February 2022 - Silly Communication Drawing Therapeutic Art Making Intervention
Finding creative therapy interventions can be so difficult! That is why I have created a library of creative interventions so that any therapist can easily find interventions to do with their clients. Please keep in mind the importance of the terminology you are using with these interventions! Art Therapy interventions are done by a trained and registered Art Therapist. Luckily, all of these interventions are appropriate for any clinician to use as Therapeutic Art Making interventions! All of the interventions found in my Creative Intervention Library are art activities perfect for therapy sessions. Most of the interventions also have a telehealth modification for those of us who are still seeing clients virtually. Every month, I post a new creative intervention for you to use. Looking for more? For the price of a cup of coffee per month, you can get access to a second creative intervention as well as access to the entire library catalog of previous months.
This intervention is so silly and brings a lot of laughs while also illustrating a very important point about communication. This intervention is great for telehealth sessions as well! If you try this out yourself, l would love to see photos of it!
Please note, If you do take any photos of client’s art work, make sure you have a consent form signed for this. I have a Consent to Photograph Artwork Created in Therapy Sessions Form in my products if you need one for your practice. Even with therapeutic art making, it is ethically necessary to have this consent form signed. Also make sure to remove any identifying information from any art work before photographing it, such as names or signatures.
I offer personalized intervention ideas in the clinical consultation and supervision I provide as well! When I work one on one with clinicians, I love being able to create specific interventions tailored to each client and their presenting concerns. Feel free to reach out with any questions to see if creative supervision and consultation would be a good fit for you and your practice!
Process Video:
Age range: 10+
Diagnosis: Any, works very well for family or couples sessions but can be done individually as well
Supplies Needed:
A piece of plain paper
Any writing utensil
Uses: Visually representing the challenges of communication, listening, and assuming others understand us. Practices using descriptive vocabulary, communicating ideas to others, recognizing steps in a process and recognizing the importance of the use of clear language. Also can bring in humor and laughs!
Artistic skills needed: None!
Instructions:
This intervention is best executed when you take a few moments to prep beforehand. Start by thinking of a very simple object. Usually animals or food work best as they can be simplified and explained/described in shapes and letters.
Draw out the image/object you chose using very simple shapes that you can easily describe.
When you meet with the client, ask them to have their piece of paper and writing utensil. Let them know that you are going to do an activity where you will explain step by step a simple drawing, and that they just have to listen and follow the instructions easy peasy to create their own image based off of your explanation. I usually add that there is no pressure, this is about having fun, and always encourage laughter.
This is a great activity to do with families or couples with multiple people present. If you are doing this with two or more individuals, have them sit away from each other or to angle their paper so that they cannot see what the other person.people are drawing.
Describe the drawing step by step using shapes, letters, and placement to guide them in drawing the image. Remind them to follow the directions EXACTLY as they hear them.
Here are the instructions that I gave for my drawing:
Draw a small to medium circle towards the top of the page
Draw a sideways oval underneath the circle
Draw a sideways letter “U” to the left side of the circle
On either side of. the bottom of the oval, draw two stretched out letter “M”s, one on each side
Draw a sideways letter “U” on the right side of the oval
Draw a small sideways oval inside of the bigger oval
Draw a small dot on the inside of the circle you drew first
Can you guess what this was supposed to be? It was a duck!
Some other ideas for an object or image could be
Pizza (use the letter V, circles, etc to describe it)
A flower (Using circle and letters and lines)
A pencil (lines, letters, and shapes)
If you are doing this with a family or couple, have each member show what they drew from the instructions. More often than not, they look different! I highlight that even though everyone was given the same instructions, they can be interpreted differently and produce different results.
After your client has followed the directions, you can ask them (or a family member) if they want to try to describe a drawing. It is harder than it seems!
After the process is complete, I recommend exploring this with the client. Some questions to ask can be:
What was going through your mind when I was giving directions?
Looking back, do you think I could have described it differently?
Why do you think different drawings came from the same instructions (if doing with more than one person and if the drawings are different)
Do you think it is possible for everyone to hear instructions the same way and make the same drawing?
This intervention is a fantastic way to illustrate that communication isn’t just about what we say or how we say it, but also how it is interpreted. Generally speaking, the drawings do not come out the way that your original did and it can really generate laughs and smiles at how silly it is while still giving a strong message about communication.
The idea of this intervention came from the technique used where someone will say something along the lines of “Pretend I am an alien and I am brand new to this planet. Tell me how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.” In these activities it is important to do EXACTLY what is said. For example, if it says “put the peanut butter on the bread”, literally put the jar of peanut butter on the bag of bread. There was no instruction to open the bread or the jar of peanut butter, no instruction to use the knife in any way, etc.
