Theme 5 of 5, Family Relationships and Dynamics | Art-Based evenings with Prof. Hildrun Rolff

Theme 5: Family Relationships and Dynamics

“What families pass on.”

Two evenings to see the role your family handed you, choose what you pass on, and give a child their place: the one in your care, and the one you once were.

Wednesdays 14 and 21 April 2027
6.00pm to 8.30pm Malaysia time, live on Zoom
RM298 for both evenings, early bird until 7 April 2027 (then RM380)

Reserve your place
A small family group of adults and children in blue and orange crayon, casting long shadows.
Where
Live on Zoom, from your own table
You need
Paper, colours, a lump of clay. No art experience.

The sensible one.

The peacemaker.

The one who steps back so everyone else is fine.

You know the pattern, and you repeat it anyway.

Every family hands out roles. Many of them travel down the generations, along with unspoken rules about what matters and who has to give way. You learned yours before you could speak, which is why knowing about it changes so little. A few lines on paper, a lump of clay, a colour chosen without thinking: simple acts like these let you see your family differently. Family loyalty and cultural values have a firm place here.

It often starts early.

Every change shifts a child’s place in the family, whether a new sibling arrives or grandparents move in. When belonging wobbles, it often shows in their behaviour.

You were once a child finding your own place in the family. Seeing where you stood then explains a good deal about where you stand now.

What’s different for you afterwards

You feel a shift, quickly.

You experience how swiftly your inner state can change when your hands and imagination work together.

You can see the role you were given.

What you learned without words becomes visible, and with it the question of whether you still want the job.

You find strengths you’d overlooked.

The same picture that shows the pattern also shows what your family gave you that holds.

You choose what stays.

From what you inherited comes a conscious decision about what you want to pass on. Your body has a say in it.

Two evenings, a week apart. The first meets you as you are now. The second goes back to where it began.

Most of these patterns were planted early. So the second evening is about children: the ones in your life, and the one you once were. You learn how to help a child with this, and along the way you meet the child who first learned it.

A crayon drawing of a woman handing a wrapped gift to a man, with their family standing close behind them.

Wednesday 14 April, 6.00pm to 8.30pm

“What families pass on”

For you, as an adult

You’re guided step by step with simple materials. You decide how much of your family you bring.

What this evening sets in motion

  • A quick shift. You experience how swiftly your inner state can change when your hands and imagination work together.
  • What was hidden emerges. We learned family patterns before we had words. An image makes them visible, along with strengths you may have overlooked.
  • You choose what stays. From your inheritance grows a conscious decision about what you want to pass on. Your body has a say in it.

You leave with

  • An image of your family and its sources of strength
  • At least one exercise you can use straight away
  • An anchor for what you want to pass on
  • If you work with families: a way in that respects loyalty
A crayon drawing of a small girl sitting alone on a chair, holding a doll, facing a large group of family members.

Wednesday 21 April, 6.00pm to 8.30pm

“My place in the family”

For the children in your life, and the child you were

When children draw their family, who stands next to whom, who’s missing and who turns out huge often says more than any answer to a question. Belonging is vital for children.

What art-based approaches set in motion in children

  • Telling becomes easy. Playful making gives children access to what they feel about their family.
  • Security becomes tangible. Through doing, children experience what holds them. That sense of belonging calms the whole child.
  • Teenagers find their place. Teenagers want to go their own way and still belong. A picture has room for both.

You leave with

  • Exercises for children and for teenagers, adaptable to age and culture
  • Questions that get children talking
  • More confidence in looking at children’s pictures
  • Ideas families can carry on at home

The exercises stay a surprise until the evening itself. The surprise is part of how they work.

What an evening is like

Who is it for?

What you learn here is a skill and an understanding, and it doesn’t stay with you alone. Once you’ve felt how it works, you can sit beside someone you love, a child, a partner, a parent, a friend, and keep them company through the same thing. You’re there as a companion, with paper and colour between you. Nobody is asking you to fix them or to be their therapist.

For yourself

You’ve always been “the sensible one” or “the peacemaker” and wonder who gave you the job.

For someone you love

You’re raising children or grandchildren, or caring for a parent, and want to be deliberate about what is handed on between you.

For the people you work with

You’re a coach, counsellor, educator or HR professional who works with family patterns in other people.

An honest noteThese are coaching evenings for everyday life. They aren’t therapy and don’t replace professional support where that’s needed.

Who guides you

Prof. Hildrun Rolff, wearing a yellow scarf, resting her hand against her cheek

Prof. Hildrun Rolff

Leads every evening live

Most people teaching art-based methods learned them from someone. Hildrun is the someone. She designed and led Germany’s first Art Therapy – Social Art degree at Alanus University, the programme a generation of practitioners was then trained inside.

Her method is trauma-sensitive by construction, not by disclaimer: the body leads and the naming follows, never the other way round.

  • Founder, Germany’s first Art Therapy – Social Art degree, Alanus University
  • Forty years in art therapy, art-based coaching and university teaching
  • Developer of Biography-Based Art Coaching
  • Has taught practitioners across Europe and Asia

Hear Hildrun introduce the five themes:

Choose where to start

Theme 1 is free. Each later theme can be booked on its own, or all four together for the best price.

MOST POPULAR · EARLY BIRD UNTIL 9 DEC 2026

All four themes. Eight evenings, one registration.

Fear and anxiety, bullying, couples, family: December to April, live on Zoom with Prof. Hildrun Rolff. Replays and four note packs included.

4 themes at normal priceRM1,520
4 themes at early bird, one by oneRM1,192
All four togetherRM988
= RM247 per theme
Save RM204 on early bird · RM532 off normal price
Reserve all four · RM988

After 9 Dec: RM1,288 for all four

OR BOOK ONE THEME AT A TIME

Coming as a group of three or more?

Each person registers on their own and enters the group code at checkout.

ONE THEME

ENJOYGROUPOF3

RM40 off each · RM258 early bird (RM340 after)

ALL FOUR THEMES

ALLFOUROF3

RM250 off each · RM738 early bird (RM1,038 after)

The five themes

1Procrastination and avoidance (free)18 and 25 November 20262Fear and anxiety16 and 23 December 20263Bullying20 and 27 January 20274Couple relationships and conflict24 and 31 March 2027
5Family relationships and dynamics14 and 21 April 2027

Before you book

Do I need to be good at art?

No. Nothing you make is judged or interpreted, by Hildrun or by anyone else. Paper, colour and clay are simply another way in when words go round in circles.

What will we actually do?

You draw, shape clay and sometimes move, guided one step at a time at your own table. Prof. Hildrun Rolff also explains the psychology behind each theme: why it happens and what is going on underneath. So you leave with both the understanding and activities you can use for yourself and with others. The exact exercises aren’t announced beforehand: if you can’t prepare, you can’t perform, and that’s when something honest shows up.

I don’t have children. Is the second evening for me?

Yes. The second evening is about children, and that includes the child you were. Most of these patterns began early, so learning how to help a child with them is also a way of understanding where yours started. You try every exercise yourself first. If there are children in your life, as a parent, grandparent, teacher or counsellor, you also leave with things you can use with them.

Is this therapy?

No. These are art-based coaching evenings for everyday life and for your work with others. They don’t replace professional support when someone needs it.

I’m not in Malaysia. What time is it for me?

Each evening runs from 6.00pm to 8.30pm Malaysia time (UTC+8). Your Zoom invitation shows it in your own time zone.

How does the team price work?

When three or more of you register together, each person pays the lower price.

Theme 5: Family Relationships and Dynamics

“What families pass on.”

Two evenings to see the role your family handed you, choose what you pass on, and give a child their place: the one in your care, and the one you once were.

Reserve your place

Ask a question first: info@artbasedcoaching.com or WhatsApp Lee Ling on +60 11-3338 6754.

One of five evenings with Hildrun

This is one of five online mini workshops by Prof. Hildrun Rolff. Each takes an everyday struggle and works on it with paper, colour and clay, over two Wednesday evenings: Part 1 for adults, Part 2 for children and adolescents. Here are the other four. Join all of them, or choose the one your heart is calling you to.

Theme 1: Procrastination and Avoidance“I’ll start tomorrow.”Putting things off is rarely laziness. It usually protects you from something.Wed 18 and 25 November 2026, freeTheme 2: Fear and Anxiety“When the ground shifts.”Anxiety lives in your breath and your shoulders, so that is where these evenings begin.Wed 16 and 23 December 2026, from RM298Theme 3: Bullying“All against one.”Bullying is a group process. It only has to stop being all against one.Wed 20 and 27 January 2027, from RM298Theme 4: Couple Relationships and Conflict“The same argument, again and again.”Most of how we argue, we learned in our own family, before we had words for it.Wed 24 and 31 March 2027, from RM298

RM298 a theme early bird (RM380 normal), or all four paid themes for RM988 until 9 December 2026 (then RM1,288). Theme 1 is free.

See all five themesReserve your place