Sophie is a BA (Hons) English and Creative Writing student at Leeds Beckett University. Sophie recently completed a placement with the university's Speech and Language Department. Here, she discusses what she enjoyed about the placement and how rewarding it was to see clients' progress.

During my placement in the Speech and Language department at Leeds Beckett University, I had the opportunity to do creative writing online support sessions with clients that have aphasia. This experience has allowed me to use my creative writing skills in a meaningful way by helping to support people with their communication. Doing these sessions online has not only been educational but has allowed me to step outside of my comfort zone and try something new.

One aspect of this placement involved designing and preparing creative writing tasks before each session. This responsibility meant making sure I chose suitable writing tasks for clients that were engaging and would also help them evolve their own creativity.

Since I've never done online sessions before, I had to think about how I could adapt creative writing to an online format that would not only be fun, but also beneficial to improving clients' communication skills. One of the key things that helped make these sessions accessible online was using PowerPoint. Sharing the slides with clients helped them better understand what the tasks were and gave me a plan to follow each session so it would run smoothly.

My creative writing sessions focused on activities that would encourage clients to channel their inner creativity in a relaxed and supportive environment. One example of an activity my clients have been doing is focusing on a visual prompt and thinking about what they can see, touch, smell, hear, and taste. Thinking about the five senses allowed clients to connect deeper with the image, as it evokes conversation about things you wouldn't necessarily think of. This task has helped with clients' word-finding practicing skills and gave them a unique way to express language.

Doing these sessions online allowed clients to be in a comfortable environment and work at their own pace. Since these sessions were on a one-to-one basis, it gave clients a safe space to reconnect with language and slowly build up their confidence in their language abilities.

The part that stood out to me most during my placement is the power of creativity in communication therapy. Writing creatively offers clients a sense of achievement and authorship. It allows them to practice language in a creative way where they can express their own ideas and thoughts.

I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to contribute to my clients' communication journeys and see the progress they made each week with the tasks I gave them. This experience overall has strengthened my understanding of how creativity can enhance speech and language in a new way.