Draw on Your Emotions

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Very useful book ... clear explanations for each template." - Speech & Language Therapy in Practice

Using the art process to help clients express and explore their emotions is at the core of art therapy, but there are many different ways to do this. The second edition of Draw on Your Emotions contains a new section that explains how to get the most out of combining the activities in the book with these cards to encourage meaningful conversations and take steps towards positive action. a well used and valuable addition to any organisation's resources." - Sue Sowerbutts, Association of Play Therapists NewsletterDr 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 thirty years’ experience of working with children and families. 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. Her books, which form the Helping Children with Feelings series are used as key therapeutic tools by child professionals all over the UK and abroad. Ask participants: “Please draw something that better expresses how you feel right now, in the context of this meeting” (consider saying vehicle, animal, object, super-hero or view instead of “something”). When I’ve done this in a group setting, there is the additional benefit of experiencing one’s emotions accepted and witnessed by the whole group. Group members are often able to relate to each other and enjoy discussing the common connections that they see. 6 image art sequence to help with expressing emotions Need to liven up your group therapy sessions? Then this book is for you...incredibly simple to use a useful tool for stimulating in depth communication around important emotional issues. I totally recommend this workbook as a very useful tool." - Ruth Alloby, Psychiatric Nurse, Addiction Treatment Today 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.

Sometimes the emotions are expressed unexpectedly or naturally arise from a directive that is not directly about feelings. For example, in “playing” with watercolors through a sensory-based activity, the client might discover that emotions are coming up in themselves or through the art. Or a prompt for a client to create a collage about family is likely to lead to an exploration of feelings that are reflected in the chosen images. We are excited to announce the release of Draw Your Emotions. Draw Your Emotions is a brand new workbook designed to help young people identify their feelings. A fundamental part of emotional regulation is being able to recognize, name and understand the emotions going on inside of us. 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. It is helpful to inform young people that there is no ‘right answer’ but that the therapist is simply interested in how they might feel in a range of situations. As important as the drawing itself is the therapeutic discussion which the exercise can facilitate. Clients might be prompted to consider:Share your thoughts in the comments! What’s your favorite directive to creatively explore feelings? Did you try the 6-image sequence and how did it go? The ‘emotion worksheets’ are specifically designed to ease the process of talking about feelings. They can help promote a new clarity of thought as a first step towards positive action and bring seemingly huge, unmanageable and insoluble problems into a new perspective. The book also offers opportunities to rehearse other ways of functioning by trying out alternatives safely on paper. The exercises can be adapted for any age range and ability. A superb non-verbal counselling tool. Additional Info

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. This is an essential resource for therapists, educators, counsellors and anyone who engages other people in conversations that matter about their relationship to self, others and life in general. By witnessing the art, the therapist gives the client the experience of validation and acceptance of their feelings.

But many clients have told me that this has been a helpful exercise for them to be able to get in touch with their emotions and to feel some relief through being able to express them. Short booklet covering suggested usage of the cards and guidance around integrating the productive longer term counselling provided in the linked book, Draw on Your Emotions The cards will not go out of date as I imagine they will illustrate life’s difficulties that are timeless. It is still challenging for some clients to try to think and express themselves through the art, no matter what directive you give them. 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.

Draw on Your Emotions is a bestselling resource to help people of all ages express, communicate and deal more effectively with their emotions through drawing. Built around five key themes, each section contains a simple picture exercise with clear objectives, instructions and suggestions for development. The picture activities have been carefully designed to help ease the process of both talking about feelings and exploring life choices, by trying out alternatives safely on paper. This will help to create clarity and new perspectives as a step towards positive action. What is needed are work books that give the basic theoretical understanding - e.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. At the end of the exercise, we look at all of the pictures together, exploring how they are similar or different and discussing how the clients is feeling today. I also often ask clients which feelings were easiest or hardest to do and how they felt while they were working on it. In the tradition of our most popular resource, My Feelings Workbook, Draw Your Emotions encourages the reader to use the gingerbread man figure to draw how a variety of emotions affects their body. The reader explores where in their body they feel the particular emotion and what it feels like. The user is encouraged to explore the various ways and places a particular emotion affects them. 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.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. This is an essential resource for therapists, educators, counsellors and anyone who engages other people in conversations that matter about their relationship to self, others and life in general. 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 person¹s important life experiences, key memories, relationships, best times, worst times and who they are as a person. This is an essential resource for therapists, educators, counsellors and anyone who engages other people in conversations that matter about their relationship to self, others and life in general. The main idea behind “draw your feelings” is to express a specific emotion, feeling or situation that you can’t normally express with words. Drawing it helps people later verbalize the reason behind it. Margot Sunderland’s books are recommended reading for those who attend our courses. Our trainees find the Draw On books very helpful in training and then also with their children - not just those children identified for special help. They deal with universal life themes relevant for all. I particularly like the theoretical explanation mixed with superb, doable activities/exercises and copyable handouts. Carolyn Mehlomakulu, LMFT-S, ATR is an art therapist in Austin, Texas who works with children, teens, and families. For more information about individual therapy, teen and child counseling, family therapy, teen group therapy, and art therapy services, please visit: www.therapywithcarolyn.com.