Building Creative Confidence in Art Therapy: Carolyn Mehlomakulu, 2017

I'm so glad I found this article written by an art therapist, as it covers so many themes I have written about within my essay! and it was really interesting to see an art therapists point of view on these subjects as it's been really difficult trying to find any sort of crossover. She made a list of things to do to help clients engage in art therapy the they are lacking confidence:

1. Reframe art-making as play and embrace messiness.  this idea links perfectly with my Keri Smith case study, as she always states she embraces messiness and her book 'wreck this journal' encourages people to make a mess. It also links in with the idea that many people are put off by creative tasks as they fear they might make a mess. 
2. Try changing the art media
3. Teach techniques to help build confidence.
4. Focus on creativity for self-expression. perfect link to creative expression! this shows creative expression is the basis of art therapy. 
5. Dialogue with the inner critic and practice medical acceptance.
6. Unravel the source of belief.
7. Work small. this could be an idea for an activity within my practical work? one of the tasks in the work book could be 'start small, go bigger' for example 
8. Provide more structure.  a direct link to open ended work! an art therapist explaining that structure can be beneficial towards creative expression is going to link into my essay really well. 
9. Hold space for all the feelings. another link to creative expression! 
10. Expand the definition of "art"

USEFUL QUOTES:

"art therapists believe that the process is the most important, not the quality of the final product"

"reframe art-making as play and embrace messiness"

"we encourage clients to not worry about creating a masterpiece, just focus on what feels fun and enjoyable"

"all of us have the capacity to be creative and to use that creativity to express ourselves. We also may need to remind clients that part of authentic self-expression is recognising that not everything we need to explore and communicate is going to be beautiful"

"Using art to express how you are truly feeling and what you are struggling with can be much more powerful than trying to create 'good art'"

"A lot of anxiety can result from a blank sheet of paper or an invitation to engage in non-directive art therapy"

"some clients need more structure on the page"

"one way of providing that structure is through giving a clear directive to respond to or a suggestion or the art medium. Another way is to provide some actual structure on the page"

"for example, when I have clients create a mandala in group therapy, one of the options is to start with a page that already has 4 concentric circles. This structure makes a potentially anxiety producing art activity a lot more accessible for someone who lacks artistic confidence"