A creative workshop space that accompanies your child through these special years, as they begin to shape their own story.
Why a storytelling workshop at this age?
Ages 11–17 are a period in which young people’s questions about themselves, their relationships, and their place in the world begin to deepen. Questions such as “Who am I?”, “Where do I belong?”, “How do I want to be seen and understood?” become more visible during these years.
This process is experienced differently by every young person. Some may talk more, while others may withdraw; some express their emotions openly, while others struggle to put them into words. Relationships, body image, friendships, distance within the family, and thoughts about the future become important parts of this stage.
The adolescent workshop at State Studio creates a safe and creative space for this search. Art offers a way to express emotions that may be difficult to put into words. Storytelling helps young people make sense of their experiences. Play allows them to try out different roles, explore themselves, and make their inner world more visible.
This workshop does not aim for young people to find a single right answer; it supports them in discovering their own voice, images, and narratives.
Process Flow
Each session begins with your child meeting their inner state for that day. It opens with a quiet moment of preparation, a small ritual, or a card — creating space to notice where they are arriving from and what their body is expressing.
The group then moves into the theme of the week. The work is structured around four archetypal spaces; each adolescent encounters the theme of the day through their own character. Art materials become ways of externalizing what is internal.
The facilitator does not direct the process; instead, they create space for the adolescent to become the author of their own narrative, while observing and following the process. There is no right-or-wrong evaluation; the path taken during creation, and the responses that emerge along the way, are valued as much as the final work.
The session ends with a brief sharing or a quiet closing ritual. The adolescent shares as much as they wish — through words, through showing their work, or simply by being present with it.
The closing allows what has opened that day to be respectfully brought to a close — noticing what is carried forward until the next session, and what is left there.
ECHO Workshop
Echo is a 12-week group workshop designed for adolescents aged 11–17.
Its core idea is this: the adolescent does not look directly at their inner world, but approaches it through a character and a symbolic space. This symbolic distance creates room for expression and meaning-making.
The work is built around art, play, and narrative. Drawing becomes a way of externalizing what is internal, while game elements place each encounter within a safe and contained framework.
Echo’s guiding principle is: the facilitator does not tell the story — the adolescent builds their own.
Its theoretical background is informed by archetypal thinking and Dan McAdams’ theory of narrative identity. In practice, however, these theories remain invisible; your child simply experiences their own journey.
At the end of 12 weeks, what is carried forward is not a diagnosis or a solution. The experience Echo offers is more fundamental: the realization that your child can become the author of their own narrative, and the development of a habit of creating symbolic distance.
Echo begins with an initial consultation. You can get in touch for details and the upcoming program schedule.