| Psychologists | Occupational Therapists |
| Doctors | Art Therapists |
| Nurses | Teachers |
| Child Therapist | Speech Therapists |
| Other Professionals |
Psychologists |
Year |
promoted the use of origami |
| Carlos Pomaron Spain |
1985 | as an aid to therapy |
| Mariuccia Paparo Italy |
1990 1992 1992 |
in treating drug addiction with handicapped with prisoners |
| Tony Cheng USA |
1995 | in mental health out-patient department |
| Yurii & Katrin Shumakovs Russia |
1995 | used origami in schools and hospitals and conducted scientific research Research details |
Occupational Therapists |
Year |
promoted the use of origami |
| Tooru Kanazawa New York |
1958 | in occupational therapy dept.(psychiatric) |
| Paul Castle UK |
1976 | in psychiatric hospital |
| Marmer Loretta New Jersey |
1991 | in rehabilitation of patients |
| Anita van der Louw Netherlands |
1992 | in helping elderly |
| Gold Scott-Brian USA |
1992 1995 |
in helping physical handicap in child special education |
| Alice Fung Australia |
2000 | An 8 years old patient had a fracture of the little finger. Five weeks after he had the operation of tendon and nerve repair, Alice used origami to help him to have hand exercise activities with good result. |
Doctors |
Year |
promoted the use of origami |
| Dr. Ron Levy USA |
1995 | in rehabilitation of hands after surgery For details |
| Dr. Leon L. Bernhardt, psychiartrist USA |
1999 | in group therapy. |
Art Therapist |
Year |
promoted the use of origami |
| Madoka Takada Los Angeles, USA |
Since 1999 | helping children with ADHD, PTSD, anxiety and mood disorders |
| Terry Johnston Topeka, Kansas, USA |
Since 1981 | Helping clients in the last 18 years with problems of :- Low self esteem, anxiety, ADHD, Schizophrenia, Defiant disorder, Boredom, Rapport building etc. He also used origami to assess their level of comprehension, ability to follow directions; to evaluate their attention span and tolerance level etc... |
Nurses |
Year |
promoted the use of origami |
| Mary-Lee Milldam USA |
1962 | in rehabilitation of orthopaedic cases |
| George Ho Australia |
1993 | in helping patients in psychiatric hospital |
| Terry Hood Australia |
1997 | in helping patients in psychiatric hospital |
| John E. Clark Texas, USA |
1994 | in helping patients in Post Open Heart Unit and students of mental retardation school |
Teachers |
Year |
promoted the use of origami |
| Charles Sydney Gibbes UK |
1914 | As a tutor, Gibbes had difficulty to communicate with Csarevitch. The nine-year-old boy was withdrawn with a long history of sickness. One day they made paper hats together. The Czarevitch's hat turned out badly. Then Gibbs started to fold a box. As they folded the box the Czarevitch began to speak English for the first time. Later Gibbs showed him how to make another hat, this time successfully. The Czarevitch was very excited by his achievement and made several more hats, some for his friends. This is one of the first recorded instances of using paperfolding as a therapy found in the diary of Gibbes. ----- "Tutor to the Tsarevitch" by J.C. Trewin, published in London, 1975 |
| Nick Robinson UK |
1992 | on clients with disabilities |
| Clemente Eduardo | 1992 | helping students (survey of 55 teachers) |
| Matson Beverly | 1995 | in teaching |
Speech Therapists |
Year |
promoted the use of origami |
| Gwyneth Radcliffe | 1992 | She uses origami because of the attractiveness. Origami is also useful to improve attention skills, as a tool for improving language development and particularly useful in improving sequencing skills. It was very embarrass to be taken out of the class to receive therapy. She used origami successfully to help the children to overcome this. A reluctant patient has become one eager to work in order to earn his origami. He got something to show off to his classmates. |
Child Therapist |
Year |
promoted the use of origami |
| Alexandra Ranieri Cherry Hill, NJ USA |
Since 1995 | In the inpatient as well as outpatient units I used origami in group therapy and individual therapy for children and adolescents. Origami can be a tool to promote listening and following directions, as well as to increase self-esteem through creation and accomplishment. Clients enjoyed completing their origami projects and being able to have a sense of productiveness about them. |
Other Professionals |
Year |
promoted the use of origami |
| John Smith UK |
1995 | in helping handicapped children |
| Elsje van der Ploeg Holland |
1992 | in therapy |
| Tiggelaar Everdien Netherlands |
1992 | in helping an autistic boy with depression |
| Tiborne Horvath Hungary |
1993 | in helping a girl with impaired hearing |
| Viszloi Emoko Hungary |
1995 | helping blind children with stress & aggression |
I highly recommand visits to his resourceful website Bits of Smith
* please e-mail me of any corrections or additions required
| Origami & Mental Health Therapy Web page George Ho |