La Casa di Sam: Who I Am, Who I Want to Become
A clinical art therapy programme at the Youth Community Centre 'La Casa di Sam o dell'Amicizia' in via Boncompagni, Milan. I work with a group of young people aged 10 to 17 on themes of self-awareness, acceptance and identity. These are adolescents from unstable family backgrounds with relational difficulties: through art materials they explore who they are and who they want to become.
A Safe Place to Grow
La Casa di Sam — a Youth Community Centre run by Cooperativa Martinengo — is an educational landmark in Municipio 4, Milan. Every day after school, around forty young people between the ages of 10 and 17 find here a place to share a meal, study, play and discover their own abilities.
Cooperativa Martinengo, linked to the Suore della Carita dell’Assunzione, has been supporting the most vulnerable families in the area since 1985.
The Art Therapy Programme
In 2024 I launched a clinical art therapy programme with a group of young people aged 10 to 17, working on themes of self-awareness, acceptance and identity.
These are adolescents with complex histories: unstable family situations and relational difficulties. Adolescence amplifies everything — insecurities, anger, the need to belong and, at the same time, to stand out. Art therapy offers a safe space in which to explore these tensions without having to put them into words.
The Themes
The work revolves around questions that are fundamental in adolescence:
- Who am I? — Self-portraits, body maps and identity collages to explore one’s self-image
- What do I feel? — Work on emotions, on recognising and expressing what one feels inside
- Who do I want to become? — Visions of the future, dreams, fears and desires translated into images
The Materials
With adolescents, the choice of materials makes all the difference. I use mixed-media techniques that speak their visual language. The result does not have to be “beautiful” in the traditional sense: it has to be real.
Through art materials, the young people explore who they are and who they want to become. No words are needed: a colour, a gesture, an image is enough.
Why It Works
Art therapy works with adolescents because it does not ask them to talk about themselves — something that at that age can be difficult or even threatening. It asks them to do, to try, to get their hands dirty. And in the doing, something unexpected emerges.