Draw on Your Emotions

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For each of the emotions, I encourage clients to do an abstract picture and avoid words, faces, and recognizable images. I ask them to think about what colors they connect with each feeling and then what lines, shapes, and gestures could express that feeling. Dr Sunderland is the author of over twenty books in child mental health, which collectively have been translated into eighteen languages and published in twenty-four countries. Smaller sheets of paper will help provide more containment and sense of security (and may also help clients feel more comfortable with doing quick images). But where I believe the added advantage of abstract art, particularly non-representational art, is that there is no reference to use.

This manual contains a series of structured easy to do picture exercises to help people of all ages express, communicate and deal more effectively with their emotions in everyday life. This exercise can be introduced by the therapist as a within-session exercise, or as a homework task which can be discussed in the next session. And some clients still worry about the final art product looking good or tell me that they don’t like this exercise because they don’t want to pay attention to their emotions. The Drawing Your Feelings exercise was developed for younger people, or for those whom clinicians think would benefit from exploring their emotional experiences. She is the principal artist at The London Art House and has illustrated over 20 books, which have been published in many countries.

Dr Margot Sunderland is Director of Education and Training at The Centre for Child Mental Health London, Honorary Visiting Fellow at London Metropolitan University and Integrative Child Psychotherapist, Supervisor and Trainer with over two decades of experience in working with adults, teenagers and children. Dr Margot Sunderland is Director of Education and Training at The Centre for Child Mental Health London, Senior Associate of the Royal College of Medicine and Child Psychotherapist with over 30 years' experience of working with children and families. A fundamental part of emotional regulation is being able to recognize, name and understand the emotions going on inside of us.

All of these have been helpful for different clients and situations, and I continue to use them when they are appropriate. The goal of this resource is to help people recognize when, where and how they feel particular emotions so that they will be better able to regulate their feelings. For the “how you feel today” image, I let them know that this may be one of the feelings that they already drew, it may be a combination of feelings, or it may include feelings that were not already explored.

It helps to promote a new clarity of thought as a first step towards positive action and bring seemingly huge, unmanageble and insoluble problems into a new perspecitve. This 6-step art process that I have been using was greatly influenced by suggestions given in Expressive Therapies Continuum for working on the Affective Continuum (Hinz, 2009). Blank space is left for the therapist to introduce situations that are especially meaningful or relevant to the client. The cards will not go out of date as I imagine they will illustrate life’s difficulties that are timeless.

g. why using imagery is a potent way of supporting children to process feelings - with very usable activities that ordinary people can use to great effect with their children or with the children with whom they work. Information presented in this blog does not replace professional training in child and family therapy, art therapy, or play therapy .This activity is similar to the one word activity, but with drawings instead of words to express feelings. Built around five key themes, each section contains a simple picture exercise with clear objectives, instructions and suggestions for development. Steiner (1984) proposes that “To be emotionally literate we need to know both what is is that we are feeling and what the causes for our feelings are. The book also offers opportunities to rehearse other ways of functioning by trying out alternatives safely on paper. Offering a broad range of exercises which can be adapted for any ability or age from middle childhood onwards, this unique book explores a range of emotions surrounding a person (1)s important life experiences, key memories, relationships, best times, worst times and who they are as a person.