Do You Have To An Artist To Benefit from This Workshop?
No!  This comes up all of the time when we run workshops.  Usually we hear things like “I haven’t done artwork since I was 10” or “I don’t have a creative bone in my body!”  This have nothing do to with your artistic skill.  Even the simplest drawing has a wealth of useful information for you to mine.  

The Art Always Turns Out Differently Than We Intended!
Ironically, the people who are the most surprised by the meaning in their artwork are artists and art therapists.  Although they supposedly have more control over the art media, art rarely goes exactly as planned–even for them!  That’s where the meaning can be the richest.  Regardless of skill, what we end up with versus what we initially intended is a story in and of itself.

Skilled Artist or Amateur:  The Unconscious Mind Doesn’t Care!
What we are saying is that the unconscious has a way of communicating things that even the most skilled artist doesn’t consciously realize.  It reminds us of a silly TV commercial for a Shingles Vaccine.  In the ad, a healthy older woman says, “I work out three times a week and watch my diet” to which a faceless voice emphatically responds “Shingles doesn’t care!” We substitute that with “I’m a highly skilled artist” or “I’m an art therapist” and the response is, “The Unconscious Mind doesn’t care!”

How Do You Read Artwork to Understand What It Is Communicating?
We look at the visual properties of artwork–color, line quality, intensity, value, use of the space, proportion, direction, perspective, etc. and how these elements can serve as a metaphor for the artist(s) and what they are experiencing.  What Jung used to call “A message from the self to the self.”

How Is This Different from Art Therapy? (*)
We will be explaining what art therapy is, but we will not be doing art therapy or teaching people how to be art therapists.  Things that belong in therapy may come up (as they do when we run workshops).  We usually have people take note of those things and then pursue exploring them in journaling or therapy, but the focus will be on the visual aspects of the art.

* Again please note that this is not a professional training and does not qualify in any way as credit toward art therapy certification and/or competency.

Why Do You Do This In a Group Format?
One of the advantages of doing this in a group is that we get to see our artwork in contrast to others’ imagery.  Usually a small number of people will volunteer to show their artwork and even if you are not showing yours, you can see how it is similar or contrasts to other peoples’ work.  You get an instant comprehension that no amount of explaining can give–“a picture tells a thousand words.”