03/19/2020
As a licensed and board certified Art Therapist I wanted to encourage your inclinations to invite creativity into your homes at this time!!!
My work with clients is never about the finished product! We are not focusing on making “beautiful” art work! We are “trusting the process” and allowing the art materials and emotions to take us where they need to go..... it so closely matches what we have going on right now! This is a process!
I have had several people ask for ideas of art activities that could open up more of a “therapeutic dialogue” with your child/family regarding these times. Below I will share a few ideas off the top of my head but I would first like to share......
Accept whatever is created with an open mind, resist from immediately complimenting art work as beautiful (that is not the point in art therapy and you may have images of anxiety/ fear/sadness that are not beautiful) maybe share a part you like or something that stands out to you- invite them to share it with you. You are basically asking them to tell you the story of what they have created —and you - just listening is therapy enough!!!
Here are some themes that could be for kids, adults, families.... (all of these would be therapeutic if you did the same activity and as a family talked together about them) be creative with supplies anything works... drawing materials, paint, clay, found objects, magazine collages, things in nature....
-Make three images.. things you WISH you could do, things you CAN do now, things you WILL do later on.
- Talk about mind and body connections and take a minute to explore physical feelings in your own bodies. Where are you experiencing any tension, pain or discomfort? Incorporate what you are feeling into a picture of your body.
- Social distancing is an opportunity to explore relationships and what they mean to us .... select a magazine picture to represent you and glue it to the middle of big piece of paper.
Then select magazine pictures to represent six important people in your life and glue them in a circle around your your picture. Connect their pictures to yours with lines. In the top of each line write a word or phrase that describes what you NEED from that person. Under each line write a word or phrase about what that person needs from you.
-Create a family mural. Maybe pick a theme or allow it to be free flowing. This could stay up for the duration of your time home. See how it unfolds. It could be a safe place for putting feelings down with the understanding that each day will bring different experiences.
-Talk about resilience and what that means to you. Draw, color, paint an image that is surviving in a “harsh” environment ... a flower growing in a sidewalk, a fish at the bottom of the ocean, a creature in a desert....
-Make affirmation posters to hang around the house or around town or give to others... “Breathe”, “I’ve got support around me”....
-Explore the idea of gratitude... Create images of what we can be grateful for
-Create am image of what you picture happening outside of your house/ in another part of the world.
-Create an image of someone you miss seeing right now. Draw an image of you doing something together.
-Explore different emotions and ask for images of fear, joy, peace, worry...
I could go on and on😜. I’m happy to post again. My point was to encourage you to use art for you and your families well-being during this time. To open communication channels and emotional expression through art making. I am connected with many licensed and board certified art therapist who specialize in this work and help in our community is a phone call away.
Be well- MAKE ART!!!!
-
