Warm up to therapy. Engage the unconscience. Bring to light things that the Cl may not have insight into. Start conversation. You can use all kinds of art materials in the exercise, or limit your client to just paper and an ink pen. You can use a 2x2 square or a very large canvas. Use whatever is accessible and poses...[ read more ]
Your heart is beating quickly. Your breathing is shallow. You are having irrational thoughts, but despite your arguing in your head, your stomach continues to tighten. You are experiencing anxiety. You are off floating in the wind with no direction in particular. You are in need of some Grounding. Pick a spot of the ceiling and stare. Blink as little...[ read more ]
"Guess what??? You don't have to face yesterday, five minutes from now or next year. Only be in this moment. You can handle it. This moment is going to be pleasant, but I want you to come in with a critical pallet. Use all of your senses. I'll ask you to close your eyes and hold out your hand while...[ read more ]
Anxiety tends to pull people into the future, a made up world that cannot be reckoned with. Mindfulness is an exercise of grounding your thoughts in the present. We can exercise mindfulness with some creative elements. My first experience with mindfulness, though that is not what they called it, was in my 9th grade art class. "Draw exactly what you...[ read more ]
A habit takes a while to create. Anger comes and goes. How do we keep the kids interested in journaling when the crisis has passed? Once they learn to use their coping skills, they might tuck journaling away for a "crisis only". However, I ask most of my clients who are skilled in penmanship and verbalizing feelings to engaging in...[ read more ]
Sometimes in order to remember it you have to write it down. Journals helps us remember. The good times and bad. Helps us recognize the ebbs and flows of life. You see where prayers are answered or where hormones influence emotions and rational thinking. Teenage girls can find great benefit in re-reading entries over the course of a year and...[ read more ]
Keep in mind that some children would benefit from being "banned" from writing anything negative and would be better off with a gratitude journal. Examples: clinically depressed, prone to self injury, reported thoughts of suicide. Others who lean more toward MAD than SAD need a place to put their anger. A journal in secret is a better option than smarting...[ read more ]
If you find yourself with a child that has an amazing imagination and is facing some tough stuff in life, this intervention can really bring hope. I lead into it with something like this: Close your eyes and imagine that monster again. You know, the one who is "Divorce". Remember what he smells like, looks like, feels like, and remember...[ read more ]
As was mentioned early in the blog, cultivating creativity means saying YES! A dream board is the perfect opportunity to help cultivate creativity in your client. Cultivating creativity is synonymous with giving your client their power back, building their self confidence, and helping them develop their identity. All of these are important for the healthy development of children and adolescents....[ read more ]
I usually start this conversation with some education on the definition of the word "identify". We talk about how you can identify with something outrageous without agreeing with it in its entirety or claiming to have experienced it exactly. I encourage them to bring in lyrics of three songs they strongly identify with. This eliminates the embarrassment of an extremely,...[ read more ]