Sociotherapy
Head of the Service:Antonio Caggioni
Overview
The Sociotherapy service is part of the rehabilitation services offered by the Clinica Santa Croce. It is a free-frequency space without the need for medical referral. The proposed rehabilitation activities are identified in a weekly program. The service is active from Tuesday to Saturday.
Objectives
The Sociotherapy service has the following objectives:
- Provide re-socializing opportunities in order to acquire and experiment with relational strategies
- Provide informal opportunities for cognitive stimulation
- Be a mediated space for discussion and sharing regarding the treatment path
- Guarantee a creative and expressive space within the clinic
The purpose of the service is that these tools, techniques and relational methods can be internalized and used by the patient both during the journey in the Clinic and once they have returned to their home. These activities will thus favor the rehabilitation process.
Environment
The internal environment of the Sociotherapy service must stimulate the relational aspects and ensure expressive possibilities.
Space
The setting and arrangement of the tables varies depending on the proposed activity, in order to encourage the participation in the activities. The space must not appear overloaded of visual stimuli but, in order to to facilitate the expressive area, it must be a space to be filled and ‘created’.
Sound environment
In the broader conception of environment we also identify the sound environment. Service users are asked to avoid annoying tones or noises, as well as to avoid the use of personal audio playback devices. Just as each activity requires that the space be arranged in a particular way, it will have a connoted sound environment. During the moments free from structured activities, background songs from the classical repertoire or noises and sounds of nature will be played.
Structuring of activities
Scheduled activities are agreed upon with the operator who welcomes and encourages active participation both in proposing activities and in suggesting how to carry them out. For the structuring of the activities, there is a time of group discussion in the weekly program where the proposed activities are agreed upon.
During this time of sharing, discussion is encouraged on issues related to the objectives of the proposed activities and the purpose of the service.
Care of the operator will be to decline the activities in such a way that they have rehabilitative potential and are accessible.
Monthly themes will be proposed that will serve as a guideline for all activities and be a stimulus for discussion and dialogue.
Convivial moments
During the day, we identify 2 moments in which the necessary for the preparation of coffee is made available to users, recognizing this as an important moment of conviviality and group cohesion. The active participation in preparation and sharing is encouraged.
A commitment is also required from users in the arrangement and care of the material as a stimulus to pay attention to the care of their living spaces.
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Planning Activities
General Assembly DSM Trieste – F.Basaglia – 1977 – Photo of G.B. Gardin
Overview
The planning group is a weekly meeting where users have the opportunity to express themselves and dialogue, make proposals and provide advice in order to build together with the operator the range of activities and services provided in the field of Sociotherapy . Projects, activities and discussions regarding the meaning of the proposed activities then arise from these meetings.
Objectives
The primary objective of the programming group is to facilitate collaboration by users in structuring the weekly activities. This will encourage participation even during the week as it involves the user personally
During the planning group the internal regulations are shared, which allows a peaceful coexistence and facilitates the performance of the activities, as well as any critical issues that arise during the week are addressed by ensuring that they have an identified space in which they can be discussed and resolved in an appropriate manner.
Specifications
The planning group takes place on Saturday to encourage the participation of the largest number of people as the activity does not overlap with other scheduled activities.
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Photography Workshop
Us and others – Painting workshop – Sociotherapy Clinica Santa Croce
Overview
The photography workshop consists of a collective creation process using photographic techniques.
Objectives
The photography workshop aims to stimulate the following areas:
- Short and medium-term planning
- Interpersonal collaboration in groups. The activity is expressive and resocializing.
Specifications
The photography workshop is scheduled weekly and includes a 1.5 h meeting. A theme will be proposed for each meeting, which should stimulate the creation of a visual photographic work.
The use of the camera to take photographs of the proposed activities during the week will also be encouraged.Materials and techniques
The material available to the photography laboratory is 1 reflex camera and the process of selecting and processing the photographs is carried out using the computer available for the service.
Photographic techniques and video editing techniques will be used. -
Juggling Activity
R. Forgione – Meeting outside the city
Overview
Juggling, the art of throwing objects in the air and catching them with dexterity, in its simplicity, has accompanied human history since the time of the ancient Egyptians. It was born in the squares and streets, where the juggler seeks a fluidity of gesture through which he can amaze his spectators, a fluidity that requires years of practice and artistic research. Thanks to this research Juggling has come to differentiate itself, offering us those disciplines through which it has become a varied and possible expressive space in which we can relate to ourselves and which can become an opportunity to relate to others.
Juggling can be used as a rehabilitative technique because it exploits the constant interaction between mind and body. In Juggling exercises, we can achieve our skill if and only if we relate to the other: our attention and concentration must necessarily become complementary to those of the other, in a dimension of close physical contact and balance; and the finalization is immediate and explicit: it is to become ‘skilled’.
But what is it, what allows clubs and balls to spin, and juggle in the best way? It is our body, which, with its natural gifts of coordination, balance and listening to self and other, becomes the primary instrument. It is precisely because of this, that our body must ‘feel’ and ‘know’ itself, in order to play, and make play.
Objectives
Juggling is an ancient art that requires great dexterity and skill, but it is also an opportunity to test how and how much these skills, which restore self-esteem and ‘presence,’ can grow and develop better when placed within a relationship with oneself and one’s body, with each other and with the group.
The purposes of this path therefore are:
- To stimulate relational skills through group experimentation, collaboration and imitation
- Provide opportunities for experimentation of personal medium- and long-term planning, such that it can instill a more finalistic view of one’s self.
- To stimulate a greater awareness of one’s body and its movements that can also help participants in a better way of relating to each other.
- Stimulating the ability to process frustration.
- To work on one’s skills and self-esteem.
- Increase attention and concentration skills.
- Provide a new expressive tool.
Specifications
Juggling activities are offered weekly with meetings ranging from 30 to 45 minutes depending on age groups.
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Origami Workshop
Overview
The Origami activity, parallel to the creative aspect, offers an opportunity to focus on cognitive stimulation.
Learning a series of consequential actions, following instructions that must be memorized and put into practice, provides an important cognitive exercise and enhancement.Objectives
The Origami workshop aims to stimulate the following areas:
- Sustained attention
- Working memory
- Visual-spatial skills and visual information management skills (mental rotation).
The activity has the character of cognitive stimulation and resocialization.
Specifications
The origami activity is scheduled weekly and includes a 1h meeting.
Participants will be asked to follow instructions that may be offered with picture sheets or through instructional videos. After this they may be asked to perform again what they have learned, without being able to consult the instructions or to consult them partially.
The group setting will encourage interpersonal collaboration in making the artifacts.Materials and techniques
Materials for the activity:
- Laptop computer for video playback with instructions
- Books and index cards with instructions
- Paper
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Movie Group
K. D. Matthiesen – Locarno Film Festival official poster part. – 2021
Overview
The Movie Group is a weekly scheduled activity that consists of a group watching of a movie. Users are involved in choosing the movie and a moment for sharing is provided at the end of the projection.
Objectives
Below are the specific objectives for the specific moments of the activity:
Movie selection
- Developing skills of dialogue and confrontation
- Developing the ability to handle frustration
Viewing
- Developing sustained attention skills
- Develop ability to maintain behaviors and manners appropriate to the context
Comparison at the end of the film
- Mnemonic and expositions skills
- Ability to analyze narrative aspects and themes that emerged during the movie
Specification
The activity is done in the Sociotherapy space using the available television. During the viewing, according to the specific needs of the individual, activities that can promote sustained attention over time can be carried out concurrently.
In the choice of movies, titles are favored that:- Do not create redundancy on psychiatric topics
- Have a duration of no more than 100 minutes
- Do not focus on violent or aggressive themes.
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Cognitive Training
Anni Albers – Orchestra III, Portfolio: Connections, 1983
Overview
The Cognitive Training activity is offered to patients who need cognitive maintenance interventions. It is included in the program of activities of the Sociotherapy service with a view to offering informal opportunities for intervention on specific functions.
Goals
The cognitive training activity aims to stimulate the following areas:
- Sustained attention
- Working memory
- Problem solving
- Group collaboration dynamics
Specifications
The cognitive training activity is scheduled weekly and includes a meeting lasting 30 minutes.
Participants will be offered exercises projected on a screen and will be invited to solve these exercises individually or in groups.
Group interaction will be encouraged in order to find strategies for solving the exercises that require the collaboration of all the participants.
Direct use of the PC by users is not foreseen.Material and techniques
Material used for the activity:
- Connected laptop with external screen
- Cognitive training computer exercises
