Art therapy class for mental health inpatients

 

 

Let me share some thoughts of my observations of participating in an art therapy inpatient session.

 

Patients were asked to draw in a circle shared with other patients, with freedom of anything they think of to draw. With a freedom on a blank sheet of big paper stretched along the big table, a lot of them found it hard to make a start. However, after a while, most of them start drawing silently in their own styles. Some tend to fill up all the space with a lot of different strokes, some tend to draw individual shapes and icons on the paper. Some used lines and strokes, some used shapes and patterns. Some used only B & W, some tried to use the same type of pen, some filled it with different colours.

 

Afterwards, they were asked to let go of their drawing and swap their drawing with another patient. Interestingly, they're willing to give up their own drawings, and started to draw on others. Some tried to fill others' blank spaces in between, while some extended some ideas the previous patient had. When the previous patient saw what the patient was drawing on , they complimented that it made it prettier, and appreciated it a lot!

 

One patient found that she tend to be obsessed with drawing a specifc pattern, and couldn't get it out of mind. She kept drawing it, and said her mind was blown by it and had to leave.

 

It was a good thing to recognise what your mind gets stuck with.
Have you recognised your inner pattern? What do you tend to draw?