Drawing to Music

Music is a powerful influence in some clients life. Often the creative mind appreciates music similarly as they appreciate expressing emotions through artwork. The correlation of music and Art allows for breakthroughs in therapy. There are different ways to incorporate music and drawing, some are self guided while others tend to be direct.

Figure 1

Self guided art to music often incorporates the lyrics of favorite bands. For example, figure one is a creative expression of song lyrics that have meaning to an artist. This young artist is Marissa Brown, focuses on art that is simple with a lot of meaning. Her mediums include computer art and pen and paper. Marissa is a great example of how music influences artwork.

Of Course, we all can't be as self driven and artistically talented as Marissa, that's why there are further guided therapies. Some of these therapies include drawing how you feel to a specific type of music. An example of this exercise looks like playing a song while children draw. Mary Christensen does a great post on drawing to music with her own children. There is a direct correlation with different wave lengths in music that help with creativity, and emotional stability.

Delta and Alpha wave lengths in music can help guide a client through an exercise, this is called synaesthesia. Depending on what emotions and behavior disorders the client is experiencing helps the therapist decide what music to play during this exercise. Christensen has some really awesome examples of kids drawings and how to direct the exercise. Mediums she uses include taping a giant piece of easel paper to the floor and giving her kids crayons, markers and slick stickers to portray their connection to the music they hear. An example of the outcome is below in figure 2.

Figure 2

Christensen's exercise is geared more towards children, but can be modified for older clients. Another exercise that is specific to older clients includes choosing their favorite music and asking them to draw to either a song or an album. This exercise is often self directed but a therapist can talk through the process as well. Marissa's example is of a self guided exercise, in a therapy setting we may see something more directed towards one emotions to the song rather then a representation of the song. One of the greatest things about synaesthesia is that there is no wrong way to do it.

References:

Christensen, M. (2016). Drawing to Music with Children. Retrieved November 06, 2016, from http://artfulparent.com/2012/01/guest-post-music-and-art.html 

Dual Self Portraits

A classic art therapy approach with client -therapist relationship is allowing the client to do a dual self portrait.

Figure 1

Often times we have a image of yourself we portray and then we have an image of what people think of us. This often causes pressure the are correlated with anxiety and stress, this exercise allows the therapist to see a new side of goals and achievements that are made without pressure compared to goals that are made with anxious driven pressures. It also allows the client to reflect on how they feel and where they are as well as how to connect the two identities if they feel disconnected.

There are different levels of self portraits. The first example to the right is complex and more for adults and self reflection, while other examples at the bottom are simpler and allow for quick responses. I really appreciate Cynthia Emeryle's Blog, where I found an article on dual self portraits, and used her photograph to express simpler self-portraits.

The idea behind dual portraits is pure reflection of what is going on inside and outside of the body. This helps the therapist understand the different emotions of the client as well as the desired appearance of the client. When they are conflicted this gives the Art therapist the opportunity to connect the two and help resolve conflict.

Overall, Dual self-portraits are an important tool of art therapy that are easy to direct and analyze. This tool can also be seen as a progression tactic when they are done at different stages of therapy to reflect if therapy is beneficial or not. The therapist will compare the first drawing to a current drawing and analyze similarities and differences. Try and reflect on what your dual self-portrait is during this time of your life, let me know what you think!



References:

Photos:

 Baharin, M. (n.d.). Mohammadyazid.com. Retrieved November 06, 2016, from http://www.mohammadyazid.com/ 

 Emeryle, C. (n.d.). Dual Self-portraits. Retrieved October 15, 2016, from http://emerlyearts.blogspot.com/search/label/Art Therapy Group#ixzz3MAUcJO6C&i

 

Art Therapy in the Workplace

As I shortly discussed before Art therapy is not only for the artistic or crafty. Art therapy can be seen as design in a workplace as well. The color you surround yourself with can truly change your mood and productivity. 

One of my favorite charts is Carrie Jollife Graphic Design Psychology of color chart (figure 1). I think they do a really good job of a broad description of each color and what it typically means to people. 

Figure 1: Jolliffe Psychology of Color 

Picking a color isn't a matter of it's your favorite color for your area, or if it matches your recent office supply addiction (we all have one). It is truly what makes you feel most productive and something that's not distracting or stressing. Often, art therapists will sit with a client and talk about the colors they surround themselves on a daily basis. What colors you see the most throughout the day? I know I see a lot of blue and pink when I first wake up, I work in an industry driven by orange, and my school is often white grey and black until I walk outside where I am bombarded with blues and greens. 

I also think that, although color can really affect your daily life, it is important to understand that there are multiple different types of art mediums. Some are messy and less practical while others can be implemented in your daily life. I like the idea of using art therapy for your workspace with the idea of color therapy and calming techniques but understand some people don't stay in one place for their jobs, those are often the most stressful. There are a variety of art mediums used during art therapy. We are also finding new ways to use art mediums to help our clients as well. This may be an alternative route for the stressed person who doesn't have a designated workplace, or doesn't stay in the office for long periods of time.

Surrounding yourself with the right colors really can help relieve stress as it comes, with calming colors or productive colors surrounding you it is a pre-emptive strike to combat stress or stressors you may find yourself dealing with on a daily basis!

References

 Jolliffe, C. (n.d.). Carey Jolliffe Graphic Arts. Retrieved September 23, 2016, from http://cjolliffe.com/ 

 Slaughter, J. (2016, June 21). Art therapy. Retrieved September 23, 2016, from http://www.counselling-directory.org.uk/art-therapy.html 

Importance of Colors

 I think it's significant to distinguish the importance of color in each of our lives, considering how little we know about our minds and how we each perceive our own worlds.

The first time I realized how much our opinions and perceptions had an effect on our own views for the world, was the day my uncle explained to me that he was color blind. He would always ask me what ice-cream I wanted, or what I wanted to wear that day, and I was the little kid that always referenced things by color. Which unfortunately for him, frustrated the both of us very quickly. My young mind tried to comprehend how sad it must be, not to be able to see color. My uncle quickly extinguished that idea when he explained to me, "Grey is one of the most beautiful colors. It is all of the colors and none of the colors mixed together at different levels to make an abundance of hues." He saw beauty in grey, when society programmed us to see a depression state.

Figure 1.Birren and his therapy design templates

Figure 1.Birren and his therapy design templates

This is only one example of how different colors affect us all differently. Psychology of color is in direct relation of psychology of events. Our emotional attachment to certian colors can relate specifically with positive and negative times within our lives. This was found by Birren in the 1950's, specifically in psychosomatic diseases (ex. asthma or ulcers). Color therapy was used to calm the patient down during stress triggers. 

The most well-known way to do this was through consultation of colors and what those colors meant to the client, then creating safe photos and designs to keep close by to the patient. 

Johannes Itten (1970) is another influential color theorist who has strong presence in the art therapy practice. I have compiled some of Itten's color patterns in hope of response to some of the feelings you get from the colors and designs. What do these colors remind you of? And more importantly of the pallet was calming or not.  

Figure 2.JOHANNES ITTEN Kristall, 1952.

Figure 2.JOHANNES ITTEN Kristall, 1952.

Figure 3.JOHANNES ITTEN Plakat für die Ausstellung Baden-Baden, 1965.

Figure 4.JOHANNES ITTEN Komposition mit Quadraten und Rechtecken, 1966.

Figure 5.JOHANNES ITTEN Kunst der Farbe. 1961

Each painting has a different feeling, and calms some people down. Some designs are organized and orderly, while others are neutral colored and more of a messy natural look. To different people, different things are calming; this is how color and views on color can affect our moods and perceptions in the world. 

-RP

Resources:

Birren, F. (2016). Color psychology and color therapy; a factual study of the influence of color on human life. Pickle Partners Publishing.

Itten, J., & Birren, F. (1970). The elements of color; a treatise on the color system of Johannes Itten, based on his book The art of color. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold. 

Ketterer, & Kunst. (n.d.). Johannes Itten Biography - Infos - Art Market. Retrieved September 15, 2016, from http://www.johannes-itten.com/ 

About Art Therapy

When people think about art therapy, they immediately think about a child in a room with crayons in one hand gabbing about whatever fills their little mind. As they fill the paper with scribbles, the therapist is usually placed sitting next to the child, clipboard and pen following the thoughts and actions of the child within the session. After the session, we visualize the therapist's showing either parents or guardians drawings, that help analyze the child. This is only one small scenario of art therapy. 

This blog is created to debunk the common knowledge of art therapy and show new ways to use it in your everyday life. Even if you are not artistic, pleasing and calming visuals are always positive additions to better your quality of life. Art therapy is used to enhance these visuals in order to constantly surround yourself with positivity. Often, people who need art therapy, are not those who are artistic, organized, or depressed, but rather everyday people looking for a quick stress reliever in everyday life, much like a positive habit. Throughout this blog you will find examples of art therapy projects, news in art therapy, and local art therapists. 

Please feel free to give suggestions of what  has worked for you, or if these examples have helped you in anyway!

R.P.