art as therapeutic measure

Good morning! Friends! We are here to give you an unique experience through a creative journey.

Art as Therapeutic Measure

It gives an alternative way of living for the well being of physical and

psychological growthFrom

Dr. Rupa Talukdar; Chandrima GuhaRoy; Lopamudra Dutta and Susmita

Mukherjee & our budding Art Therapist Ushna Dutta

The discussion of today is Art as a therapeutic measure particularly for Senior Citizens.

Specially I am as a psychologist interested to make our twilight days colourful by practising ART & CRAFT.

You may ask me, “Is it necessary?” I find it necessary because of reasons

I am going to talk about.

Why it is essential for SENIOR CITIZENS

As people grow old, after 50/55 life begins with a new episode called The TWILIGHT-

Increase of free time/leisure Slow depression craves in because of flying off junior

members of family-EMPTY NEST Syndrome Onset of ANXIETY for the close one who are not at

your side Declining of physical strength and so also emotional

health Emptiness –less family work, family pressure

This is the right time to start SECOND INNINGS of life: it needs Groundwork & Care

Why it is essential for SENIOR CITIZENS

By making group of 8- or 10- or like that Group activities make the scope of socialization –not

through mere chatting, through colourful activities using colour palette, brushes, scissors, pencils etc.

This helps a lot to keep Body & Mind both cheerful and activeWhen people socialize they start chatting, but here when our senior citizens make a group to enjoy Art & Craft session using brushes, colour palette, canvas and paper etc. language would be sketch, drawing, painting and different craft forms. Language of ART Therapy is Expressive Art-this may be 2D or 3D forms

Just see the two forms created by two participants in an Art THERAPY session-they were asked to participate in a Self Portrait Session-it is the dormant emotion

How our Senior Citizens take part in it?

Please observe the two pics

The two pics are same in colour choice, and the drawing pattern-both the person is aggressive, assertive and with full of enthusiasm.

But there is some unique differences: which is butterfly-the life:

Life makes the two hugely different: the person drawn left pic is a social person and likes to take the help of others in fulfilling his dream-good human being.

The person drawn right pic is loner, needs no one to lead a life of success: bit selfish person he is.

Analysis

Art has a Therapeutic Healing on anyone it may appear invarious forms:

ART & CraftDanceMusic

We only discuss here about Art & Craft Section:

How it works: It is easier for our brain to remember

Picture than Words-called associate memory Art allows person to express openly: when

words fail art helps to express spontaneous. Art promotes attention: helps to be less

restless, more motivated & focus and engrossed in creativity makes worthy use of leisure time.

Analysis

Anyone anytime for better feelings as it helps to learn easily-the way ART helps anyone is the most creative and lively way.

Here we are talking about for target people SENIOR CITIZENS

Who can attend ART THERAPY

Attractive side of it, they can participate easily as they have huge source of memories those would be helpful in,

Connecting

Executing

Imagination

Grasping

Scribbling

Coloring

Expanding the original ideas

Many more which is required to give a FORM either 2-/3-dimensional way

Art on Senior Citizens

As people grow generally s/he becomes, Dependent on close one: becoming slow Anxiety prone because of close one Insecurity for the self Depressive because of his/her own confinement at home Always under supervision of young members of family Empty nest-son/daughter are somewhere else because of

services/study Retirement-/VRS- lazy time around Less motivated most of time Feeling lonely because of few people in life-there is no strong

attachment with any one other than family members

Practising indoor activities like ART & Craft is the ideal way of connecting sweet memories in the present context.

How Art on Senior Citizens works

In Psychological words COLOUR has unique effect on EMOTION: Susmita Mukherjee will help you to know more abt it

By changing your original chosen colour for the next best colour Art Therapist will give you serenity of emotion: Chandrima Guha Roy helps you to make it clear

As people grow old it is necessary to be in uniform temperament: no high, no low: what is called TRANQUILITY that one can achieve through creativity.

Creativity always helps to be with imagination, enthusiasm, motivation- to be around suitable colour appropriate to your original emotion facilitates a lot for being emotionally strong.

I request Susmita Mukherjee to continue the next portion of the program.

Using Colour has a Scientific Basis to make Senior Citizens HAPPY for the rest of LIFE

Now we invite you to participate in

PICTURE DRAWING SESSION

-But here we call you to come on the stage to choose your favourite painting JUST TO KNOW YOURSELF

Activity among the spectators

AnalysisCompetitive mindset, has fighting spirit, feelings of being watched, flexible type, cooperative and bit lazy; dreamer and friendly.

Colour: Optimism. Harmony-refresh-state of equilibrium, peace loving, energetic, has warmth-loves for security-there is a sign of oppression.

AnalysisAmiable ,family centric person, sociable, bit worried, sensitive, warm and kind, emotionally oriented preoccupation, aware of own personality waiting to bloomColour:

Sophistication, glamorous, security, emotional safety, efficient, creative , anxiety prone

AnalysisFear of failure,

escaping from situation, depressed, can not cope up easily, needs to express , flexible and imaginative

Colour: Intelligent, can trust, communicative, logical. Suppressive, loyal and spiritual person.

AnalysisLack of fighting spirit, insecure, wants protection, touchy personality, bit unrealistic, has demand for socialization.

Colour: down to earth, practical and reliable; stable person, competent person; intelligent and communicative

AnalysisA sociable person, optimistic, emotional, not to conscious about self, refusal to look inside oneself, sad.

Colour: Creative, confident, friendly but has irrationality and fearful-sometimes stays in anxiety.

AnalysisA sensitive,

hesitant, energetic person and thinking oriented; desirous to get on with things, imaginative, methodical and indecisive

Colour: demand for physical comfort, warmth, security ; sensuous and fun loving person; has feelings of deprivation and frivolity-bit immature; he has frustration not being to able to fulfill dream.

AnalysisCompetitive, has

fighting spirit, looking forward for some achievements, passionate to fulfill target, sensitive, independent mindset, flexible, needs finding unity and peace

Colour: down to earth, practical, reliable, stable person, believes in harmony, balance, peace.

AnalysisTorn between a desire for more freedom but has an inner wish for more basic protection and security, materialistic, emotional and has crave for affection, head ruling person.

Colour: calm, concentrated, sophisticated; has warmth.

AnalysisLack of cooperation

with/by others, creates relationship difficult, introvert, energetic in thinking, can not get along with others, bit stressful, desire to achieve difficult goals, warm and kind person

Colour: physically courageous, agressive, intelligent, logical, likeness in harmony.

AnalysisEmotional, wants

harmony and love, desire to escape from a situation, clinging for travelling, basically freedom lover

Colour: has sophistication, give emphasis on glamour of life. Security and emotional safety both are important to her life. Bit cold

How do you feel?

Colour Association: Red/Orange/Blue/Green

Colour Association: Multicolour

Art Therapy Helps you to stay composed

Drawn by a student of ART Therapy-we don’t want perfection, only participant needs to act on it for bringing happiness.

Art Therapy Helps you to

stay composed

Art Therapy Helps you to

stay composedUsing the filler drawn previously instead of colour-it helps to be more intense and self-possessed

Colour white is used in many Western countries to represent purity and innocence-they use white dress in marriage, but it is seen as a symbol of mourning in many Eastern countries.

What is your Colour?

In our state Red is the symbol of enthusiasm and happiness, so we use Red in any festival.

Perception of colour is somewhat different; there are some color effects that have universal meaning.

What is your Colour?

Please come and choose your colour

Emotional colour Wheel-YOUR participation

The meaning of it…

It is the okay zone

Entire session of ART THERAPY has

6-Magical steps

Art & Craft-for able-bodied motor skill

Choose art materials( crayons, markers, coloured pencil, sketches) as you feel comfortable with

Turn on music of your favourite tune Before living with your project be with you without being

judgmental-you don’t require to be like Picasso, Da-Vinci, Aban Tagore, or N.Bose-just try to let your inner emotion to flow in the paper via materials you like to choose

Choose colour and start colouring on paper; after 5 mins take a step back and see if any images form

Focus on that area to highlight it. Flip the paper over and write down a description of your

piece-what came up during the time you worked on it-and what you feel now and what you felt before-just release your inner emotion in a creative form

Painting: Tapping into inner aspect

How the activity be helpful?

Allowing ‘self’ to play in this exercise will hopefully connect the inner feelings to express at ease-like our child hood days-innocent, lovely and spontaneous way-this helps to relax one emotionally in a creative way.

Painting: Tapping into inner aspect

Materials like old magazines or newspapers, scissors, glue, a large piece of paper and poster board, a writing piece of paper

Take your time to jot down the materials and idea that you like to have for growing

Focus on your goal and start flipping the papers of magazines

Select images and words from it for developing –your Goal

human mind needs to be purposeful-that helps to achieve maturity of ideas/goal

So when you are in the process-automatically images / pictures / words are chosen by you –stick them on the poster board-and create your VISUAL BOARD which is called EXPRESSIVE ART WORK

Collage-with old papers

Collage-the expression of self

How the activity be helpful:

With this act you can focus on your purpose for a long time through sticking the chosen images and words on the poster board-this helps you to focus on your goal what is called LAW of ATTRACTION-states that we bring into our lives the things we think about the most and the board is a daily visual reminder of the things we want for ourselves.

This is where I want to be, So, what am I doing right now that will help me to

get to these goals, What am I doing that’s hindering me from making

these things happen

Collage-with old papers

Pick up a couple of blank masks, paint, glue, feathers, beads, flowers, tissue papers, ribbon and any craft item you want

Before beginning any project it is important to focus on what your goals are for the particular exercise.

For this project you need to split the writing paper into two halves: part-I labeled as INNER SELF and part-II labeled as OUTER SELF

Take sometimes to think about and write down what characteristics each of those selves have and what types of emotions these selves has and what type of emotions these selves feel

Inner is who you are actually when you are alone and outer shows you when you socialize

After that use the materials start working on BLANK MASK in a way to express both the SELF as the inside of the mask is INNER and outside is OUTER

Inner Vs Outer Self Mask

How it would help you?This is another form of art that focuses on

INTROSPECTION

It is important to be able to identify what parts of our SELVES we show others and what we keep private; this can lead to further exploration-

What is there inside of me admirable to share with people outside?

Does my outer self change in different situations and why?

How do you feel to express that outer self Vs inner self?

Does one cause more anxiety and does one feel more authentic?

Inner Vs Outer Self Mask

You need simply a piece of writing paper envelope and pen.

If you want to be crafty you need stickers, other decorative item as you like and glue

Important part is to write all about the stuffs you love and think about all the things of your body and mind that does for you-this is a time to appreciate all the wonderful things you offer to the World

You can write words of encouragement to yourself for the times when you truly need it

Write a LOVE LETTER to yourself

How it would help you?

It is the natural tendencies of human being to be with wrong/depressive part of life-but we have many palpable events which are really treasures -but we forget them in our daily life. So writing and reading a love letter help us to give credit for being incredible and take us to a place of compassion and love for ourselves.It is easy to be nice to others but hard to nice things for ourselves.This approach is very common-so take time to love yourself with this exercise.

Write a LOVE LETTER to yourself

Needs a canvas, paint brushes, paint, a pallete or paper plates, water, paper towels, pencil and mirror and find a comfortable place to sit

Make sure you have a mirror before you so that you can visualize you through it

Begin your journey with a pencil on the canvas-it does not mean to be exact- during a self-portrait session we can start a dialogue between our thinking mind and our ‘gut’ to draw from an inexhaustible source of meanings, which must be expressed. The self-portrait can be incredibly empowering.

Self-portraiture can be a means of self-reflection and accepting the self both beauty and deficient being unbiased-fighting with inner critic is one of the hardest part about the specific task.

Pen down the experiences, your feelings of finding your portrait drawn by you

Self Portrait

PORTRAIT


Art therapists/you also can be informed of the benefits and drawbacks of recreating the self by examining the art which reflects your inner self.It can be a different experience for people who spends time only critiquing themselves in the mirror and attracting emotions to those critiques.You have created self-portraits as a vehicle to understand yourselfSelf-portraits can allow you to be open and receptive to the self, which is an important component of therapeutic growth. Having a different experience in front of the mirror gives u the opportunity to have a different perspective, which after more practice, can hopefully decrease the initial instinct to judge.

Self Portrait

Blank unlined index cards, scissors, magazine, writing implements and glue.Participants are requested to list the factors that affect their self-esteem &the list of things that can do to raise their self confidenceAsk participant to keep an ongoing list on the paper

1. Past success2. Think in a more positive manner3. Take healthy risks4. Practice self acceptance5. Accept that ‘it’s enough to do my best’6. Let go of guilt7. Don’t label yourself and other8. You are just as good, if not better ,than others9. See the good in yourself10. Focus on your strength, people/things you love11. Find positive people to socialize with12. Develop a support system13. Learn new skill

Affirmation Cards

Engage in hobbies Try to be organized Don’t give up Avoid people who are negative Keep a gratitude list Keep an achievement list Smile and laugh as possible Try to see humour in life Don’t worry what others think Focus on positive aspect on your life Accept who you are Make a list of your positive qualities Be true yourself, live your own life.Participants then glue the card on a sheet of papers and after that

they are asked either to draw or stick pictures from old magazines’ paper beside the line representing the special quality of him/her.

Affirmation Cards

Affirmation Board


These daily affirmations can help you to develop a more positive self esteem. Having positive thoughts about yourself can potentially re-write the connections in your brain causing you to feel better about yourself.

Affirmation Cards

These are all recycled products made up of newspaper, obviously you could get to see..its a great threat to Global Warming...so its an Eco Friendly Products. It has got very good response in hotel industries and in different Govt. Emporiums and moreover many state governments are perusing T & D for the under privileged.

Apart from these Eco friendly and Commercial aspects, it has great impact in both physical and mental health. Let us discuss about physical value....as we grow old our bones and muscles starts decaying...gradually it slows down our motion and causes great hindrance to normal activities. In order to check this ailment we can practise this type of activities which leads to interesting and motivating exercise of fingers eventually the whole arm.

So far mental health is concern, this is worth mentioning ...its a "Mind Booster" activity which gives shape to waste products a unique makeover look and a best utilization”.

Why Art & Craft

Why Art & Craft

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art as therapeutic measure

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