If you use art in therapy, I’m sure you’ve heard these types of things… “This is no good. I’ve never been an artist.” “I can tell you now that this is going to look horrible.” “I messed it up.” “Can I throw this away?” “It looks like a child drew this. I feel like I’m in kindergarten.” “This is triggering my ______ (anxiety, self-criticism, perfectionism, anger, etc).” Most artists and art therapist know that failures and imperfect art are sometimes part of the creative process. But … [Read more...]
Exploring the Stages of the Creative Process
Everyone has the potential to be creative, whether it’s through art or something else. Creativity is something that goes far beyond simply creating a painting, sculpture, or piece of music. Creativity is a tool and a value that we can bring to many aspects of our life. Sometimes creative therapists can get really focused on looking for specific directives and activities that they can do with clients. And although these directives can be helpful to have, it can be just as important to be able … [Read more...]
Altered Book Pages – Art & Blackout Poetry
Blackout poetry and altered book pages can help you stretch your creativity and tap into your intuition. I recently volunteered with the South Texas Art Therapy Association to run a booth at Maker Faire Austin. At our booth, visitors could create blackout poetry, altered book pages, and Random Act of Creative Kindness Cards. It was so great to watch visitors slow down and take the time to be creative. Many people seemed to approach the activity as a chance for relaxation or fun play. A few … [Read more...]
Emotions as Weather
Expressing emotions can be challenging – that’s one of the reasons that art in therapy can be so helpful. The art process can give clients another way beyond talking to understand and express their emotions. Metaphors and imagery can be powerful ways to convey feelings and gain new insights into them. Using the metaphor of weather to express emotions is one way to do this. I find this directive really helpful for a couple of reasons. First is that it gives a creative way to express feelings … [Read more...]
Self-Compassion Art
Self-compassion, acceptance, and loving yourself are so important to mental health and self-esteem. Unfortunately, many people try to seek this acceptance and validation from other people instead of first finding it within themselves. The last blog post shared some ideas for addressing the Inner Critic that voices self-criticism and makes us feel not good enough. I wanted to follow this up with a quick post about a therapy activity using quotes and art to help clients focus on … [Read more...]
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