Creative Counselling

I have had a number of people ask about the role of creativity in the counselling room. In my introductory sessions I mention that sometimes I may offer a creative exercise which may help the client. A typical response is ‘but I can’t draw’ or even a look of fear at what a creative exercise is. So what do I mean exactly? It is not an assessment of drawing skills (although this client response in itself can be a useful starting point of reflection to the client), nor is it a scary activity. Anything we do in the room is always with discussion and consent. Sometimes it is helpful to explore things from a different perspective. Sometimes our left brain and our reliance on language, order and systems can benefit from a break and we can open up our right brain, and see what this part of us wishes to express. Sometimes it is can be helpful to draw or create what is difficult to put into words, or to explore others parts of our self through other textures and other mediums. Stones are useful for this - can we choose one that represents us? What was it about that stone that attracted us? What repelled us? What is similar to us? What is different? What is it like to see ourselves outside of our body? It may just be, in the words of Carl Jung, that ‘often the hands will solve a mystery that the intellect has struggled with in vain’.