Use of materials in Therapy

[Hopingforpeace]

My therapist would like me to think about how I feel about trying to switch off my rational brain and connect with the other part of my brain — the emotional/feelings side. She has suggested we use materials such as clay modelling. Has anyone done anything like this before? The whole thing is filling me with dread. Not sure why, maybe it’s because I don’t know what to expect or because I am worried about trying to focus purely on my emotions and how I’m feeling and how that’s affecting my body. I’m a rational, logical person but that doesn’t work when it comes to trauma it seems. I mean rationally it happened years ago and isnt happening now so I should be ok and not be feeling fear but I do and I can’t explain it. I’ve done so well recently for me in starting to talk about things with my therapist but now I’m fully back in the I don’t want to do this, I’m scared to do this but at same time I want to, I need to, conflict in my head.

[KIP.]

Talk about your fears with your therapist. Slow it down ifyou have to. Have u tried ETF. tapping on meridian lines?

[Hopingforpeace]

Hi KIP, yes I’ve told therapist this internal conflict I have and we have slowed things down as I said I needed to. I think she is trying to help me with coming up with other ways to talk about my emotions as I find it so hard. Just I don’t get how using materials will work. I didn’t have time to ask last time but will next week. Just worrying about it which isn’t helping. I tried EFT years ago but I didn’t find it helped me in any way, besides potentially being a bit of a distraction.

[fizzylem]

Do you have a creative medium that comes more naturally to you? Do you like writing poems? Drawing? Anything you feel more comfortable with for that part?

I have seen some amazing healing come out of art therapy over the years; I have a couple of colleagues who do this type of work.

I used to work with children therapeutically and we always used play and creative things like gluing and sticking, drawing, clay, sand, it made it easy to connect to the source of the difficuty in on a non threatening way. Like in a 3rd person kind of a way, they talked about the art and what they had done, without saying this happned to me, made it safe to talk about and work through because what they were making and doing was of course also what was going on in their lives, the stuff in their minds, their difficulties.

I’d try and roll with it for a bit if I were you, see where it goes, you can always stop if you wanted to hey. Guess it depends on whether you trust the therapist as well, if she’s given you what you need so far then she might be right here thinking you may find some value in it x

[HopeLifeJoy]

Hi,

She is asking you to do a creative exercise with clay because creativity appeals to emotions rather than the rational part of the brain.
Playing/working with clay will appeal to your sensation in your hands, is it cold, warm? It is thick or soft?
It will appeal to your imagination, what figure or form would you like to create? Should it be big or small? Will you color it afterwards?

Have fun with it, relax and just let your imagination roll and your emotions are right there, effortless and easy to access.

Hope this helps a little

[Twisted Sister]

She will above all need to know your thoughts and worries about doing this.

It clearly presents a big obstacle to you, and that is absolutely fine. It is what it is.
Its key to be ‘noticing’ how anything makes you react/think/feel, its key to ‘acknowledge’ that is important for you, to give yourself that strength of recognition it is and how important it matters. Its also vital that you make sure you speak out to express yourself, wit yur therapist, and in life generally, about anything that matters to you.

Your worries might be about stepping away from your anxiety, the part of you that has been working overtime to keep you safe for so long.

Just a thought. We al need to be grateful to that part of us that has worked so hard for oirproection, but it also stops us from focussing and concentrating from other now qually important and helpful relaxing, mindful activities.

It is a big step, and any who cant read a book or article will understand this place of being.

It might also represent a place of being directed by someone else, also a potentially scarey prospect to consider; trust takes time, but is a profound and deep bit of healthy therapy work.

Experiencing this kind of absorption in a creative activity will stay with you, and result in other positive effects in your life too.

Its like opening a new door when we want to stay home and safely locked away.

It can bring new, interestin, positive, and rewarding experiences, but also concerning yes.

One step at a time, at your pace.

Warmest wishes

TS

[Hopingforpeace]

Thank you ladies, all really helpful. Yes I trust my therapist. At the start of each session she asks how I’ve been feeling and how I felt about coming that day and I know at the start of my next session she will ask me if I have thought about what she suggested and how I feel about it. I just don’t understand how you can express your emotions through clay. I’m not naturally creative though I do enjoy painting and play doh with my child and I enjoy adult colouring books when I’m in the mood. I want to give it a go, I’m just not good with the unknown/not knowing what to expect.

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