Draw on Your Emotions

Product Information

The cards will not go out of date as I imagine they will illustrate life’s difficulties that are timeless.

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. By witnessing the art, the therapist gives the client the experience of validation and acceptance of 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 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. Developing emotional literacy is an important skill for a child’s social and emotional development. Steiner (1984) proposes that “To be emotionally literate we need to know both what is is that we are feeling and what the causes for our feelings are. It is not sufficient to know that we are angry, guilty, happy or in love. We must also know the origin of our anger, what causes our guilt, why we are in love, and how angry, guilty or in love we are.” Similarly, Figueroa-Sánchez (2008) defines literacy as “the ability to create meaning and the ability to apply that understanding our own lives” and argues that children’s emotional readiness can be nurtured by engaging them in literacy-focused activities including narrative storytelling and games that express their feelings and emotions.

Encouraging client to express their feelings in art is something that I have often done as a therapist, in many different ways over my years as a therapist. For example, I have asked clients simply to “draw or paint what you’re feeling today.” I have suggested that they draw what anger, depression, or anxiety look like to them. I have done art about feelings and needs. I have tried feelings mandalas (draw what you’re feeling in the inside of the circle and then what is going on in your life on the outside). I have done feelings hearts and pie charts with kids who have trouble opening up about feelings. I often suggest that overly anxious or angry kids make a monster to represent the feeling. At other times, the therapist might want to more directly encourage the expression or exploration of emotions through art. They might set up a directive in a way that will enhance affective processing or will directly give clients a prompt to make art related to their feelings. Why is it helpful for clients to express emotions through art? 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.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. 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. I am a founding director of a company that supports approximately 1,800 adults working in education to understand if a child has emotional developmental interruptions and what to do to make a difference. We train many teachers and other adults working in schools.

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. 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 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. For more ideas and tips about art in therapy, be sure to sign up for the newsletter: http://eepurl.com/bOu5yj 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.

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The new suggestions will take the work with children from labelling feelings without a real connection to deeper meaning to an integration of feelings, imagination and language that deepen awareness and supports emotional development. This blog is not intended to diagnose or treat any mental health conditions. All directives, interventions, and ideas should be used by qualified individuals within the appropriate bounds of their education, training, and scope of practice. Information presented in this blog does not replace professional training in child and family therapy, art therapy, or play therapy . Art therapy requires a trained art therapist. Wayne lives with his wife, three youngest kids, three dogs and an insane collection of his kids' other pets outside of Columbus, Ohio. In addition to his work with Hope 4 Hurting Kids, Wayne is a partner in a local consulting firm, an avid reader, coaches his son's soccer team and is a proud supporter of Leicester City Football Club (and yes, for those in know, his affinity for the club does predate the 2016 championship). 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. 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.