What we do
Healthy Young Minds is a project funded by Comic Relief until the end of March 2025. YCSA has offered this service to primary and secondary schools within the southside of Glasgow for young people from diverse backgrounds. A particular emphasis will be placed on transitions from primary to secondary school & tackling discrimination by celebrating the right to be different. The impact of the funding over the last four years has changed the lives of young people who have come to therapy with various forms of trauma. Art psychotherapy has enabled people as young as seven years of age up to the age of 25.
Art psychotherapy offers a protected and caring space for you to express what you experience and what affects your life using both words and art materials. You don’t have to be good at painting or drawing, art therapy is about expressing and communicating through playful making what is sometimes difficult to say with words. Overall art psychotherapy will aim to help you nurture the relationship with yourself and others.
What support we'd love to get
This project now requires support from individual people, organisations, and sponsors from the public to ensure this valuable service to young people is not lost; and to help us continue our absolutely life-changing work which supports people in the early and formative stages of their lives. Through our work we transform the lives of young people and their families and have witnessed the therapy and support enabling them to make positive, constructive life changes and plans, and become meaningful contributors to society. This is our ultimate goal.
The art psychotherapist has faced young people who have been traumatised by various life events, e.g. in the case of young asylum seekers and refugees, this could be trafficking, exploitation, loneliness, various forms of abuse, loss of family and friends, abandonment.
Healthy Young Minds also offers therapeutic support to parents and carers of the young people we work with.
Feedback from a young asylum seeker
Art psychotherapy removes the barrier of language and reliance on words alone; art psychotherapy allows a person to express themselves truly and relieve symptoms of trauma.
Our Impact
The service results in improved mental health, greater resilience, and increased confidence among young people. An independent review highlighted that young people who completed the program showed notable improvements in mental health and well-being. These improvements were measured using a tool that assesses well-being and mental health. The results indicated positive shifts in young people's emotional health, with young people reporting higher levels of self-worth and confidence.
The service helped young people better manage trauma and emotional difficulties. Parents involved in the programme also reported improvements in their own mental health and well-being.There was an observable improvement in young people's relationships with their peers, family, and friends.
The service contributed to better school attendance and enhanced behaviour, making young people more engaged and motivated. impacts demonstrate the effectiveness of the service in supporting young people, fostering resilience, and improving their overall well-being. The continued support of this service is crucial for the ongoing mental health and academic success of young people from marginalised communities.