Saturday, March 21, 2009
Supervision Exercise
This week in supervision, I asked the group to write a letter and/or draw a picture to one of the patients they were having a hard time with. I got this idea of the "unsent letter" from the book, Creative Supervision by Mooli Lahad. Some of the ideas from her book seemed a little out there or involved for my supervision group, but this free writing exercise was a big hit. It helped the therapists have an outlet for their countertransference. It helped them be more aware of it, so they are able to deal with their responses to these difficult patients better. One therapist wrote what she learned from the patient, another wrote phrases that she could actually use with the patient. You could even do this on your own to vent or gain insight. Just be sure not to put the patient's real name on it or leave it in an unsecured area! We'll definitely do this exercise again...
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4 comments:
What may also be interesting is a study comparing the two options: writing a letter vs. drawing a picture. In general, which option did the therapists prefer? Why?
Thanks for your comment! I was thinking about that afterwards, as a couple therapists did do drawings with their letter. We didn't discuss preferences, but I think I will have them do a drawing to one of their patients, so we can explore the 2 experiences more. I will let you know what they say!
Oh great! I'm keen to hear what the outcome will be! Thank you for your response - I'm sure to keep coming back to your blog as there aren't many art therapists out there working with the sex offender population. I am a psychology student in South Africa and currently writing my treatise on "Art Therapy and Men Who Rape" - must say, it's been incredibly difficult to find specific information regarding this... any advice? :)
I'm glad you found my blog! One of the reasons I started it was because I didn't know of any other Art Therapists working with sex offenders either (outside of where I work). Sounds like a challenging yet interesting treatise...Are you a graduate student? How did you get interested in Art Therapy? Would love to hear more about sex offender treatment in South Africa! Anyway, I've done Art Therapy with many rapists, so let me know if you have some specific questions...
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