One of the things most important during the holidays is giving thanks or gratitude. I remember one year at Thanksgiving we actually swam in the pool right before we had lunch. What are you going to do? It’s Texas LOL. Here we are back to that time of year where the leaves are changing colors, the weather is getting cooler and snow may be found on the ground. But not in Texas! It is hot year round. But I am still giving thanks . . .
Drawing or coloring a Mandala is a form of art therapy that is a very popular thing right now. There are hundreds, probably thousands of adult coloring books out there that are of mandala designs. The art of drawing them as well as just coloring them has so much therapeutic power.
Recently a friend of mine’s teenage daughter was going through a difficult time. They were desperate to find a therapy style that would work to support her needs. And spent a great deal of time researching, talking and investigating different therapeutic styles that would support their daughter. A wind-up finding a CBT therapist and after weeks of intensive therapy. Their daughter is doing well. Her mom attributes it to CBT therapy and said that it was such a game-changer I should look into it and become CBT certified myself.
If the holidays are all about family, togetherness, food and fun, at least that’s what mine are about, then why the hell do I feel so much holiday stress? Shopping for the perfect gifts, budgeting for those gifts, wrapping and hiding those gifts(my brother and I were masters at finding the wrapped gifts my mom thought she had hidden well!). lol #sorrynotsorrymom Maybe we’re missing loved ones who have passed, or are no longer in our lives. Perhaps that one family member who has to talk all the time about his favorite orange president until you find yourself silently stabbing yourself under the table with a fork. Many people suffer from all these different types of stress during the holidays. So let’s chat about them and how to work to prevent the holiday blues from tarnishing your holiday mood.
What even is art therapy? How in the world does it fit with straight up couch therapy? Therapy in the old days typically was portrayed as a dark mahogany walled-in office with a therapist sitting in some kind of a fancy leather chair and a patient lying on the couch talking about their issues. The therapist is typically portrayed as an older male (think Freud) who is taking notes and asking questions. This is obviously an antiquated version of what therapy looks like. So let’s bust all the old myths about therapy and specifically art therapies.
Mindfulness is a buzz word for this decade it appears. And more recently in the last several years as we have struggled through covid and everything that comes with it. Having a healthy grasp of your mindfulness is more important than ever. However, oftentimes we only look at mindfulness as it applies to adults. In this blog we’re going to talk about mindfulness with our kids, teens and young adults.