Individualised one-to-one craft, art and therapeutic story sessions for adults and children who want to better understand and manage their own and others’ emotions, and to build their self-esteem, resilience and perseverance, in order to cope better in life.

Please get in touch: cats@koka.me.uk

My Practice

I firmly believe there is no such thing as a perfect recipe for improving mental health that would suit everyone.

Every person is unique. We all have our own ways of communicating, our own sets of strengths and weaknesses, our own history, beliefs and dreams.

I listen to my client and I reflect back to them what they are communicating to me. I support them to understand themselves better, in order to find and improve their own unique ways of coping better in their lives.

I use craft, art and therapeutic story telling to improve emotional literacy and to facilitate building self-esteem, resilience and perseverance.

£40 / 60-minute session.

The first consultation is free.

CATS Sessions

Although I plan and prepare for each and every session, CATS sessions are mostly led by the client themselves. I usually offer them one or two options of what activities we could do first, and accept their choice. We create some artwork, we do crafting, we tell stories. Then, we decide about the next activity depending on where the first one led.

To be honest, it absolutely doesn’t matter what activities we do. All of them are just opportunities for opening up and reflecting on our emotions.

For most people, it is much easier to talk when their hands are occupied, although sometimes the client chooses to not do anything else, just talk, and that’s fine too.

Craft & Art

Many people enjoy art and craft and so do I, so very often this is what we do in the CATS sessions.

I am always on the lookout for art and craft materials. I collect everything that could potentially be used as inspiration. The simpler the object, the better: a pebble, a sock, a wooden box, a glass jar, pipe cleaners, beads - anything really.

The artwork the client creates tells a lot about them.

Most people feel safer talking about themselves when they are busy making something or simply fiddling with an object that feels good to touch, so they do not need to make that much eye contact. They can hide behind their crafting or fiddling when they want to be silent for a while.

Therapeutic Stories

Listening to stories, re-telling stories or creating our own stories are all therapeutic activities. The stories that touch our souls tell a lot about us.

We can more readily talk about ourselves when hiding behind a character, talking about a story we liked or disliked, re-telling a story we heard or read, or creating our own stories.

I use story cubes, many different sets of cards, books, puppets, dolls, various types of figurines, natural and random objects to inspire and facilitate story telling. I encourage my clients to tell stories because the stories we tell are us.

Metacognition and Mind Maps

The main aim of my sessions is to support my client to improve their metacognition – to become more aware of their own thought processes.

Creating mind maps is a great way to make our thinking visible, to organise our thoughts, to contemplate on pros and cons, to reach conclusions, and to get a clearer vision. I encourage my clients to habitually create mind maps of virtually anything and everything.

About Me

I am Ildiko Dulo, a mental health specialist.

I moved to the UK in 2012 with my husband and three children. During the previous ten years I was a teacher of literature, languages and Bible studies and also a translator.

Since then, I worked and volunteered in various schools in and around Cambridge as a one-to-one special needs teaching assistant and ELSA (Emotional Literacy Support Assistant).

I love working with special needs people and with those who have temporary or long-term social, communicational and emotional needs. I enjoy studying, reading, writing stories, trying out all kinds of art and crafts, making strange creatures, exploring around interesting places, and listening to people’s stories.

Please get in touch: cats@koka.me.uk