Hello!

Greetings from my first post on my new art therapy blog, right as we’ve officially entered the fall and Libra season! Up until now, I’ve treated my Instagram page (@wanderingphillycat) more or less as a blog, but today I’m upgrading to the real deal. My intention here is to share a bit more about my approach as an art therapist, and the overlap between my clinical work and personal interests as they relate to mental health, the creative arts, the environment, and spirituality, among other things. I hope some of my musings resonate with you. Please let me know if they do. (Or if they don’t!)

From Summer to Fall

As for right now, I’m always sad to see the summer pass with its long days and the sense of lightness and slowness that comes with it, but then I remember that the fall is a gift in its own right. We’ve just left Virgo season, a new academic year has begun, and I’m feeling electricity in the air up here in the Northern Hemisphere as the days become shorter and cooler. The transition can be tough or glorious depending on your associations with this time of year. (Are you glad that the summer heat is now dissipating? Did you love school? Hate it? Are you in school now? Do you follow football? Cheerleading? Marching band? Are you anxiously awaiting spooky season? Are you into pumpkin-flavored everything? What else comes up for you when you think of the start of fall?)

Ways to Reflect on the Seasonal Change

As an art therapist, I love a good “bridge drawing” as a way to reflect upon life transitions, be they a seasonal change, a career change, a relationship change, etc. The prompt for this art task goes something like this: Draw a bridge from someplace to someplace with a dot to show where you’d be on the bridge and an arrow to show which direction you’re going. Whatever you draw on either side of the bridge, above or below, is up to you and your imagination. You may also want to consider the weather, what the bridge is constructed from, and any barriers or helpers along the way. And then write a few words to describe your work to engage the verbal part of your brain. I like using 5-7-5 haikus myself (three lines of text with the first line having five syllables, the second line having seven, and the last line, five syllables) but like with all of these prompts, please use as much artistic license as you please!

And then reflect on what you came up with. Are you noticing any themes in your work? What color palette did you use? Did any emotions come up for you as you created and/or as you look back on your artwork now? Does your art surprise you in any way? Was it enjoyable to sit and create, or did it feel like homework? No wrong answers! And let me know how it goes.

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