More on Arts Based Research

I actually opened the latest edition of the Journal of Music Therapy (if you haven't read the post titled, "My Shameful Secret," catch up on my secret), and I've read most of it now. I haven't found much that really affects my day-to-day interactions with my clients, but I am thinking about self-care and personal processing in a different way.

I have always used arts and crafts to relax and unwind, but I haven't really used either in my processing of music therapy situations. I am learning a bit about how to look at my artistic expressions through a processor's eye.

For me, though, I think I want to keep most of my processes as self-care rather than as processing. I enjoy making things with my hands and do not want to make some things with an eye on viewing them within a clinical context. So, I am in search of another way to create that will allow me to express my feelings about my job without making my relaxation things work-related.

What can I do?

I always draw inside out mandalas, but I think I may try contained mandalas for my processing. Have you ever seen these? You start with a circle and then start to draw. You typically (so I've been told) start with an idea or concept that you are struggling with or that you are rejoicing about and then make something that reflects your feelings. You then verbally describe what you were thinking about when you were drawing. You also keep those as evidence of what was going on in your life in the moment. People who are practiced in the use of mandalas can see trends in the art of individuals. Maybe my art therapist friend will help me during our (just lately) infrequent peer supervision sessions to see trends in what I express.

There are many different ways to express oneself, and I hope that you find what is right for you. I'm going to try my own thing and see what happens. 

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