When Margo Ward was a child, she suffered severe bouts of asthma that led to regular hospital admissions where she was isolated in an oxygen tent, her parents only allowed to visit for two hours each Sunday. The experience would have a profound effect on her life.
“That isolation and fear resulted in me being drawn towards the hospital experience and psychological care, wanting to make a difference,” she says.
Margo went on to train as a nurse, then teacher, and it was while working at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in London that she was first exposed to expressive therapy, a treatment program that combines psychology and creative processes – art, music, play and movement – to support emotional growth and healing.
“I fell in love with it and thought, ‘This is what I’m meant to do’.”
After moving to Sydney, Margo spent a decade overseeing play therapy at Sydney Children’s Hospital, and another 10 years in suicide prevention for young people and adults, before moving into children’s oncology and palliative care.
“We used art, music, encompassing it with visualisation to help the children with physical pain, but also their fears and anxieties,” recalls Margo. “They’d imagine a place where they could sing and dance and throw paint with people who could help them work out their feelings and emotions.”
KidsXpress’ approach is underpinned by approach is underpinned by an understanding of early intervention and the proven healing powers of the expressive arts. (Photo courtesy of KidsXpress)
Observing the overwhelmingly positive effect this had on the children, Margo went on to found KidsXpress in 2005. A children’s mental health charity, it helps transform the lives of children impacted by adversity through trauma-informed expressive therapy. In 2006, they opened the KidsXpress play therapy centre in Sydney’s Ryde, and have since expanded into three schools and communities exposed to hardship, such as floods and bushfires.
Today, Margo is the company’s CEO and is proud to note KidsXpress has supported more than 4000 children. A 2015 Deloitte Access report found the program improves quality of life in each child by an average 49.6 per cent – with every dollar invested generating a return of $2.76 in social value. Tellingly, 97 per cent of associated medical referrers say they would recommend KidsXpress as an early intervention service.
“When we started KidsXpress, it was seen as very fringe. Today we’re considered a pioneer in expressive therapy in Australia, internationally recognised and nationally accredited,” says Margo.
Although run by highly-trained therapists, each program is led by the child, depending on their needs and what they feel comfortable doing. While the group program always begins with a welcome song, various instruments and feeling cards scattered around the room mean each child can choose how to express themselves and their feelings. A huge paper body outline of the child might allow them to put glitter over the stomach indicating where their anxiety sits, or draw a collage in their head expressing their struggles to work out their thoughts. Music or drama may be added to help the child externalise their emotions further.
“We’re not cookie-cutter, we follow what the child brings, and sometimes the child will want to sit in silence, or build a volcano so they can erupt and demonstrate their anger, or build a cubby house to get a sense of what it’s like to feel safe.”
Expressive therapy empowers kids to express themselves without boundaries or need for words. (Photo courtesy of KidsXpress)
The Tony Foundation, which aims to improve the lives of young Australians through music, first joined forces with KidsXpress in 2017.
“We were drawn to its (use of) music and the arts to help children express themselves, heal from past trauma and adversity, and improve their life trajectory,” says executive director Ingrid Albert, who runs the Foundation.
The Foundation’s seven-year partnership to date includes project-specific funding following the devastating 2019/20 ‘black Summer’ bushfires in the NSW Snowy Valleys. This funding was instrumental in the federal government contributing a further $1.6 million, enabling a 2.5-year project in the region.
More recently, the Foundation funded KidsXpress into northern NSW, whose communities continue to be affected by the 2022 floods.
For Margo, the partnership has been integral to its successful operation and expansion. “The Tony Foundation is an untied, multi-year partnership and it’s this kind of dependable funding that empowers charities operating on tight budgets,” she says, “ensuring staff security and preventing the loss of highly-skilled professionals.”
KidsXpress employs three therapists at the therapy centre, two therapists and trauma-informed consultants in the three schools they’re engaged with, with five more schools in the pipeline. A recent partnership with The Matilda Foundation will assess the impact of the schools program, which is looking to expand given how many more schools are interested.
“It hasn’t always been easy to not only establish a charity but a world-first in therapy,” Margo says. “We started something in 2005 and I knew it was the right thing to do because my clients – the children – showed me, they knew it would work. And others believed in it.”
