Gingerbread House Activity

Gingerbread houses are always fun to make around the holidays. If you are doing the project with children, you can cut out smaller houses from the dough. I also put the assorted candies in muffin trays to ensure that each child gets the same amount of goodies and to keep it all organized. I've done similar activities with the mentally ill population, which I realized required just as much supervision, when I caught one patient (diabetic, no less) eating a bowl of frosting with a spoon! It is a good activity to promote creativity and discussion, if you have the energy and patience for it!

Holiday Card Directive

This week in my Empathy group, I had all the group members make a holiday card for each member in the group, writing an empathic note to each person based on something that person talked about in group or based on some interaction he had with that person in the time he has known him. I provided some old holiday cards for collaging along with some construction paper, foil paper, doilies, glitter glue, sequins, and other craft supplies. For some, this might be the only cards they receive this holiday season. It was nice to see each patient feel good after reading a personal and meaningful comment in each card he received. It also promoted pro-social behavior in giving and doing something nice for someone else.

Supervision Gifts

Around the holidays, I like to give the Art Therapists in my supervision group a small token of appreciation for all their hard work and their contributions to the Art Therapy program at the hospital. This year, I got them a box of cookies from the Immaculate Baking Company which is a great company that uses organic and natural ingredients and supports folk artists! They showcase American Folk Art on their cookie boxes and you can learn more about Folk Art on their website. Plus, the cookies come in a variety of yummy flavors, like my favorite "Pumpkin Gingerlies." My friend, who works for the company, introduced them to me, and I thought this was an apropos gift for Art Therapists!

Exploring Beliefs About Women

A few quarters ago, I started an Art Therapy group to help the sex offenders explore their beliefs about women. One high risk factor for sex offenders (both rapists and child molesters) is believing that women are deceptive. Through this group, the patients were able to share their beliefs about women and learn how their beliefs have influenced their crimes, their relationships, and their lives. The patients have been able to talk about not being able to trust women, how they objectify women, and how they have been hostile toward women, among other topics. Some of the directives we have used include "Create an image about a time you were embarrassed by a woman," "A time a woman treated you respectfully," and "A time you had a misunderstanding with a woman." We used the Hostility Toward Women scale pre and post the 12 week group, though we haven't run the statistics yet.

Self Care

It's definitely important to do self care activities, especially if you work with a challenging population. Being creative and artistic in your free time is a great way to relieve stress, have fun, and get in touch with your artist self. Ever since I learned how to knit while working at a Senior Center, I have come to enjoy this activity for it's relaxing and self-soothing quality. In recent years, I have participated in several craft fairs, and have sold my knitted scarves and other craft items. It's been fulfilling to have other people appreciate my work as well! You can check out my website http://www.amysartsandcrafts.com/. A big thanks to all the Art Therapists who supported me at the Marketplace at the AATA conference this year!!

Swap Drawings Directive

I've used this directive a few times in my Empathy group...I ask the group members to think of a time they felt a certain feeling (scared, angry, sad, anxious, etc.) I ask them to draw that situation or scene, adding as many details as possible, and using color and line to symbolize feelings. I also ask them to try to add facial expression, and ask them not to write words on the drawing. I usually give everyone a set amount of time to complete the drawing. After the art making time, I ask everyone to pass their drawing to the person on their left. I have everyone look at the drawing in front of them, and each person then explains what is happening in their peer's drawing. I emphasize that empathy involves being observant and sometimes trying to piece things together to get a better understanding of the whole picture. This exercise helps the client put himself in someone else's shoes and try to understand what that person was feeling, thinking, and going through. When we try to empathize with someone, we may not always know exactly what is going on, so we may have to imagine or make an informed guess about what the other person is experiencing.

Continue-the-Story Directive

Another Art Therapist in my supervision group shared this group directive. Each member of the group gets a large piece of paper. Have each person fold the paper into as many sections as there are people in the group. For example, if there are 8 people, you would fold the paper in half, in half again, and once more. If there are an odd number off people, round up. Each person chooses a different color marker. Have each member number the sections, starting on the top left, as if you were reading. In the original directive, each person draws a memory in the first section. I have altered the directive and I ask everyone to draw a time they felt something ("Draw a time you felt scared," "nervous," "worried," etc.). I ask each person to add as much detail to the scene as possible and each person has 2 minutes. At the end of that time, everyone passes their paper to the person on his/her left. Each person looks at the drawing in front of him/her and then continues the story in section 2, again adding as much detail as possible in 2 minutes. This continues until everyone has drawn on each paper (if an odd number of people, you would end up with your own paper, drawing in the last section.) In the original directive, you may cut apart all the sections and each group member gets back all the drawings he/she did and can create another story based on those drawings, since this can be a projective exercise. I usually have each member keep the paper intact and each person can talk about why they continued someone's story as they did. Then the original artist can explain what really happened. I use this in my Empathy group to help show the patients that they may not know exactly what is going on, but it is important to pay attention to detail and think about what another person might be thinking or feeling. It's just another way for them to practice this, and is usually a pretty fun exercise.