I love using creative tasks to go a bit deeper. Sometimes it feels a bit odd, looking at photos or moving dolls around or drawing yourself. Some clients protest that they are “not creative” but it is not about having the greatest skill. This can take the form of drawing or using handouts. The idea is to stop thinking of the rational, correct, answer and let new ideas come to the surface.

Photo cards can be used to access various feelings when we don’t have the words. Look at this photo – what does it say to you?

Lonely? Peace? Isolation? Mystery? Calm? Scary? Ask dozens of people and you may have dozens of answers! Similarly, looking through word cards and considering which describe your feelings can help to pin point exactly what you feel and where this has come from.

Matryoshka Dolls are a great way to visualise the different parts of your self, or what you experienced at a younger age. You can talk to them, move them around, keep some inside the biggest dolls, throw others away… the possibilities are endless.

Stones can be used to represent family members or other significant people. How close are they, to you and to each other? Where would you like them to be? Why is that person represented by the tiny stone?

It is amazing what comes out. “I didn’t realise I saw myself like that.” “Why did I put Mum over there?” Creative tasks lead to the most wonderful therapeutic moments, where a client is able to identify how they unconsciously see their partner’s behaviour, set their abusive parent aside, or comfort their hurt 8-year old self. I found creativity very helpful at a training day about the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Taking time to draw my experiences of the pandemic, I realised I had looked at the entire period as a time of loss, but drawing brought out the things I had gained. I left with a more balanced perspective on that time.

Maybe you would like to try connecting to your creative side with me?