October 2022 - ADHD Awareness Month Brain Dump Visualization 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 in honor of ADHD awareness month! It is a great way to help any client (not just those with ADHD) visualize all of the thoughts that are taking space up in their brain.

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: 7+

Diagnosis: Any but works very well with ADHD, OCD, and anxiety

Supplies Needed:

• Brain outline

  • The exact silhouette outlines in the example. video were created by me and are available in the shop! You can also print out any brain outline or make your own as well.

• Colored pencils, colored or plain pen, pencil, any writing utensil

Uses: This intervention is in honor of ADHD awareness month! It is a great way to help any client (not just those with ADHD) visualize all of the thoughts that are taking space up in their brain.

Artistic skills needed: None!

Instructions:

1. Ask your client to take a moment to reflect and think about what thoughts are sticking in their brain and floating about right now, no thought is too small or too big

2. Ask them to represent these thoughts within the brain outline. They can write them, draw them, or represent them in colors or shapes. Encourage them to utilize their creativity here!

   • If the client is younger and struggles with spelling, encourage them to use pictures, colors, and shapes and share what they are representing

3. When they have finished, ask them to step back and reflect on what they included

4. Ask them if there is anything they forgot to add or anything else they would like to add in

5. Is It fuller than they expected or are they surprised there isn’t more?

   • If the client has not written much, you can ask them to show you how much space each of the items is taking up. Is one thought taking up half of their brain? This might give more insight if needed!

6. This is a great way to visualize and remind our clients and others how an ADHD brain (or any brain) operates and how much can be bouncing around at all times

   • If a client feels that people in their life do not always understand either how their ADHD (or symptoms) works, or if they don’t understand how their brain works, this can be a helpful tool for the client to share with others and give that visual representation of what is happening in their minds.

7. It also can just feel good to get all of the thoughts out onto the paper in some way!

Intervention Example

*A note about examples: Please be careful about sharing an example of the intervention with your client. When a client sees a full example, it can unintentionally influence what they are making and may skew what they are presenting in their art making.