be part of the workshops implemented by AMAKA for young refugees, as assistants to the facilitators. The workshops have three-month duration and take place on a weekly basis in Leros, Kos and Athens, where the Art Emergency initiative is active at present.
The three-day training is free of charge and participation is on a priority basis as the number of participants is limited (20 per workshop). Priority will be given to professionals already working in the field and live in the areas where the workshops will take place. The knowledge of English is necessary as this is the language of the training.
Attendance certificates will be provided to the participants who will fully complete the three-day training.

Please fill the participation form  and send it to info@amaka.gr

ART EMERGENCY WORKSHOP, 11-13 January 2017, 16.00-21.00 hours, Leros Island, SAVE THE CHILDREN / UNHCR EDUCATION CENTER (LEDU)

ART EMERGENCY WORKSHOP,  17-19 January 2017, 15:00-20:00 hours, Kos, Maritina Hotel  (L. Byron 19 str., Kos)

ART EMERGENCY WORKSHOP Athens: 25- 27 January 2017, 10.00-15.00 hours, ALBA Graduate Business School at The American College of Greece, 6 Xenias str.,Mavili sq. (Megaro Mousikis metro station), Athens

Detailed Training Schedule (download or open docs) :  Leros/ Kos/ Athens

The room for the workshop  in Athens is courtesy of ALBA Graduate Business School at The American College of Greece.