Services
Sessions or workshops can take place face to face or online:
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At my clinic in Pembroke, Malta
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Online using Skype, Whatsapp, Messenger or Zoom
elainemary.grech
00356 99447307
elaine.grech.54
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The Venue of your choice (travel time would need to be taken into account)
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Venue organized by myself
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Outdoor work in nature
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Where it happens:
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When people come into our ‘space/s’ they can see and get a sense of who we are. Therefore, when we are in a position to be involved in the creation of the space we work in, the actual choice of colours, objects in the room, use of space, furniture, pictures, scents and textures, can become a communicative act in itself. When explorers come into my working space, they can smell the essential oils diffused in the air; they notice the sky-blue textured wall and the colourful painting of balloons hanging on the waiting room wall. They are welcome to taste one of the herbal teas displayed in the open dresser in the corridor that leads to the clinic room. As they step in the reflection space (clinic), I invite them to take their time to look around, to take it in. I find that different people notice or comment on different aspects. Some point out the visual, such as the calming effect of the sky blue, or get curious about the smell; others reach out to touch the different stones that I keep in a large plate on the coffee table in the middle of the room. People who feel at home in my space are those who love to be in a more colourful space and who find it helpful to express themselves using various senses. This resonance or therapeutic fit supports the therapeutic relationship.
When explorers step into the therapeutic space, I encourage them to notice what attracts them. I show them around and let them know that they can touch anything they are interested in. Many children and adults tend to get very curious about exploring the colourful stones displayed. Besides the colours and stones that we will be focusing on in this paper, there is a limitless variety of creative therapeutic activities we can embark on. Attention to colours and the use of stones can at times be combined with other creative interventions.
These can include working with soft toys, pictures, metaphors, story-writing or story enactment, fairytales, sound and rhythm, movement, enactment and role reversals, guided visualization, inner child work, and dreamwork. I invite the explorers to use their senses, the different tools of contact, by looking, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching, moving and sensing. My background in mindfulness informs this process. By using the senses as tools of contact, the therapeutic aim is to strengthen the contact functions, support the ability to connect with one’s feelings by slowing down, making contact with one’s inner and outer experience and in the process enhance one’s ability to express these feelings using a form of external expression. Being attuned to the explorers’ needs is crucial, and any intervention can only be helpful within the context of sensitivity to process.
Creative Therapeutic Work:
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At times we might find it hard to connect with our feelings and reflect on our relationships using only words. Creative, multi-sensorial therapeutic interventions can allow us to gain insight into aspects of ourselves and our relationships that might not be visible when we just ‘talk about’ something. Feelings associated with trauma might be tough to express verbally, while other non-verbal means of expressing oneself can be more effective therapeutically. Although a creative way of working is usually associated with children, adults, including professionals, can equally benefit from this more ‘right brain’ way of working.
"I very rarely think in words at all. A thought comes, and I may try to express it in words afterwards." Albert Einstein
Including working with:
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colours and drawings
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stones/crystals
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enactments and role-plays
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systemic constellations
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poetry, story-writing, and story-performing
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sound, rhythm, and music
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smell and taste
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movement and embodiment
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mindfulness, meditation, and visualization
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dreams, imagination, and intuition
Couple and Family Therapy:
Therapeutic change is more likely to happen when we are
motivated, and when we are supported by significant others.
My aim is to provide a secure-base where people who are significant to each other are supported to feel safe to improvise new ways how they can understand each other. Learning how to reach out and support each other can help the couple/family find creative solutions to their challenges, dilemmas and painful experiences. I believe in the families’ abilities to learn new useful tools that they can use long after they finish the therapeutic sessions. As a systemic practitioner, I believe in the effectiveness of having significant others support the therapeutic process and experiencing the therapeutic journey as a team.
Individual Therapy
At times, we might need to go to therapy by ourselves, perhaps we need to have a space where we can articulate our feelings and make sense of what is going on in a safe place, before we are ready to reach out to significant people in your life. I visualize this space as a journey of self-exploration, at times it starts during a crisis where we feel we find ourselves facing what might feel as unsurmountable waves, while other times the waters are more still and we might be looking at the horizon for a sense of direction in our lives.
Clinical Supervision and Mentorship:
I carry out clinical supervision and mentorship with multi-disciplinary professionals in various sectors including psychotherapists, psychologists, social workers, support-workers/care-workers, managers, leaders, medical professionals, educators, and other professionals who want to invest in their wellbeing and that of their team. It can take place with individuals and also in groups.
My model of mentorship: I focus on the holistic well-being and personal-professional development of the practitioners. The aims of mentorship would be discussed and crafted with you.
Some of the main aspects that can be addressed include:
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Gaining awareness on how our own personal and family experiences (the luggage we bring with us) affect the work we do, acting as triggers, thus they need to be addressed. We ask questions such as, "What motivated me to take on this professional path?", "What are the resources and the areas of growth I bring in this work?".
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We pay attention to our own holistic well-being as it affects the quality of the work we do.
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"What type of person, family, system do I feel most resourceful to work with?". "What type of work is most challenging to me and what personal and professional skills do I need to work on, to grow in my practice?"
The aim is to inspire and equip the practitioners with tools on how to construct understanding. Attention is given to the process of how we use our skills and our senses to construct knowledge.
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Focus on making sense of the intrapersonal, interpersonal, family and broader contextual life of the system we are reflecting on. We are also part of that system so the reflection would also include awareness of our own positioning. Gaining a more in-depth and multi-layered insight into the experience of the people who we are reflecting on is crucial to support them in order to make sense of their own experiences and when possible helping them find creative solutions to their challenges.
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We reflect on the conceptual frameworks we are using in our work, and relate to theoretical ideas and pertinent research in the field that can help us develop our practice further.
Staff Support and Team Building:
(can be tailor-made to the needs of the team/system)
Taking care of the employees’ well-being needs to be a priority for organizations to ensure that their employees are well and can provide a good service. Multi-disciplinary collaboration is another crucial ingredient in enhancing service outcome. The aim is to support the personal and professional development of the group members with particular attention to the team’s well-being and their ability to work collaboratively in teams and organizations.
Training Workshops
Working closely with vulnerable people will impact on the multi-disciplinary professionals, while the professionals are also bringing their personhood and influencing the people they are caring for. One can argue that reflexive practice is crucial in any work that involves care, especially in a fast-paced environment where the practitioners are ‘on the floor’ with the care-receivers hour after hour, many times with little space left for reflection. Reflexive practice entails a developed self-awareness and a capacity to use oneself ‘therapeutically’ in any interaction on ‘the floor’. This way of being will come across in each interaction, including the way we give feedback to our colleagues and the service users. The floor could be any context, including the reception, the corridors, the clinic or the written or verbal feedback we exchange.
These workshops aim to provide a creative space for reflexive awareness and reflexive dialogue. There will be spaces for the group participants to reflect both individually and within the group. The participants will then choose what they would like to share within the group. This sharing of reflections aims at enhancing a sense of teamwork, which is another core theme when providing a service.
I invite you to have a look at past workshop events I have organized myself (see link below)
and watch the upcoming workshops (see link below).
Training Workshops can also be organized:
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Tailor-Made according to your needs
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Can be carried out in different locations (face to face or online)
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Different duration
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Languages: English or Maltese
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Prices on Request
Tailor-Made Training Workshops (On request):​
For more information and to request a quote fill in the booking form by pressing the icon below and email the filled in form to elainemarygrech@gmail.com
Personal Development Workshops and Seminars in the Community
(Can also be developed on request):
Workshops can be organised on parenting and life scripts, communication skills, attachment, themes on couple and family relationships, dealing with mental health issues, understanding addictions; stress and anger management and others depending on your needs.
Organizing the Workshop/Seminar:
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Tailor-Made according to your needs
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Can be carried out in different locations (face to face or online)
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Different duration
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Languages: English or Maltese
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Prices on Request