The art process can be a wonderful way to observe and intervene in parent-child dynamics in therapy. One art therapy intervention that you can try is to have the child and parent take turns being "the boss" during art-making. One person is in charge first and is told by the therapist that they will get to make all the decisions for the art piece. The person in charge participates in the art-making while also telling the other person in the dyad what they should do. The one … [Read more...]
Mindful Studio — 6 Degrees of Creativity
This past week I have finally begun my next workshop for 6 Degrees of Creativity, entitled "Still Point in a Changing World-- Creating a Mindful Studio Practice" by Hannah Klaus Hunter. This workshop involves setting aside a studio space and time to create mindful art for 21 days. I had been delaying my start of this workshop as I waited for just the right time to be able to make this commitment. However, as is often the case in our lives, the perfect time never seemed to arrive, so I had to … [Read more...]
Altered Images
A few weeks ago I shared about working on my Gluebook Goodness project from the Six Degrees of Creativity online workshop. This weekend I have been working on another workshop--The Altered Image by Fiona Fitzpatrick. I thought I would share some about my process so that others can try as well. This workshop involves altering a photograph by hand, not on the computer. In order to try your own altered image, get a photo that is printed on glossy paper. I printed my pictures out on my inkjet … [Read more...]
The Road of Your Life
This past week I have been on the road a lot, moving from California to Texas. With this journey on my mind, I thought I would share about an art therapy intervention to represent one's life like a road. Draw the Road of Your Life I usually give the client a prompt that goes something like this: "Imagine your life is like a journey along a road. Draw a picture to represent what this road would look like. Think about the the important events that have happened so far and where you hope to be … [Read more...]
Color Your Feelings: Art Therapy Interventions
In my last post, I discussed symbolism and meaning of colors in art therapy. Today I would like to share a related art therapy intervention. The basic intervention is to have the client choose colors that represent their feelings and then color an abstract picture. This can be a great intervention for children or adults, can be done with any media, and can be tailored to the particular situation, client, or need. As a way to increase awareness of emotions, try this directive: "List … [Read more...]