Sample Art Therapy Exercises

Art Therapy Exercises

This page shows some samples of the type of exercises we complete in a session. Some are group based, some individual. All clients are different and we have a vast toolbox of exercises to suit everyone.

Forgiveness Box

Sara Roizen's Art Therapy Blogspot

"For the art therapy piece of the group I set up paint trays, acrylic, brushes, collage materials and textas. I then handed each person a small paper mache box. I asked the group to decorate the boxes on the inside and outside while thinking about a person or a few people that they would like to work on forgiving. The gold and copper paint were a popular paint color and the metallic paint helped imbue the boxes with a certain beauty. While working on the boxes, group members began to open up about past experiences with the people they were working to forgive........................

The last step was writing the name of one or more people (could include self) on a small piece of paper and placing it inside the box. The name could stay in there..............

Make a Collage based on a quote

Collage your world

".... first look inside myself to see what feelings and images emerged when I thought of the quote; then to collect that type of imagery, and finally to narrow those down to only the few that truly captured its essence. Remember too, you don’t need to illustrate a quote; you can choose to tackle it in an abstract manner by building shapes, colours and textures around it. Instead of using pictures of people, places or things, here you might try to capture the feeling of the quote through colour, texture or simply random patterns and shapes that appeal to you.

Transformational Self Portrait Art Therapy Activity

Art Therapy Blog

Think of an experience or event from your past that still has a negative impact on your life today. It could be something big or small, recent or long ago. Think about what happened, how the event(s) played out, and how it affects you today. Feel free to write your thoughts down if you want. Now think about what you would like to change about yourself as a result of that negative experience. It could be a transformation related to your self-esteem, self-confidence, mental/emotional state, etc.As you may have guessed by the title, you’re going to create a self-portrait. This will be a little different than the typical self-portrait though. For this art therapy activity, you will be creating a transformational self-portrait mural. This can be a painting, drawing, collage, whatever you want. You can use any materials you’d like in any combination. Don’t feel like you have to restrict yourself…creativity is encouraged!