Anger is a powerful emotion - but one that both clients and therapists can struggle to address. Art provides a helpful tool for both expressing and containing anger in therapy. Sigal Govrin LPC, ATR-BC has written a guest post about understanding anger, as well as ways to explore it through art. I don’t know about you, but I have had an interesting relationship with anger. I believe for me it started in childhood where I witnessed my mother fear this emotion and when I expressed it … [Read more...]
Exploring ACT Art Therapy
I recently had the opportunity to review the new book ACT Art Therapy: Creative Approaches to Acceptance and Commitment Therapy by Dr. Amy Backos. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) has always been a model that I have wanted to learn more about (it was not introduced at all in my graduate program), but for some reason struggled to connect with. The pieces that I had known about – practicing acceptance of thoughts instead of trying to fight them, being committed to taking helpful actions, … [Read more...]
Making Room For Change
Guest Post By: Jessica Heckwolf, LCMFT, LCPAT, ATR-BC Hello Creativity in Therapy Friends! It’s so good to be visiting again. This time of the year, after the September hustle has settled, I find myself reclaiming self-care practices. Adding new books to my therapy office library is one way I like to do this, and it’s been a treat perusing Carolyn’s bibliotherapy posts for recommendations. This time of the year also brims with change for me. New beginnings and the physical transition of … [Read more...]
Fighting Burnout Through Creative Expression
If you have been feeling burned out or noticing compassion fatigue, you are not alone in this. When we work in a helping profession, especially when we hear about or witness trauma on a frequent basis, we are always at risk of developing compassion fatigue. The many months of the pandemic have only added to the factors that could contribute to stress and burnout. Many therapists and counselors have faced increased stress in their professional life (e.g., higher need clients, clients who feel … [Read more...]
Creative Bibliotherapy Part 4: Growth Mindset and Accepting Mistakes
Developing a growth mindset and learning to move forward from mistakes is such an important thing for kids to learn. If you work with children and teens, you’ve probably heard statements like this before “I’m just not good at____.” “Everyone is better than me.” “I can’t do it.” “I messed it up and it’s too hard. I give up.” In art therapy, we often see clients struggle with worry that they aren’t good enough at art, get stuck or overwhelmed in their art (and life) due to perfectionism, … [Read more...]
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