Symbolic Projections

Summer seems to be the time for tie dye and outdoor activities -- in Florida that also means spontaneous monsoon-like thunderstorms and zillions (yes, zillions) of mosquitoes. So, if you’re stuck indoors with weeks old (or older) tie dye, this post is for you! As seen in previous posts I love re-purposing and up-cycling, however believe me when I say that I do not go looking for these opportunities. I just go with it when the muse calls and sometimes it works out and others it does not. This was one of those creative opportunities that paid off. 1 First, I happen to find some tie dye left by my students (maybe as far back as April or early May). It had been mixed ages ago (months) and packaging instructions say to discard after a few hours...umm. OK so I couldn't bring myself to pouring it down the drain. 2 Finding some pieces of light color or white absorbent cloth (mine were about 4”x4” bed sheet cloth) I set to purposefully experiment. I folded & wrapped e...

Some days I toil over the idea of what "mindfulness" entails. Today seems to be one of those days. Bringing back down to basics: 1 thing at a time. Doing something on purpose. Simply. It's an echo of something I heard Kabat-Zinn say this video from a several years back. With recent changes in group participants I decided it was time to return to basics - breath+body. Paying attention to and noticing how 'breath' affects our bodies in a very real way. Re-visiting a directive I first used in 2014 for an acute admissions dorm, Mindfulness with a Sponge . Engaging in rhythmic movement that is in pace with the breath. In time paint is introduced and manipulated using a moist sponge. Over the span of a few brief minutes and a series of overlapping horizontal strokes an abstract 'breath-scape' emerges. a serene body of water or a soothing cloud streaked sky... These are visual traces of breath. Likely the first time these clients have literally ...

It's been a while. My last post was ages ago and since much has transpired. Let me bring you up to speed. At the end of 2016 I blogged THIS and was feeling pretty enthused about my new mindfulness infused art therapy group for forensic mental health clients. The group came together in a series of serendipitous events. After a great few months the membership trickled out as the participants became competent and returned to court. In the moment I was cautiously happy for each of them. Don't get me wrong, in large part what I do in my "mindfulness" groups is to help with emotional competency . I want those who need to face the trials and tribulations of our judicial system to survive it. I want them to have a chance, no matter how small. I had one participant who left & returned tell me about fondly remembering me "getting on his case every time he started to get worked up and telling him to STOP + BREATHE and take it from the top". ...

These days it is hard to be mindful. So much negativity and anger floating around, bogging us down. In a mindfulness group I run we dived into a daily practice for the month of December (yes that was so 2016, seems like only yesterday).  We began by splashing and smearing paint on old folders (the 1/3 tabs). Then turning them into small books. Using a prepared calendar with prompts for each day's mindful practice. The writing of a goal. Contemplating on a color. Conjuring and writing a pleasant memory. And so on... Everyone approached the tasks a bit differently. Some with words, others with pictures, or even drawings. Everything/anything was OK. The purpose had been achieved. To slow down, stop, contemplate for a few minutes, before getting all wrapped-up in the day. Or as a breather after a long day. Having served its purpose, we now place it aside and ourselves permission to pick-it-up when we need a break. A distraction, and a breath. Have the c...

Making time to reflect on what has been one roller-coaster of a year. 2016 began on a high note, after the completion of the #creativedeed365 project from the year before. It took a couple weeks, but I was soon all wrapped up in mandalas once more. Re-Covering Creative Tracks (March) The Courage to be Pregnant and a Therapist: Over 12 Months Ago... Another Spark of Life First Trimester: Changes in Imagery & Practices Resilience Through the Second Trimester Planned Birth & Other Fairy Tales Postpartum Blues After Maternity Leave The Mindless Doodle ...and 2016 draws to a close.

Art media properties have been a thing of fascination for me. In a brief chapter written many moons ago [ Lorenzo de la Peña, S. (2015). 2-Dimensional Materials. In D. Gussak & M. Rosal (Eds.), The Wiley-BlackwellHandbook of Art Therapy [E-book version]. Oxford, UK: Wiley-Blackwell Publishers.] , I went into details on the various properties of art medias. That is something that I’ve built-on from my undergrad years as an art educator student and from sheer curiosity. In the last 4 or so years, that attention to detail and CURIOSITY, have become the main thread in my mindfulness groups. I work in forensic mental health. An often bleak environment with limited access to materials and rich in time. Boredom is the biggest complaint, right up there with lack of privacy and noise. The trifecta of negative behavioral expression. In spite of the recent explosive popularity of Mindfulness; I don’t have to screen those I serve to know that over 90% of them don’t know what mi...

#Hermine After the long pregnancy months and the 8 weeks (turned to 13 due to a timely hurricane), getting back on my feet was something I was looking forwards to. Finding the right daycare and resuming my career right where I left off... Except that, as soon as I did find daycare and returned to work, it was lackluster. Trading those long & slow morning routines for quick out-the-door and on the road ones. Taking only the memory of her soft skin and baby scent to get me through the long commute (50 miles each way) and even longer work day. ---- some will scoff at that statement, saying i should be more than ready to return to work after 13 weeks. And in many ways i was tired of the home monotony. I knew going into this that the stay at home mom gig was not for me. But jumping into an 8-4:30 (with commute more like 6:30-5:30) while my infant is raised by (essentially) strangers, is no walk in the park. I bare my soul to set the stage for why it worked out to have dissolved my g...