Bilateral Funk Squiggles For Self Regulation

May 16, 2021

Hello.

I thought I would share a little therapeutic drawing activity (with my added twist). This can be just a fun art activity to do with your kids, your friends, or applied (by a trained art therapist) in the therapy room to aid in self-regulation and trauma recovery.

Firstly, read a little more about bilateral (this just means “both sides”) drawing for trauma reparation by art therapist Cathy Machiodi here. Also another article here. Highly recommend. It will help make much more in-depth sense of this activity. One part I really love is where Malchiodi writes about using bilateral drawing in trauma therapy: “Making marks or gestures on paper with both hands simultaneously creates an attention shift away from the distressing sensations in the body to a different, action-oriented and self-empowered focus”

This activity can be useful for self-regulation in therapy as well as being an enjoyable creative exercise for anyone anywhere.

This activity requires:

This is how Step 3 might look. Bilateral squiggles.

blank paper
a variety of coloured pens or pencils
human with two hands

Step 1. Warm up by ‘drawing circles’ in the air with both arms held out straight. This physical motion of using both arms already promotes cross-hemisphere use of our brains, allowing someone doing this activity to ‘loosen up’ and get ready to engage in drawing (looking silly, but at least if you’re doing it with someone else you can probably laugh at each other in the process)

Step 2. Select two different coloured pens. Take the lids off and hold one pen in your left hand, and one in your right.

Step 3. Put both pens to paper! at the SAME TIME. It is really a brain workout. The goal: Just make scribbles/ squiggles using both hands.

Step 4. You can finish the activity there- both sides of the brain have been engaged, you’ve probably challenged yourself, and hopefully had fun. OR….

Step 5. Now that you have two squiggly images, you can use markers to fill in the gaps and shapes made within the scribbles. Think about using a variety of different colours. Think about adding ‘funky’ patterns- dots? lines? stripes? zig-zags? This part can take as long or little as you like- I found when I was colouring that I wanted to keep going, and could have spent much longer on this part.

There you have it! Grab some paper and pens, engage both sides of your brain (tapping into logic and emotion simultaneously) for a reset, a chill-out, and become Captain of the Funk Squiggle

The Intense Pull To Make

May 1, 2021

I want to talk about something. And I am curious to see if any other ‘artist’ types (in whatever field and however you choose to define ‘artist’ see also: maker, creator, designer, inventor, drawer, etc…) share this experience.

During the week it increasingly came into my awareness that I have been spending a lot of time having very interesting experiences and living life (also working) and this has meant I have not spent much time making anything.

There’s a great balance between living in the present (enjoying people, connections, adventures), taking time out to reflect, and making things. A balance of all three is my happy and most functional existence. It’s like: I use great experiences to fill up my Experience Tank so I can be inspired and then feel like creating.

So anyway, I found myself getting grumpy this week and realised I was way overdue for making time. Does anyone else get this? To explain it to non-creative types, it is a bit like the feeling of hunger when you haven’t eaten properly all day and then suddenly you realise you’re starving. That’s what this is like, almost a slightly desperate feeling to CREATE. SOMETHING.

So today, I spent time getting some scribbly watercolour paintings out.

I have to say, that desperate feeling I had this morning has been mostly alleviated, but my mind is also ticking over with some longer-term concepts I want to develop. ASAP. It doesn’t end. But it’s a beautiful and intense pull I feel to make, and there is nothing else like being engaged in the creative process.

Impressions of Ormiston Gorge. (Flies not pictured)

From a photo taken during a little road trip, this was on Namatjira Drive.

Page 27 Cafe- Such nice food! Such a cool place to sit and dream- low, dim lighting, old suitcase, chess boards, timber and rustic pieces everywhere.

View at the Old Telegraph Station, Alice Springs.

Inside The Brain of an Art Therapist: Alice Springs Edition

April 17, 2021

Hi all!

Can I even still call this a blog? I drop in once a year when I remember to update it…Well, I guess here’s your annual post update. Ha. Better some than none.

Some of the light installations in town as part of Parrtjima light festival. Saw this during a prayer walk: a group of us walked around town praying for business, for families, for locals, for safety.

I am currently in Alice Springs! Actually, it’s a bit of a story as to how I’m here. My church back home partners with Desert Life Church out here, and the pastor came to preach late last year, and during his sermon, a little light bulb went off in my head. Something dinged. A little spark. A little ‘Ooh…Alice Springs’ thought. A little God-Idea.

I ignored it, putting it down to ‘another one of my hare-brained adventure ideas’ (I’ve had a few) and then, the same week this happened, people were coming across my path who had just been in, or lived in, Alice Springs. It remained on my mind for afew weeks after, so I applied for one job even though I didn’t have the qualifications for the job advertised (I’m a clinical art therapist, and the job I saw posted was for an occupational therapist).

I got a prompt phone interview, and the response was ‘How long do you want to come for?’

My pastor also got in touch with the pastors of church out here and helped me to sort out easy accommodation and set me up to meet people, and just like that, blessing after blessing has followed, and door after door has opened! (One example: I needed a car… and a cheap one became available right when I needed, and a really generous mechanic from church came with me and gave me the all-clear that it was decent and serviced it for me)

Went 4WD up at Widowmaker for sunset/ to catch some of the lights of Parrtjima on the hills.

I’m here for three months (and keep being told “that’s what they all say..” by locals)

I just wanted to share a few things I’ve learned while being here, as well as share a snippet of some team building I ran recently (I take for granted how fun/ different the work I get to do is, and when I tell people about it they tend to light up so I’m sharing for the purposes of giving everyone a glimpse into what I take for granted…)

Things I’ve Learned:

Government business hours are generally 8am-4:21pm. 4:21 is Beer O’clock, and I’ve been told that 4:21 usually translates to more like 4:10 ha.
I have generally felt safe being by myself in most parts of town during the day, but after dark haven’t been out alone. It’s a super lovely, interesting, pleasant place with an undertone of risk and danger.
People coming through Alice tend to be missionaries, mercenaries, or misfits (lol been told this a few times).
People have so much more time here. ‘Work commute’ unless going bush is about a 5 minute drive. It’s more relaxed. I do NOT miss the Brisbane traffic!
There are SO many things to do here. So far I have been invited to: salsa dancing, to see a Muay Thai fight, there’s film festivals, lots of hiking, biking, walking tracks, cute cafes, always art related events on (look, I haven’t taken up the salsa or muay thai fight offer yet, but the point is, there’s stuff to do ha)
This a town made up of lots of ‘subcultures’ and cultural groups: indigenous groups and families, white hippies probably escaping the rush of big city life, young adults who bring good coffee and birkenstocks to town, locals who will never leave here and who have huge hearts for improving the quality of life for people here.

Black fineliner and white gel roller on kraft paperReflecting on things I have learned/ experienced in my first month here. — Black fineliner and white gel roller on kraft paper
Reflecting on things I have learned/ experienced in my first month here.

Team Building:

Each month, we do staff team building, and this one was my turn to give my colleagues from other disciplines a little taste of what art therapy is about.

We checked in using items from my sensory kit (not pictured) and that was helpful for us all to put off the rest of the day and share with the group how we were currently feeling.

Then, we engaged in playing the Squiggle game. I really love this intervention, and in a team building context it helped us to build collaboration, to share an enjoyable activity together, and to ‘up’ the morale of the team. It really does change the tone, I noticed we were laughing alot, and as we shared our drawings it lead us to learn about each other in ways we otherwise just wouldn’t during a regular work day.

Then, I gave the directive to use craft/ construction materials to conceptualise how we each see ourselves within the team (I’m new, of course, but the team here in town has only recently been established as well)

In my construction kit I usually keep:

feathers
cardboard
zips
pipe cleaners
sticky tape
googly eyes
felt
glue
stickers
paddlepop sticks
leathers/ materials

My creation: conceptualising my role as holding my clients jagged edges while here working with them. I wanted to capture the whimsy of what I get to do as well so I made my creature look cute. And the bag is not sealed, there’s more learning to add… — My creation: conceptualising my role as holding my clients jagged edges while here working with them. I wanted to capture the whimsy of what I get to do as well so I made my creature look cute. And the bag is not sealed, there’s more learning to add in there.

I noticed my colleagues expressed how therapeutic it was to sit and relax and use these materials, and it reminded me that yes, though i work with challenging clients at times and don’t always get that verbal feedback, it is inherently therapeutic to work with different art materials.

Time crept away and we ended up having to hastily finish but I noticed I wanted much longer to continue working. Being in that ‘flow’ state of making can be really hard to exit out of!!

It was great to share each of our creations with the rest of the group, and we each made quite meaningful little pieces that we decided to keep at our desks as reminders of what we made and shared.

I don’t know about other art therapists, but the majority of my time at work is spent coming up with plan a, b, c, d, e, f…to engage my clients in ways that are suitable, and so facilitating an activity with my colleagues was different, and enjoyable, and really helped me to remember that this is powerful work.

As for the rest of my time here: I am really enjoying the challenge of more rural based work, and enjoying how many new things I am learning. Life is great, adventure is everywhere, and there is always more to experience.

The Squiggle Game (created by Donald Winnicot) This activity is a favourite of mine; it is unexpected, it is fun for clients, it adds to a good working collaborative relationship, it gives insight into client’s thoughts, and doesn’t require ‘talent’… — The Squiggle Game (created by Donald Winnicot)
This activity is a favourite of mine; it is unexpected, it is fun for clients, it adds to a good working collaborative relationship, it gives insight into client’s thoughts, and doesn’t require ‘talent’ of any kind. We did this together as staff and it lead to really interesting conversations as well as laughter.

Well…

If you made it this far, thanks for being here.

I guess we will chat again in about 2022 sometime for my next post! Haha. x

Quirky Drawing Tips

April 30, 2020

Hi Friends

I’m sure this is a weird, strange time for everyone at the moment.

Some of you are at home with kids and having a full on time.

Some of you are buying up art supplies and enjoying trying some new things.

Some are suffering enormously with isolation.

I’ve decided to share some of my drawing tips for those at home trying new creative ventures.

If you want to give my brand of quirky a go- here’s some things to get you started.

Connecting through Creativity in Papua New Guinea

September 15, 2019

Hello!

I was just part of a very cool adventure and I’d love to tell you about it...

So firstly, the adventure was on a YWAM medical ship in Papua New Guinea. This ship operates as a licensed medical provider in PNG, reaching extremely isolated villages, and the ship is run totally by YWAM volunteers. My mum is a nurse and wanted to go and help out on this ship, and I decided to tag along with my parents for the experience. This outreach was to the Western and Gulf provinces, and two days in central (Hula).

I was put in a community engagement team. The idea is that these teams are out connecting with kids in villages, playing games, providing some education about sanitation and water and health and different diseases, and getting to know what each village is about by spending time with people while the medical volunteers run clinics. The health clinics included immunisations, dental work, optometry, testing for tuberculosis, check ups for pregnant women, family planning and probably more stuff I don’t know about since I’m not medical.

There were some really cool ways that art played a big part of the trip from a community engagement point of view and here’s afew:

Art for non-verbal cross-cultural engagement.

This one was a basic one: we had chalk, and most villages had some form of bark or timber flooring, and some villages had a school room of a sort. So our team would get down on the floor with kids and take turns drawing symbols and images together. For e.g. We drew basic triangle roofed houses, and kids would watch that and then draw their own version: a house on stilts up off the mud. We mirrored each others drawings and used humour to build on them. I noticed this process brought about something we talk about in the mental health field: a sense of mutual enjoyment and delight that is a shared experience, and good way to build rapport. We didn’t really need to speak, because our drawings and the experience of laughing together and sharing in this way was special and it was enough.

2. Art For Documenting and Reflection

I had a little notebook and some watercolours, and each day I drew and painted something that stood out about each village we visited.

3. Art as part of the group experience for YWAM volunteers

Each day I painted, and this lead to people wanting to join in and I ended up using some butchers paper and setting up an art station for people to come and paint and reflect on their experiences. People painted squares of the paper and then on our celebration night the group posters were displayed. This was a really nice aspect of the group process; we enjoyed time together and it brought about a sense of satisfaction and was also a good activity for people to do during our evenings (we had some children on the medical ship too, and they also loved joining in with the creativity and contributed a lot haha)

Another trip highlight was getting to be a part of a longer term education program called Community Action Participation, which is designed to educate and empower people in their own village contexts to take ownership and be leaders in their community to create healthy environments. Part of this teaching is about worldviews and how our values lead to our behaviour. What struck me about this was the absolute sincerity of the participants and their genuine interest in learning. It really moved me. I also liked this program because it has follow up and continues to check in with these communities around implementing their ideas for positive change.

Here’s some paintings from the program:

Overall, I LOVED this trip: the mud (SO much mud), the way we were so welcomed (we even had our feet washed for us), the tiny insight into remote PNG communities and their struggles and hopes. It was also really nice to spend time with my parents on the trip. Most of all I love that God was there. He’s wherever people are, and I got the opportunity to have a small glimpse into what his kingdom is like through this experience. Jesus came to bring life to all of us, life to the full; including people who have never heard of wifi and are so far removed from our Western ways that we can’t really comprehend it. He cares equally about the most powerful person in the world as He does for the smallest, least valued child in a remote village. That is the beautiful levelling of the gospel. There is no hierarchy in the kingdom of God.