The following art therapy exercise is by contributing guest author Dr. Deah Schwartz. If you like this activity, stay tuned for more art therapy exercises from Dr. Schwartz in the future as she explores ways to help people with body image issues through her own variety of eating disorder therapy.
Permission Slips Art Therapy Directive
Materials: Lined paper, unlined drawing paper, pencils, markers, collage materials, glue sticks
How To:
- Have your clients sit quietly and identify one negative or challenging expectation that they will face during the upcoming holiday season. This can be about food, body image, pleasing a relative, gift giving, etc. It can be a scenario that they have already lived through or one they predict will arise in the upcoming weeks.
- Ask them to write down the scenario in as much detail as possible. Make sure the scenario contains a beginning middle and end of the event, a list of the people involved, and location or locations of the event.
- Have each person identify one point in the scenario where having permission to do or say something differently may have resulted in a positive change to the scenario and on a separate piece of paper, write down the new version.
- Using the art supplies available, have each client create a personal permission slip. This can take any form they want as long as there is a line for a signature. If they feel they need the therapist’s o.k. make sure there is a line at the bottom for both signatures.
- In the group circle have clients share their permission slips and how the permission altered the situation. Identify the similar areas where permission was granted. Then have them sign them.
- Using drama therapy techniques, have clients help each other act out the predicted event with the permission granted endings.
Why: As we discussed above in the Therapeutic Tidbit section, the holiday season is frequently about pleasing others and grappling with the enormous pressure to conform to societal standards around food, appearance, and expressions of love. Suppressing feelings can trigger disordered eating and the holiday stress can result in falling back on default modes of self hate and feelings of not being good enough. By identifying and predicting some events and problem solving with the Permission Slip Strategy, when a person finds herself in these situations in real life it will be with increased awareness and a stronger internal support mechanism. Working on scenarios like these in a group also reveals how many people are grappling with similar feelings. This decreases isolation and offers an external support system to draw on as well.
Photo credit: Robert Burridge
While this activity seems like a creative therapeutic intervention, I am having a hard time accepting the description “art therapy.”
I am an art therapist and have many co-workers who use art as therapy and who use art materials in therapy but that is not art therapy. You have to be an art therapist with a masters degree in art therapy to be able to say you are providing art therapy.
Unless I missed a credential, Dr. Schwartz is not an art therapist.
This issue may seem minor to some but as an art therapist who worked very hard for her degree there needs to be more mindfulness when throwing around the term art therapy. please.
Congratulations on your hard work, Alicia! Is your goal to compare degrees and titles or help clients? Just sayin’.
Oh my goodness! This activity is brilliant!!
I work on an Eating Disorder recovery unit. While I am not an Art Therapist (yet), I do run a “Creative Expression” group. I am SO excited to use this activity for the next holiday! I don’t care if that’s Arbor Day, I’m using this soon!
Thank you for this contribution!
Very happy you found it helpful Elaine!! Warmly, Dr. Deah
I really like the ideas you have for groups and such. I admit, I’ve taken a few of your ideas in to my therapist to see how we can tailor them to my situation. I’ll talk to him about this one tomorrow.
It’s been awhile since I’ve been over here but I’m never disappointed.
Faith
Faith, I am really glad you are finding the ideas helpful! Thanks for taking the time to comment!
Thank you!! I think it’s brilliant and a great starting place for some of us who are stuck in our past. I am giving myself permission to move forward!! Thanks for sharing!
You are welcome Lisa! Thanks for letting me know!
I am sorry that it has taken me so long to respond to the comments, I wasn’t receiving notifications of them until now. Alicia, I studied Art Therapy for two years at the College of Notre Dame in Belmont California, and because I already had two Masters Degrees and two certifications in other therapeutic modalities, opted to go on to get my doctorate rather than do another internship to get my Art Therapy Cert. I understand the difference between Art Therapy and Therapeutic Art Activities and I believe that people need the education in order to implement directives appropriately in therapeutic settings. I also believe in sharing directives with others because that is how we expand our clinical tool boxes. I am no longer able to find the time to share new activities consistently on this site but hope the ones that I did post continue to help others provide appropriate and healing treatment to their clients.
Warmly, Dr. Deah