A dose of color, creativity, and inspiration. Sharing is caring and learning never ceases in the field of mental health.
Welcome to my newest blog series, Art Therapy Rx! This blog series was created to share art therapy directives and ideas. Infusing some color and creativity in our work with clients can provide many benefits in therapy. For one, it can inspire our clients to push through a comfort zone and ensure much-needed distance and safety to process and express difficult emotions and experiences. Art Therapy Rx is about sharing and learning!
I have always found myself to be pretty resourceful and creative when it comes to my clients' work. Over the years, I have been inspired by therapy directives I have found on Pinterest. And I have used these interventions as starting points or transformed them into something new, tailoring the intervention to address different presenting concerns in therapy. I hope to share my experiences and ideas by providing art therapy directives that can inform treatment and offer guidance in session.
My journey as an art therapist has been one that has truly humbled me. After completing a master's level of education and receiving full licensure as a counselor, I decided to go back to school. I had already been working in the field as a fully licensed professional when I decided something was missing.
When I discovered art therapy, I became obsessed with finding out how to receive more training in using creative interventions. And eventually, I decided I wanted to take the plunge and return to school to get further in-depth education in art therapy. I feel this was a great decision in many ways because I approached school with a new perspective and a sense of determination.
The skills I learned in my post-graduate program in expressive arts are precious. The knowledge and skills I now possess have further emphasized the importance of using art and creativity in my work and honing its power and applying it more intentionally.
Since I started first in the mental health field trained in traditional talk therapy and theory, I have worked backward to step away from the talk processing and learn to process art and creative expression through its symbolic nature. I have learned to be patient, be a witness, and allow clients to tell me their story through their art.
My mental health and counseling background has been a firm foundation for me, which has allowed me to grow in my work in art therapy because I can merge both clinical theories with art therapy. Hence, the name of my blog, The Primed Canvas. It's a metaphor for my mental health training before my adventure in becoming a registered art therapist.
I now have reached a point where I want to provide resources and materials that I did not have when I started in the field. This is the reason for starting my website, blog, and social media platforms. This blog stream is an extension of my creativity in therapy.
My art therapy interventions in Art Therapy Rx are meant to be artsy, colorful, and creative, of course, but with a little clinical flavor as well. I am trained in cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) from my experiences working in clinical/medical settings.
I hope to provide not only art therapy directives but free high-quality resources that will be offered in both English and Spanish. I am a bilingual therapist after all, and about half of my client population is Spanish speaking.
As a clinician, I know how valuable Spanish resources are, and I have always wanted to contribute to my field by helping other bilingual clinicians access resources more efficiently!
I am currently looking into solutions to translate or offer my blog in Spanish as well. I will keep you posted on my process!
My next blog post will kick off my series, providing you with an art therapy directive and free printable resources in English and Spanish. These handouts will be focusing on outlining rationale in treatment and the objectives being addressed when utilizing the specific art therapy directive.
My hopes are that my art therapy rx handouts will help document the work you are doing in the session. Stay tuned for my next blog post on creating nesting dolls in therapy for self-exploration!
Also, check out my "Therapy Materials" section for recommendations on art therapy supplies and books! I hope that my resources will be of great value. I will continue to strive to create a community where we can connect, inspire, create, share, and learn!
Below are some reflection questions:
How do you infuse your work with creativity?
What types of directives would you like me to see in my future blog posts?
With love,
Lauren
Disclaimer: This information is not intended to be utilized as a form of self-help, personal clinical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. The content on this blog is meant for educational purposes and to provide clinical art therapy directives/resources for trained mental health professionals. This information is by no means a substitute for therapy.
Affiliate/Earning Disclaimer: Lauren Graham is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. In addition I an affiliate of the PlayTherapySupply.com. As an Amazon Associate and an affiliate of Play Therapy Supply, I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases that are made by clicking on the affiliate links provided in this post. I only recommend products that I believe to be valuable and purchasing through my links is the same as shopping through Amazon. The only difference is you will be supporting my future work. Thank you!
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