[Jennifer1084]

Is there any way that art therapy could assist in becoming more co-conscious? The idea of trying art therapy one-on-one had come to me a few months ago, but finally brought it up to T last week. I hope everything will work and that insurance will cover it. I'm hoping that it will help me, I'm sure it will for other issues in my life besides DID, but just wondering. Anyone else in art therapy or use it? I've been going to art therapy in a group setting for awhile now, but I think I will get more out of doing it alone with the T. Also will it cause complications, having two T's? My T didn't seem to think so, as it seemed, she didn't say anything about it, but just thought I would ask for all of your thoughts and opinions.

Jennifer
(Having a hard time right now with the whole thing with the friend, wrote her a letter and sending it tomorrow, thank you to all of you who commented on the post.)

Hi Jennifer -
arts and crafts is a big partof my therapy program as you can probably tell from reading my blog and other posts here and on onther on line support groups and it helps ALOT.

Right now I am working on a project for memory recall work in trying to find out things. I made a scale model of the house I grew up in using cardboard, plain white paper, glue, popcycle sticks, crayons, and water color paint.

First I took paper and drew a picture of floor plans of each level (first floor second floor and so on) Then I wrote on the floor plans the size of each room. I don't remember the exact dimentions of each room but made some guesses.

Then taking cardboard (any kind as long as its the same thinkness) and measured out each wall. and the flooring..

I covered cardboard slabs with glue and put white paper on that so that the "boards" were completely covered in white paper.

Then using the popcycle sticks a made "bracket" by slightly bending a couple sticks and put a drop of glue on the ends and putting them on where I would be connecting two boards together. To connect the boards just slip a popcycle sick through the brackets from one board to the matching braket on the second board.

Once the house frame was put together including the roof I used more white paper and the watercolor paints and color pencils and crayons to make "wallpapers, capeting," to line the room that I was working on.. the one of my nightmare and flashbacks.

Then using those same items white paper, water color paint, crayons, color pencils, cardboard and glue I made the furnishings that I keep seeing in flashbacks and my nightmare.

Just recently I made the shadowman that I keep seeing by using white cloth, wire from a spiral notebook, Scupey Modeling clay and glue.

Once all this was completed I took pictures of it in to LL because I didn't know where to go with the project from here. She looked at the pictures and asked me some questions. From her questions there was one that I didn't know the answer to so I have been sitting down with this scale model looking at it and so on trying to find out the answer to that question.

This is one of many ways that I use art to learn what my separated pieces of memories are.

I also do dot arts where you dot the paper and then randomly connect the dots and then color in the things you see in the picture.

I also find drawings around the house. When I do I look at them - color, theme and charecters depicted and so on and try to match them. for example if I find a picture of something I pull out my photos and try to locate a photo of that thing and me or other family members in it that will tell me around what age I was when I had that thing. Right there that tells me a general idea of how old I was when that piece of memory was separated, and possibly some of what that separated pice of memory contains.

Having two therapists and a conflict - not as long as you sign a reliese form for both therapists so that they can coordinate your therapy program so that one isn't treating one way and the other is treating you with a different program. Its called continuity of care and many people see two different therapists for example when I was seeing a county mental health therapist I had been raped by an acquaintence. The hospital called the rape crisis center and I started therapy with a rape crisis therapist. Both the mental health therapist and the rapre crisis therapist had to have a release form on file so that the two could talk to each other about my problems and what to do to help me with them. The rape crisis center office that I was seeing JEH in was also the domestic violence office. The DV was donating space in their office to the rape crisis center. So because it was two agencies in one office space and the DV people would at times be anseering phones and helping out when JEH was busy or not in the office I also had to sign a release form for continuity of care purposes with the Domestic violence therapist too so that she could also talk with my mental health therapist and my rape crisis therapist. So I ended up having three therapists and there was no complications as to how to treat me and so on.

[Jennifer1084]

Thanks for the information. I really do hope this works out and I will be able to see this other T. I think it may really help me to work out some things. I would have a hard time coming up with ideas and I probably would not end up doing them, I would avoid doing it, just cause that's what I do, avoid. So I am really hoping that my insurance will cover this, so I can go to both T's. Well thanks again.

Jennifer

You're welcome

If your insurance doesn't cover the classes there is nothing saying you cant still do art therapy on your own. One of the advantages off setting your own therapy program like I do is that I don't have to do anything that I don't want to and when I do have projects going I can go at my speed, take breaks when I want to, work on it when I want to and so on Since I am the one coming up with the activites it doesn't matter if I say to heck with this one. I have scapped many many projects in mid stream because I wasn't ready for that activity yet or it wasn't working for me. art therapy is like journaling you paint, draw, color create diarama's and so on when and if you WANT to not because you HAVE to like in a class.

Art classes have specific activities that you have to do each week and homework assignments to match what you are learning in class for example one class you learn about drawing shapes and for homework you draw shapes, the next week you learn about shading and for homework you draw shapes and shade them in then the next week you learn how to make a chai out of squares and rectangles and shade them in and so on until the class is drawing trees, buildings and so on. then the final exam is using all you learned in class to create a project.

I had fun in a couple art classes and one on one art therapy sessions that I took but I got so frustrated because what I wanted to draw was not what the teacher thought I should be working on. and she was interpreting my drawings for what they weren't based on her psych training that if a tree takes up most of the page the person is intimidated by the "tree" and the "tree" represents the authority figure the person is afraid of. Well thats bull for me Im not intimidated by trees and trees don't represent any authority figures for me. I just happen to like big trees that I can lay under and look up through the branches and watching the sun through the leaves and how the breeze makes the leaves look is so cool moving around.

I learn more about what is going on in my head just by picking up a marker and putting dots on the page and then connecting them at random and then coloring in the shapes that I see on the paper. There is actually a psych test where you look at a picture and see what you see - its called roarshacks (spelled wrong) ink blots.

I hope the insurance comes through for you but if it doesn't you can always draw, paint and so on on your own. there is nothing that says you can't pick up a paint brush and just paint just because you want to what you are hearing and seeing and so on.

hang in there

[Monty_girl]

I don't go to an art therapy session so to speak. But My T and I use a lot of drawing in our sessions. He keeps paper and pencils and crayons things like that to use when ever we can't physically talk about a memory. Sometimes it's just easier to draw it out. We can talk about the drawings then or when we're able. If insurance won't cover an art therapy session, could you and your T do something long these lines??

Hi again jenifer -

I got to thinking that you may not realize that you already do art therapy so I just went back over your posts and found many examples by you that show you already do art therapy for yourself and how you benefit from doing art work -

Here's some of my artwork
My favorite painting
Another painting
Design
Some more of my artwork
Again, another painting
I know it's not a good painting
More Artwork
My Door

I only used some markers this time. I usually paint, but felt like doing something different. I just used black and silver markers.

I love painting reproductions, I learn so much from them.

Painting is something I enjoy doing and well it really helps me. Some say that it's a way I express myself, because I hardly ever do in words. I just thought I would share a piece of myself with all of you on here.

I don't know what I would have done if I didn't have art in my life

I am trying to work with some new stuff too and might do something new sometime. Well just thought I would show my creativity.

and you did these without having mental health insurance paying for you to do them.

and if I haven't said it yet love your art work.

[Jennifer1084]

Thanks, I do like art and I don't know what I would do without art either. Though I haven't done anything for awhile now. I am hoping to though sometime. I just like structure in my life, I guess that is why I thought art therapy would be a good thing. I already do art therapy in a group setting, but I thought I would benefit from one-on-one.

I did find out today that my insurance won't cover two therapists, so I guess I won't be able to do that. I was hoping I could though. But I guess it is not the end of the world. I really should do more painting and more art, it just seems like I have had no time lately. Maybe I could do what you suggested and take it into my T but, she doesn't really seem to say much about my art when I've taken it in before.

Well I'm gonna try to work something out, cause I could really use something else besides regular therapy.

Jennifer

Maybe your therapist hasn't said much about your artwork because she doen't know what you are looking for. Sometimes commenting on a clients artwork can backfire for example when the one was trying to read more into my artwork then ther was.my artwork is straight forwards with no hidden meanings. It just is what it is.So most therapists now don't do much on commenting about the pictures and paintings and so on they aim more at asking the client a question so that the client explains what the picture means or is to them the client. that way the therapist isn't reading more into it that isn't there leading the client to a conclusion about their artwork that isn't there.

For example You know how I have the house project going. That project is considered art therapy - its something that I made to express myself and what was going on with me and having a nightmare.

after I put what I could remember of my nightmare into the house I took pictures of it. Some pictures was the nightmare in full light so that my therapist could see what all the objects were in my nightmare and so on. then I took a blanket and a lamp. I set the lamp up so that the lighting within the nightmare depicted the same light and shadows that I saw in my nightmare I put the blanket over me and the front of the house room where my nightmare was located so that the only sourse of light was coming from inside the house(lamp). Then I took pictures of that.

I dropped the pictures off at LL's office and then when I saw her she said - These are great. Thats the only comment she made as to what she personally thought of my pictures so that she was not influencing me. Then she asked me a couple questions about the picture and nightmare like which bed was mine, did the shadow come to my bed, why the erect penis, how did I know while laying in bed and the shadow was clothed at the doorway that he had an erect penis? Questions like that, that would not lead me to her point of view of whither or not she liked the pictures or felt I should do it differently and so on.

A good therapiust doesn't make alot of comments about their clients picttures but asks the client to come to their own conclusions of if they like their artwork and what it means to them.

What you could do is when you plan to take pictures in write down what you want to get out of taking t hat picture in. For example before LL and I started talking about my nightmare and the pictures she said - "you are determined to remember aren't you?" she said this because I had told her what the purpose of this project was for - my remembering. If LL hadn't had that piece of information from me she probably would not have asked me questions about the pictures. she has a manila envelop of drawings and so on that are in her office but because I don't know where I want to go with them yet she isn't doing anything with them with me yet.

Therapists only go on what the client brings into t he sessions and if you don't tell her what you want to accomplish with what you bring in she has no way of knowing what she should be saying about them or doing about them with you.

Its kind of like having a co corker walk up to you and dropping some work in your lap and walking away without telling you what she needs you to do with that work she just handed you. The only way you will know what you need to do with that work is if the person who gave it to you says this is what I want to accomplish with this can you help me?

so pick out some artwork and decide what you want to accomplish with that and then take it in to the therapist and say I painted this and I want to..... with it.

Knowing what you want your therapist will be better able to guide you to your goal surrounding that.

Hang in there

[Perna]

"Nonverbal treatment methods such as art and play therapy have also been proven useful in treating DID. Art therapy seems to be a freer expression of thoughts and feelings than verbal methods. The right side of the brain is more involved with creativity and the imagination; whereas, the left side is more concerned with language. Stimulating the right hemisphere might bring up "sensorimotor and iconic" memories more readily than if the person needed to filter input through the left hemisphere"

From: http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/neur...2/Kaplan2.html

[Jennifer1084]

Thank you both for the information again. I am going to try to work on some art projects and stuff on my own I guess if the other thing does not work out. LIke I said I work better with structure and knowing what I'm supposed to do. But I guess one thing I could do is just either ask my T about some projects to do or find a book that has different examples of projects. Does this sound stupid?

Jennifer

[Perna]

No, doesn't sound stupid at all; here's someone's site who did just that and wrote a book about how to do it:

http://www.multiple-personality.com/

No it doesn't sound stupid Jenifer. Everyone needs to be pointed in the right direction from time to time. One of the reasons I took the pictures of my house/nightmare project is that I didn't know where to go with the house part of this project next by taking the pictures in LL was able to see what I see in the nightmare and what I have done so far in the scale model house so she was able to ask me some questions and when I couldnt answer the questions I knew what I had to look for next when I have this nightmare and in my doing my relaxation stuff so that I could put the answers to her questions into the project somehow.

If you know what you want to accomplish your therapist regardless of if the therapist is an art class instructor will be able to help you.

there is a great book for artwork that I have done I think its called - managing ptsd through art or something like that. it is listed in my resource thread that is pinned to the top just after you click on dissociative disorders to get to the threads. its put out by SIDRAN. SKR and I had a great time doing that book and I branched off adding my own creative twists to the projects.