Entitlement leading to decreased empathy

This week in my Empathy group, I asked the group members to portray a time that feeling entitled caused them to have decreased empathy for someone. Half of them were able to relate this directly to their crimes. A couple said that they felt entitled to sex which led up to their offenses. Many sex offenders have entitlement issues and related distorted thinking that they need to address. This directive helped them be more aware of how their feelings of entitlement caused harm to others.

A Valentine directive

In one of my Empathy groups, I asked the participants to create an image about a time they felt loved. This helped to remind them that they could be loved, which is a concept that many offenders struggle with. Some feel they do not deserved to be loved or will never be loved again. This directive helped them get in touch with this feeling better and could encourage them to talk about how to be able to attain that feeling again. One patient drew some flowers to represent the love he had felt from his older sister. Later, he reported that this exercise helped him to talk to his younger sister, who he felt was more accepting of him, about how his crimes impacted his family and his desire to make amends with his older sister.

Out-of-Control directive

I tried this directive with my group this week...I asked the group members to think of a time where they felt out of control. I asked them to depict that in an image, but using their non-dominant hand. After, each member was able to discuss the feeling and also the experience of using their non-dominant hand. Some said that using their non-dominant hand helped them get in touch with the out-of-control feelings better. They were able to relate feeling out of control to times they committed their crimes, and they were also able to relate their feelings to how their victims may have felt out of control as well.

Book Review--Challenging Experiences

I like the book "Challenging Experiences" by John Bergman and Saul Hewish. I once ran a Drama Therapy group to promote empathy with the sex offenders at the hospital. I used many exercises in this book which provides drama therapy ideas to help treat offenders. One exercise that was popular was to have the group break into pairs. The first person would start a conversation with the word "Fortunately" and the second person would counter with a statement that started with the word "Unfortunately." ("Fortunately, I have the day off." "Unfortunately, you have to clean your house.") This exchange could go on for a few minutes and the pair could switch roles. After, each person could talk about what the experience was like to be positive, negative, come up with a comment spontaneously, etc. The book is broken down into warm up, low intensity, and high intensity exercises, and how to process the experience. There were many different exercises provided that included visual, verbal, and kinaesthetic techniques. The patients in the group enjoyed the exercises and were able to learn about themselves, their coping skills, and their behaviors through this group.

Mail Art

One of the Art Therapists in my supervision group started a Mail Art group at the hospital. The patients can design and create their own greeting cards, post cards, and envelopes. It can be a great way for them to keep in touch with family and friends, as well as be creative and express themselves. There are many blogs about mail art and you can even submit your mail art to one of the many mail art exhibits out there! The above photo is a postcard made by a friend of mine who is an illustrator.

Act of Kindness Directive

In a Self-Esteem through Art Therapy group, I asked all the group members to do a random act of kindness for another patient sometime during the week. They would then come to the next group session and create an image about that experience. Some of the things that the patients did ranged from saying "Good Morning" to a peer he didn't like, to giving an old set of headphones to a peer who had an old damaged pair, to giving a peer some extra greeting cards because he knew that peer liked to send cards to his family. Doing something nice for someone else helped the patient feel good about himself and also helped him practice pro-social behavior.

Altered Books

Two Art Therapists in my supervision group have started an Altered Books group. They bought a various hard cover books at the local thrift shop (picture books, travel books, novels, etc.). The patients get to choose a book that appeals to them and then can alter the book to convey their story. The group facilitators offer directives to encourage the patients to think about themselves and express their feelings. A multitude of collage materials are offered as well as paint and drawing materials. Many issues have come up through this process which have been very revealing. This is an innovative and fresh way of providing Art Therapy for a variety of populations.