ABOUT US
The indigenous African millipede is an ancient and colourful creature. This creature nourishes and thrives in adverse environments, and its many arms under one body is the metaphor that underlies S.F. therapeutic arts organisation principles.
While some legs are attuning, mirroring, and dialoguing, others are listening, building relationships and curiously researching. Each leg walks the road of diversity, dignity, empowerment, and social justice.
Weekly Support Activities
For support for adults with long-term mental health challenges.
Location: Room 4 - Community House, 311 Fore St, London N9 0PZ
Tuesdays: 11 AM - 1 PM: Group Art Therapy
Wednesdays: 11 AM - 1 PM: Somatic Swimming & Sauna
Fridays: Outings to museums, galleries, Kew Gardens, and seaside day trips
AIM
The aims of Songololo Feet are to provide an Art Therapeutic approach where by Art and creative expression is the vehicle for physiological and psychological change. We encourage a trauma informed creative approach through creative expression and the arts, to help raise self-awareness and community cohesion where social and personal difficulties are explored and new possibilities harnessed.
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History of Songololo Feet
Songlololo Feet recently had the support of Awards for All who funded a series of projects: “thrive hive thrives” January 2020,” Hope”July 2020,”Our Art therapy Nest”2021,"Growing wings”2022 and “Mind your business”2022.
Songololo Feet has had the privilege of working with grassroots communities in London for the past 20 years.
Maia Kruger, co-founder and coordinator, has upskilled her qualifications from Fine Art and Art in the Community, to a Higher Diploma in Therapeutic Arts, and finally to a Master’s degree in Integrative Arts Psychotherapy. She also completed an honorary position as an artist and art therapist for “Arts in Health” with the NHS City and North West London forensic psychiatric secure unit.
Maia delivered an art therapy course to Hackney’s community at the Centre for Better Health, part of the Hackney Wellbeing Network, which caters to vulnerable adults.
Songololo Feet recently received funding to roll out a pilot project called “Thrive Hive.” The project targets young people in Hackney who are most at risk. The initiative includes two key components:
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Art therapeutic workshops for young people using a trauma-informed approach.
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Art therapeutic intervention and prevention courses for community workers and educators.
Previously, Awards for All funded Songololo Feet to deliver a project called “Art and Chat,” an art therapeutic intervention targeting elderly Hackney residents. This project explored challenging themes such as loss, loneliness, and ill-health.
Prior to “Art and Chat,” Songololo Feet delivered another Awards for All funded project called Phakamisa II, which took place at Praxis, a refugee charity. This project included:
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The first group, which explored the repetitive nature of printed textiles as a parallel process to the repetitive nature of trauma.
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The second group, which examined psychosomatic tension through the creation of giant-sized body maps.
These projects proved highly successful in raising awareness of trauma-related issues.
The third group focused on establishing a new over-50s project called “Art and Chat.” This group has since evolved into a regularly established program at Sharp End, which serves individuals over 60 years old.
For the past five years, Songololo Feet has been based at Praxis while Maia completed her therapeutic work placement. This work involved running a series of art therapy workshops for survivors of torture. The program was newly developed to meet the specific needs of clients, integrating Maia’s recently acquired skills from her Master’s degree in Integrative Arts Psychotherapy. These workshops, including the use of printed textiles, have been funded for five consecutive years and focus on supporting refugees and survivors of torture.
Looking ahead, Songololo Feet aims to further develop this work as a trauma-related intervention to prevent the development of additional mental health challenges.
In earlier years, the organization received funding to deliver arts and crafts workshops for over-50s, supported by Awards for All for two consecutive years. These workshops also included advocacy and human rights courses. The over-50s group has now been restructured into the “Art and Chat” program.
Over the past five years, Songololo Feet has also run a textile project at Core Arts, a mental health facility partnered with Mind and the NHS. This textile group, initially founded by Songololo Feet, later transitioned into a paid post. Through this work, the team gained a deeper understanding of the needs of a highly vulnerable group and identified a gap in the system—between being sectioned and transitioning into a community setting with no therapeutic support. This gap is a key focus of their future work.
More recent funding was awarded to support communities come to terms with the after
affects of covid.
What we do
SOMATIC SWIMMING
We know that trauma profoundly affects both our minds and bodies. We explored how trauma, often caused by stress, significantly increases the risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and certain autoimmune disorders, as well as many severe mental health problems. We also examined body memories and how our experience of pain is influenced by our psychological state.
But what if we flip the coin?
How does the state of our body influence our mind and emotions? Consider how our mental health—our mood, emotions, and even compulsions—is at least partially driven by our physiology. For instance, how the bacteria in our gut may affect our mental state; how depression and anxiety might be linked to inflammation and the immune system; and how our hormones impact the way we feel and act.
Often, when we face difficulties, we forget three essential words: eat, sleep, and exercise. I believe the goal of any trauma-informed approach should be to remember these three words and aim for self-regulation.
BODY MAPPING
Unveiling hidden trajectories, whilst tracking visual sensations and psychosomatic tensions trapped in the body, highlighting implicit memories while creating personal narratives through
the use of the Arts.
This is basically a data generating research method used to tell a story which usually reflects social, political and economic processes as well as individuals’ embodied experiences and meaning attributed to their life circumstances which have shaped what they have become. Overriding cultural and language barriers and releasing deep- seated trauma in a safe and contained space.
CLAYFIELD
The Clay field (Elbrecht, 2013) seemed clearly useful, as it offered a relationship close to an interpersonal exchange, due to its sensorimotor Art therapy approach to psychotherapy.
Clients reshaped and tested the clay a number of times before object constancy (Winnicott, 1971) could be achieved: the once
PRINTED TEXTILES
Power of Print (POP) works with the repetitive process of printing, which mirrors the repetitive nature of trauma allowing an understanding with the survivor that evolution of a narrative is possible and new ways of being could be practices.
MAIA
(Co-founder and Coordinator)
"Growing up in South Africa I was affected by both pre-and post-apartheid climates.
My social and political understanding have been greatly influenced by this experience and the arts.
Due to this my curiosity and need to understand Inherited trauma passed on through genealogy which has had a profound effect socially, psychologically, and physiologically on my family and country of origin.
Repetitive pattens of behaviour have been at the fore front of my driving force to setting up Songololo-feet and the use of print as a vehicle to explore and research this idea.
My Art expression started with a potato, creating prints taught by my mum. Being dyslexic this simple process allowed an alternative expression which helped symbolize my narrative resulting in financial gain which offered choice to leave South Africa.
During my fine art and Art in the community degree I set up S/F using printed textiles as an unconscious form of communicating especially with those whose English was not their first language and others that found it difficult to express themselves and others to explore somatic experiences which has no words. This allowed me to recognise the significance of this somatic experiencing art form as a therapeutic intervention and a self-expression tool in terms of developing insight, therefore empathy whilst skill sharing. I later move onto a higher diploma in Therapeutic Arts and then my Masters in Integrative Art Psychotherapy.
Maia completed her honorary position as an Artist and art therapist for “Arts in Health”N.H.S. City and North West London forensic psychiatric secure unit."
Projects
This progressed to Local schools at a time when Hackney was the poorest borough in London.
S/F ‘s engagement-initiated engagement started at Hackney city farm mums and toddlers in 2004
young people on housing estates affected by gang violence.
With a group of Somalian and Asian women worked together to bridge together
their cultures through print.
Prior to that S/F delivered an Awards for All funded project called Phakamisa Art therapy for victims of torcher.11. Which took place in Praxis which is a refugee charity.
