When There Are No Words

Healing through art therapy.

- Katie Roberts

The Red Pencil has grown significantly since 2011; tell us how it started?

The inspiration grew from my overwhelming encounters with French-speaking patients, many of them children, who were treated in Singapore after the tsunami in 2004. With the aid of art therapy, the children recovered quickly from the trauma, which demonstrated and confirmed to me how powerful art therapy can be. In those circumstances I could see it was truly life changing.

It led me to decide to find a way to reach out to many more people; not only those I could see myself in my studio. The Red Pencil was founded in 2011 with the key mission to support children, adults and families in overwhelming situations for which they have no words to convey their pain – particularly those afflicted by long-term hospitalisation, disability and trauma.

Up until 2012 I worked independently but have since gathered a small team together and now we have a team of 12: seven in Singapore, two in Geneva, one in India, one in France, and one in Belgium. In 2013, I started The Red Pencil International and opened an office in Geneva; this was the springboard to commence work in natural disaster and conflict areas. This year we expect to open an office in Dubai.

What would you say is the impact of The Red Pencil?

Art therapy is appropriate in any situation where people find it difficult to verbalise what they are going through and how they feel about it; it’s essentially an alternative way to express what they need to without words. As I experienced with the children after the tsunami, it is among young people where the impact is most apparent. I firmly believe in the power of art therapy to rebuild lives and create positive futures. To date, more than 12,000 people have received the direct benefits, along with their families and communities