This quarantine took much longer than any of us could expect. After sitting at home for a long time, without the opportunity to go further to the local grocery store, people faced mental problems. Lack of communication can cause not only a feeling of loneliness but also eventually develop into depression. Therefore, social and psychological assistance becomes especially relevant in such times. However, not everyone has enough money or time to pay for the services of a professional psychologist. But there is another way – therapy through art. As Picasso once said, “ Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life”. When you engage yourself artistically and use your imagination, you can help regulate your blood pressure and your heart rate. It does not require special drawing skills or innate talent. Art therapy has many techniques and everyone can find the most suitable one for themselves.

Art for Anxiety  

Create art as a way of doing some self art therapy. Art helps us have a deeper understanding of our anxiety, practice compassion to it, release some tension, and feel reviewed and refreshed.  

 Materiels:

  • Papier/sketchbook/notebook 
  • Oil pastels 
  • Colored pencils 
  • Pen 

Draw a circle on your page – it doesn’t have to be perfect. Imagine that this anxiety that you feel is visible. Imagine it has shapes, lines, and colors. How would it look like? Allow the image to come to you and began putting that image on your paper with pencils or pastel when you are ready. Focus on the process of expressing your thoughts and feelings. Release any worries about what it will look like. 

When you are done with your piece, bring your notebook and pen for reflecting writing. Write down your responses for the following questions: 

  • What do you see in the image you just created? 
  • What do you think the image is telling you? 
  • What would make the image feel a little bit better (more smoothing or calm)?  

Art Therapy Activity for Emotional Pain/ Self Healing

If you are dealing with any emotional pain or you are trying to heal your inner self this one is for you. Maybe you are dealing with heavy or painful emotions. To heal yourself sometimes you need to do the opposite of what you intuitively wanted to. So instead of ignoring your negative emotions think about them, bring mindful awareness to them, and then they will begin to change.  

Materials: 

  • Paper 
  • Colored pencils 
  • Pastels or watercolor ( + brush and water)  

The first step is to breathe and relax your body. Take some deep breaths and notice where in your body you feel this pain the most. Is it in your heart area?  Is it in your stomach or guts? Drop to that sensation and notice what kind of sensation you have there. Is it a sharp or dull sensation? Is it an opposing sensation or tense or kind of spread out? Imagine that you can visualize this sensation as an object. What would it look like? What color would it? What shape, size, texture, weight would it have? Once you have visualized these things draw this image. Put it on a paper just how you visualized, using shapes, colors, lines, and textures to match this object that you have imagined.  

Once you have finished your image you can take a deep breath and take a look at a drawing and just observe it.  Close your eyes and imagine yourself seeing this object in front of you. Walk towards this object and sit next to it. Imagine looking at that object like you will look at your friend. By looking at this object say to it “I’m here for you, I’m here to listen” ask the object:

  • What does it want to tell you? And write down what it says to you. 
  • What kind of message it would like to share with you? 
  • What kind of message it would like to share with you? 

Self Love Art Therapy Activity 

This technique will show how to make art then you need more self-love. This exercise will help you to listen to yourself and practice compassion for the parts of ourselves that need the most love and healing.  

Materials: 

  • Rag/ paper towel 
  • Watercolor/ souache paint 
  • Cup and water 
  • Brush  
  • Watercolor paper 

Before you start gently place your attention on your breathing. Invite into your awareness how you feel in your body in this present moment. Invite gentleness and mindfulness. Remember the is no right or wrong in this – simply focus on expressing yourself.  Think about what you have a difficult time with, in relation to yourself. Maybe you have disappointments, regrets, feelings of hopelessness, or just frustration with yourself.  Create an image reflecting this feeling. You can create this in an abstract way with colors, shapes, or lines. Or you can create this with figures, with realistic drawings. Choose any way you want to express this feeling or idea. With this process, you are allowing yourself to feel and allow parts of yourself to be seen, especially the ones you want to reject.  

After you finish, look at your image and think: 

  • What is your view on self-love? 
  • What is it like to try to love yourself? 
  • How was it today to do it through art?