Today please welcome a Houston Middle School Counselor, Nicole Batiste.
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Five Powerful Therapeutic Art Lessons by: Nicole Batiste
Relatively new to the school counseling world as I've spent the last
three years as a School Social Worker-Counselor and before that I was in the
classroom, one honest confession I can make is that I was extremely and
[prematurely] excited that my new role might allow me to finally ditch lesson
planning. Little did I know, I was in for a rude awakening. Not long into my
counseling journey, reality hit; I still had to lesson plan, only now instead
of creating engaging lessons for my classroom around academia, I was planning
engaging lessons around a needs diverse caseload. If you’re anything like me,
you to have a lot of different kiddos on your radar you are trying to service.
More than likely it seems like you can’t ever get enough engaging resources to
help you make your sessions meaningful and engaging. In a lot of trial and
error in planning activities, I've learned two truths.
1. Kinesthetic, hands-on therapy is highly
engaging
2. Art Supplies are
your friend!
Whether you’re doing individual sessions or conducting groups,
adding some art supplies and having something for your students to create is a
goldmine for school counselors. Below are five tried-and-true powerful
therapeutic art activities that can help stock up your counseling cabinet or
simply give you ideas to create some pretty awesome lessons for your learners.
This activity
is a great intro to the therapeutic arts. Students will begin by learning and
identifying primary colors. Then students will start assigning color to their
daily emotions and their desired emotions. This resource allows your students
to search themselves emotionally and creatively connect it to color.
This resource
is great for anger management/emotional regulation. Students are required to
assess their anger and decide what's inside their anger outbursts. You can use
this resource OR have client draw a bomb and reflect what triggers or emotions
are inside that bomb.
This activity is great for self-esteem or girl-drama groups. In this therapeutic art activity, children learn about the importance of inner beauty and empathy. Participants will draw on a blank face what they consider their outer appearance or image and then on the other side draw what's underneath their surface. Encourage kids to make a list about both their outer and inner selves before completing a dual self-portrait.
This
therapeutic art activity is wonderful way to build rapport with your students
and serves as an opener for therapy. Your students will use drawings, colors,
symbols and words to fill in their "Crystal Ball." Kids have A LOT of
fun with this one because they get to talk about all their wants and dreams. It
is also a great resource for you to get an understanding of what they ultimately
want out of life, school, etc.
Another
simple way to engage kids in therapy is the "Get to Know Me
activity." This is also a great resource for fostering social skills as kiddos
talk about themselves and listen and respond to others. In this activity.
students use puzzle pieces to answer simple questions about themselves and then
represent them artistically.
Quick Tips:
· Don’t over think it; therapeutic art is just
using artistic creation in the therapeutic process.
· Have discussion questions ready- Once kids pick
up a crayon, for some reason they are ready to open up!
· Join in on
the fun. Being a member and facilitator helps everyone feel equal and it
adds to the fun!
To purchase these and other Kinesthetic Therapy activities, visit {here}
About the author: School Counselor Nicole Batiste graduated with her Masters degree in
Social Work in 2013 and has worked as a school counselor, social worker and
elementary educator. She has a passion for teaching social emotional learning
through engaging, hands-on, thought-provoking activities.
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Thank you, Nicole, for sharing these creative ways to help students learn about themselves as they mature and grow socially and emotionally.
Great ideas! I like that they are simple and not even intimidating for someone like me who (is creative), but not artistic! Thank you for sharing!
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