The Peak
17 December 2015
By some miracle, a French girl survived the deadly 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that struck Thailand. But the child suffered recurring nightmares and lost her appetite for weeks. She cried incessantly and clung to her mum to cope with the trauma. Help came only when the family met art therapist Laurence Vandenborre.
The 53-year-old has been practising art therapy for over 10 years and helps people, especially children and teenagers, to express in drawings what they can’t verbalise. She recalls: “The child was really distressed because she was caught in the tsunami wave. After a few sessions, the mother could see the breakthrough we made with the child.”
Through drawing, the girl was able to communicate her fears about the waves that almost drowned her. Fear turned to relief and, after a few sessions, she was able to eat and sleep, and return to her normal daily routine. Subsequent successes moved Vandenborre, a Belgian who moved to Singapore 18 years ago, to eventually set up The Red Pencil in 2010. The Singapore-based non-profit is said to be the world’s first and only organisation that uses art as a form of therapy. With the help of 150 art therapists, Vandenborre works with 60 welfare organisations in Singapore to reach out to family centres, schools, homes and shelters.
The Red Pencil also has a full-time service at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital that helps children from low-income families. The charity, which has established a second office in Geneva, has also sent missions to disaster and conflict zones in 19 countries including Nepal, the Philippines and Lebanon to help refugees affected by the Syrian war.
Vandenborre says: “Children from those zones have lost basically everything. (But) they can’t express (their feelings) in words. So we let them draw, which is a natural way for children to express themselves.
About Laurence Vandenborre
LASALLE MA Art Therapy alumna and Founder of The Red Pencil, Laurence Vandenborre, helps people, especially children and teenagers, to express in drawings what they can’t verbalise.
