What is Guided Drawing?

Guided Drawing is a bilateral approach to body mapping. The guidance refers to inner guidance, not to instructions from a therapist. Sensorimotor has emerged as a term to describe body focused psychotherapies that use a bottom-up approach. Sensorimotor Art Therapy encourages the awareness of implicit body sensations in the muscles, the viscera, the heart rate, and the breath. It also encourages to explore emotions as body sensations, rather than through the story attached to them.

The drawing process is not necessarily concerned with image-making but supports the awareness of body memories. While these memories are always biographical, the therapy itself is not symptom oriented. Not the specific problem or crisis becomes the focal point, but the option to new answers and solutions as they are embedded in the body's felt sense…

Art Therapy Conference for the United Arab Emirates

The Institute for Sensorimotor Art Therapy was recently invited to participate in the inaugural Art Therapy Conference for the United Arab Emirates (UAE), held in Abu Dhabi over October 17-18, 2023. Our highly experienced Institute faculty members Clare Jerdan and Chris Storm attended the conference, held workshops and presented to the delegates.

Touch. The Most Fundamental of Human Experiences with Cornelia Elbrecht

For the last several years Guy Macpherson has dedicated himself to the study of trauma, post-traumatic growth, and most recently, the intersection of trauma and psychosis - specifically assessing and treating signs of early psychosis. He holds a Doctorate in clinical psychology and with The Trauma Therapist Project brings together resources for clinicians and therapist of all kinds who are starting out on their trauma-informed journey.

In this interview Cornelia Elbrecht and Guy Macpherson discuss the hands-brain connection and how at the Clay Field we are able to treat early developmental trauma through an inter-relational touch experience.

Phenomenology as Curiosity in the Clay Field

The Philosopher Husserl (1931) formulated phenomenology as a theoretical construct. His interest was to learn what the direct experience of the person is and what meaning they attach to their experience. Husserl recognised that reality is always played out in the present tense, not the past and not the future. That if access is gained to sensory input of a person’s original experience in the here and now, then we would be able to view that person’s subjective reality. By substituting ‘how’ and ‘what’ questions instead of ‘why’ questions he posited that we could avoid interpretation and explanation; rather to be open and aware of the given data and see the client as he is and ‘what is happening right now?’

The study of phenomenology has evolved from the theoretical construct of Husserl (1931) with more ongoing developments in both physical sciences and social sciences (Van De Reit, 2001). The phenomenology of today is a sensory based moment to moment process that is uniquely my own as I interact with and I am impacted by the wider field in the here and now. At the Clay Field this plays out in every session. This interest, curiosity and tracking of my client’s experience in the Clay Field in the here and now supports to deepen the awareness and experience of their reality. There are moments when as a therapist I silently retract, giving minimal encouragement to the client’s action patterns in the clay and as they explore the field...

Creative Healing Strategies for Victims of Natural Disasters

When the earthquake shook an area the size of Portugal in southeast Turkey and northern Syria, at least 56 thousand people died, 126 000 suffered non-fatal injuries and at least 2.6 million people were displaced. I was asked by the Psychology Department of Ibn Haldun University in Istanbul to speak about trauma-informed strategies to support large groups affected by a natural disaster. An event such as this earthquake is overwhelming for all involved, even the news were overwhelming to watch. And while the world by now has turned elsewhere, the aftershocks for those millions directly affected will last for years, if not a lifetime…

Recently I stumbled on a collection of studies by Dr Jess Bone, a Research Fellow in Statistics/Epidemiology in the Department of Behavioural Science and Health (UCL) and a member of the World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre on Arts and Health. Bone has conducted extensive research with colleagues on the arts and well-being.

These studies include all the arts and not necessarily arts as therapy…

Stabilization, Pendulation and Titration

In a recent group discussion, the question arose about the difference between stabilization and pendulation. The term stabilization in the context of trauma therapy was coined by psychiatrist Pierre Janet (1859 – 1947), a pioneer, who profoundly influenced the work of Freud, Jung and Adler. His approach to treating traumatized clients was a three-stage model that is still relevant today…

Recently I stumbled on a collection of studies by Dr Jess Bone, a Research Fellow in Statistics/Epidemiology in the Department of Behavioural Science and Health (UCL) and a member of the World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre on Arts and Health. Bone has conducted extensive research with colleagues on the arts and well-being.

These studies include all the arts and not necessarily arts as therapy…

The Arts and Happiness

While I was still an Ugly Duckling, secretly reading novels by torchlight underneath my bedcovers, I discovered a world of likeminded Swans, where my spirit belonged. My wild emotions resonated with the music I listened to throughout my teens. I know I am preaching to the converted with this blog, however research always adds another level of credibility to something we seem to know but have no evidence for.

Recently I stumbled on a collection of studies by Dr Jess Bone, a Research Fellow in Statistics/Epidemiology in the Department of Behavioural Science and Health (UCL) and a member of the World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre on Arts and Health. Bone has conducted extensive research with colleagues on the arts and well-being.

These studies include all the arts and not necessarily arts as therapy…

The Treatment of ASD and ADHD with Sensorimotor Art Therapy

Many times I read the mental health records of children and teens and shudder at the long list of ASD and ADHD related diagnoses, while I wonder how much these young clients’ learning and behavioural difficulties are in fact caused by developmental trauma. For young children, threat is not about what is actually dangerous, but about what their brain perceives as such. This can happen from real threats or perceived threats – the brain will respond the same way to both…

Pendulation as a Core Trauma Healing Model

The term Pendulation was coined by Peter Levine (Levine 2010), describing a process of oscillating between two vortexes, a trauma vortex, and a healing vortex, to titrate the recall of stressful events. Pendulating between fearful and hopeful or joyful memories makes the trauma therapy process manageable, rather than re-traumatising. Levine’s insight into Pendulation has informed my approach to trauma therapy fundamentally. Thousands of therapists and clients have benefitted from this approach…

Healing my Broken Wrist with Guided Drawing

I have created my way through many a crisis in my life. Art Therapy has always been my go-to. Recently I broke my wrist quite badly, it required surgery. I now have permanent hardware in it, and it has taken some getting used to.

As soon as I was able to bear any movement, I started practicing Guided Drawing.

Bilateral Drawing with Closed Eyes

One of the features of Guided Drawing is that clients draw with their eyes closed. This is a concept foreign to the visual arts, where seeing is traditionally of core significance. It is also the one question inevitably raised in every Guided Drawing training: “Do all clients have to close their eyes when they engage in Guided Drawing?” The answer is: “of course not.” The closed eyes are a tool. Just like crayons and finger paints offer different haptic experiences, the closed or open eyes offer a different focus. The client either looks inside or outside. Is the client’s need for implicit connection with the body or explicit orientation in the world? Is the therapeutic goal nervous system regulation through self-perception or through a relational encounter?

Healing boundaries: a teenager's experience of art therapy integrated with Somatic Experiencing

“Initially I thought the art therapy sessions were useless. I really didn't want to go. Then after a year I began making great strides. I started to open up more to others, to be more emotional, to express my ideas. I began to see my life in colour, instead of just grey. I am more controlled now.” (Federico Gentile)

This paper is based on an interview with 13-year-old Federico Gentile (pseudonym). He has had weekly individual art therapy sessions for two years. Art therapy began fifteen months after he began living with his adoptive parents.

Trauma can be defined as the rupture of a boundary on many different levels (physio-logical, psychological, social). A common thread throughout the sessions was the testing and re-pairing of boundaries. The therapist herself found it necessary to break two boundaries: giving the user a gift and integrating Somatic Experiencing (SE) techniques from outside our field…

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