Art postcard (top - The Cocktail Party by Charlie White)used as a prompt for client artwork(below - sharpie and stickers)shown here with permission. A client looked at this photograph of a life-sized art installation depicting an alien at a cocktail party. It clicked. A perfect metaphor for their social anxiety; not fitting in. A lifetime, in fact, of feeling different, weird, out of place. This client talked about feeling naked and exposed and lost in a world of “normies” who ostensibly have … [Read more...] about Alien at a Cocktail Party
Inner Child
While it is not necessary to have talent or training to benefit from art therapy it is always a treat to see art therapy in the hands of a gifted artist. The Inner child pastel above is an example of how beautifully powerful such an experience can be. You’ve probably heard of Inner Child work because it is a great therapeutic technique for supporting clients to look at themselves/their beliefs/their pasts and re-frame them. For example, this client had only seen herself through her neglectful … [Read more...] about Inner Child
Quarantine
Introverts are doing ok with the corona virus quarantine. That is unless their family won’t leave them alone; insisting they play Scrabble or spend “quality time.” They’ve been preparing for this their whole lives! Extroverts however, are experiencing a different kind of quarantine…isolated, lonely, depressed and even existential. Most of my extroverted clients have been drawing things like cages, prisons and the ball-n-chain to express their sense of being trapped by quarantine. The introverts … [Read more...] about Quarantine
Virtual Art Therapy Sessions
This expressive drawing was done by a client during a private Zoom art therapy session. The client was clear that she was angry – and said it was “all over” her body. Using art supplies she had on hand (oil pastels and graph paper) she then drew the anger. It was a bit different from an in-person session… I usually watch both the body language and the making of the art itself… but “S” was unselfconscious and quiet as she went about the 10-15 minutes it took to draw this full-page image. I … [Read more...] about Virtual Art Therapy Sessions
Coloring, and Mandala Coloring
Coloring, and mandala coloring, has become quite popular in mainstream culture. No longer relegated to art stores, we can find adult coloring books everywhere from the drugstore to the boutique. As an art therapist, I am delighted to see awareness of the power of art spreading! But I have a few reservations about the proposal that “coloring equals art therapy”. Without an art therapist present, coloring is just therapeutic. It may be stress reduction; it may be pleasurable. It may lower blood … [Read more...] about Coloring, and Mandala Coloring
My Inner Addict
The art therapy directive “Cut and paste magazine words/images to illustrate your Inner addict or alcoholic” inspired this provocative response from an adult at an inpatient treatment center. With this clever Ransom Note he conjures up the relationship between hostage and kidnapper. The addict sees himself as victim; at the mercy of his drug of choice and compares it to how he feels – blindsided, tricked, abducted and absolutely powerless over his cravings and obsessions. It is as if alcohol and … [Read more...] about My Inner Addict
My Inner Addict
The art therapy directive “Cut and paste magazine words/images to illustrate your Inner addict or alcoholic” inspired this provocative response from an adult at an inpatient treatment center. With this clever Ransom Note he conjures up the relationship between hostage and kidnapper. The addict sees himself as victim; at the mercy of his drug of choice and compares it to how he feels – blindsided, tricked, abducted and absolutely powerless over his cravings and obsessions. It is as if alcohol and … [Read more...] about My Inner Addict
My Inner Addict
The art therapy directive “Cut and paste magazine words/images to illustrate your Inner addict or alcoholic” inspired this provocative response from an adult at an inpatient treatment center. With this clever Ransom Note he conjures up the relationship between hostage and kidnapper. The addict sees himself as victim; at the mercy of his drug of choice and compares it to how he feels – blindsided, tricked, abducted and absolutely powerless over his cravings and obsessions. It is as if alcohol and … [Read more...] about My Inner Addict