Draw on Your Emotions

Product Information

We are excited to announce the release of Draw Your Emotions. Draw Your Emotions is a brand new workbook designed to help young people identify their feelings. A fundamental part of emotional regulation is being able to recognize, name and understand the emotions going on inside of us. By witnessing the art, the therapist gives the client the experience of validation and acceptance of their feelings.

At the end of the exercise, we look at all of the pictures together, exploring how they are similar or different and discussing how the clients is feeling today. I also often ask clients which feelings were easiest or hardest to do and how they felt while they were working on it. When I’ve done this in a group setting, there is the additional benefit of experiencing one’s emotions accepted and witnessed by the whole group. Group members are often able to relate to each other and enjoy discussing the common connections that they see. 6 image art sequence to help with expressing emotions Offering a broad range of exercises which can be adapted for any ability or age from middle childhood onwards, this unique book explores a range of emotions surrounding a person(1)s important life experiences, key memories, relationships, best times, worst times and who they are as a person. This is an essential resource for therapists, educators, counsellors and anyone who engages other people in conversations that matter about their relationship to self, others and life in general.Draw on Your Emotions is a bestselling resource to help people of all ages express, communicate and deal more effectively with their emotions through drawing. Built around five key themes, each section contains a simple picture exercise with clear objectives, instructions and suggestions for development. The picture activities have been carefully designed to help ease the process of both talking about feelings and exploring life choices, by trying out alternatives safely on paper. This will help to create clarity and new perspectives as a step towards positive action. Wayne is the founder and executive director of Hope 4 Hurting Kids. He is a happily married father of four kids with a passion for helping young people who are going through rough times. In addition to Hope 4 Hurting Kids, Wayne previously started I Am A Child of Divorce and Divorce Ministry 4 Kids to help kids who are dealing with the disruption of their parents' relationship. These are now part of Hope 4 Hurting Kids. Wayne speaks frequently at conferences and churches on issues related to helping kids learn to deal with difficult emotions and life in modern families.

Sometimes the emotions are expressed unexpectedly or naturally arise from a directive that is not directly about feelings. For example, in “playing” with watercolors through a sensory-based activity, the client might discover that emotions are coming up in themselves or through the art. Or a prompt for a client to create a collage about family is likely to lead to an exploration of feelings that are reflected in the chosen images. Wayne lives with his wife, three youngest kids, three dogs and an insane collection of his kids' other pets outside of Columbus, Ohio. In addition to his work with Hope 4 Hurting Kids, Wayne is a partner in a local consulting firm, an avid reader, coaches his son's soccer team and is a proud supporter of Leicester City Football Club (and yes, for those in know, his affinity for the club does predate the 2016 championship).The cards will not go out of date as I imagine they will illustrate life’s difficulties that are timeless. Carolyn Mehlomakulu, LMFT-S, ATR is an art therapist in Austin, Texas who works with children, teens, and families. For more information about individual therapy, teen and child counseling, family therapy, teen group therapy, and art therapy services, please visit: www.therapywithcarolyn.com. The main idea behind “draw your feelings” is to express a specific emotion, feeling or situation that you can’t normally express with words. Drawing it helps people later verbalize the reason behind it. The new suggestions will take the work with children from labelling feelings without a real connection to deeper meaning to an integration of feelings, imagination and language that deepen awareness and supports emotional development.

The second edition of Draw on Your Emotions contains a new section that explains how to get the most out of combining the activities in the book with these cards to encourage meaningful conversations and take steps towards positive action. Offering a broad range of exercises which can be adapted for any ability or age from middle childhood onwards, this unique book explores a range of emotions surrounding a person¹s important life experiences, key memories, relationships, best times, worst times and who they are as a person. This is an essential resource for therapists, educators, counsellors and anyone who engages other people in conversations that matter about their relationship to self, others and life in general. We have done this activity asking people to draw vehicles, animals, and objects. This activity is similar to the one word activity, but with drawings instead of words to express feelings.Using the art process to help clients express and explore their emotions is at the core of art therapy, but there are many different ways to do this.