School is beginning soon – here in Austin we’ve begun the one week countdown to the first day. For many kids, the beginning of a new school year brings a lot of anxiety. Art therapy for anxiety can be a great way to help kids explore and work through their fears. Here are a few suggestions for art directives to address back to school worries. 1. Superhero and villain drawing – The child can draw the problem or fear as a villain and draw themselves as a superhero. This helps to … [Read more...]
Using “Inside Out” to Explore Emotions
Therapists, counselors, parents, and kids all seem to enjoy the movie Inside Out. I loved it and have also loved how it has helped children in my therapy practice to talk about their emotions and understand the value of all of their feelings. Parents can easily fall into the habit of encouraging kids to not be angry or get over their sadness, but instead should remind kids that each of our feelings has an important role to play and should be honored (Dan Kois wrote a great Slate article on … [Read more...]
Random Acts of Creative Kindness
My apologies that the blog has been inactive for so long! I knew that it had been a long time since I had posted, but did not realize until I logged in that it had been almost a year. Life got busy with running my private practice, preparing for a baby, and then welcoming my wonderful little guy into the world. However, things seem to have settled into a new rhythm and I sincerely hope to make more space in my life for self-care, art creation, and this blog. So, former readers - I hope you … [Read more...]
Sensory Tools for the Therapy Room
Having sensory items available can be very helpful for child clients, especially the younger ones. As these items are available for play and experimentation in the therapy room, children (and their parents) can learn what is interesting or soothing for them. This can be a helpful part of teaching young children emotional self-regulation. Parents can then provide these things at home, perhaps creating a special calming corner, to help the child in self-soothing and regulating when upset. In … [Read more...]
Joint Family Drawings: Verbal and Non-Verbal
Although I tend to use art therapy more with individual clients, I have lately had more opportunities to use art in family therapy, leading me to think more about family-focused interventions. One of the art therapy interventions that I learned as a graduate student at Loyola Marymount University was verbal and nonverbal joint family drawings. In Family Art Psychotherapy, Helen Landgarten proposed using this method as a standard family evaluation in the first session. In her evaluation, she … [Read more...]
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