Gabriella Webber is a registered Trauma Therapist and Creative Art Counsellor working with children and adolescents.
I love Jesus and I believe ‘He makes all things beautiful in His time’ – Eccles 3:11
I have a Diploma in Commercial Art, ECD and Theology.
I have a degree in Psychology.
I am a qualified Counsellor and Trauma Therapist.
I am also a qualified Community Art Practitioner.
I am currently completing Honours in Psychology through UNISA.
I also run my own NPO, JIKANAWE, working with marginalized and abused children. I have been involved in volunteering for over 20 years.
My Motto is ‘Change is a journey without compromise. My personal Creed is ‘to uplift, empower, encourage.’
I am also an Artist.
I have a wonderful Husband, 2 grown up children and numerous Grandchildren that I simply adore.
I have always been involved in upliftment programmes regarding children & teens at any given time in my life whether through Church affiliation, work related or in my private capacity. I am a Member of the South African Scout Association and am a warranted Pack Scouter.
I obviously love working with children and teens, and although they require vastly different applications, creativity is a language everyone speaks. I often work in cross cultural settings and find that the creative arts transcends any barriers caused by language or culture. I have worked with many age groups using art as a common dialect, from counselling learners in schools to running open art studio’s on a township soccer field. I call this language ‘Artspeak’.
“Creating through the Therapeutic process
is a method of helping a child or a group of children
transfer their unspoken feelings onto an artwork that then becomes
an external representation of their internal world.” Gabs
Art Counselling is not about being artistic or having the ability to draw. It’s never about the end product, it’s about the uninhibited freedom to express and explore. It’s about ‘healing through art’.
My ultimate dream is to establish a Creative Counselling Centre where all forms of creative therapies take place including music, dance and drama therapy. However, I have found great value in meeting with a young client in their home, where they are comfortable and I am able to understand them within the context of their living space.
Experience the convenience of home therapy: no juggling appointments, or traveling long distances which takes up precious time. Now you can just pick up the phone and book a ‘Creative Art Date’.
What would you need and what about the mess you say? Creative counselling does not require a large space, and does not involve any mess. I basically come to your home with my creative toolbox, we laugh, we discuss, we create, we explore challenges, we achieve, then I leave.
Other modalities that I make use of are sand tray therapy and narrative counselling. In addition to this, I have a large collection of sensory toys for ‘little clients’ who are in need of grounding.