Mendel Psychological Associates' blog » children

Frequently Asked Questions about Digital Art Therapy FOR TEENS

ginger — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 19:19:10 +0000

What is Digital Art Therapy?
Digital Art Therapy is a type of psychotherapy that encourages expression of emotions and changes in thinking through artistic activities such as creating photomontages, digital paintings, photographs, and videos with music. It is based on the evidence that the creative process involved in the making of art is healing and life-enhancing.

Can I use my own laptop?
Yes, I have a fast PC or Mac for you to use but if you are more comfortable with your own system and your own software, please bring it.

Can I use my own photos?
Yes! Bring your photos on your camera, DVD or flash drive. I love to see you use your own images. I also have plenty of stock photography if you don’t have anything of your own you want to use at first.

Can I listen to music while I make art?
Lots of people listen to music while making art. Some exercises require talking but most don’t. My only request is that I get to listen too. I have a multiplug iPod port so bring something good!

What software will I use? How good do I have to be ?
Only average computer skills are necessary. If you can use a mouse and a keyboard, you can do digital art therapy. There is software for all skill levels. We use the Adobe products but there’s also Art Rage, Painter and free products like GIMP and SketchUp. If you have a request, let me know ahead of time and I’ll see if I can get it.

Do I need to be an artist?
No art talent is needed. Most everyone interacts with digital photos, cameras and art to the degree we work with in digital art therapy. The goal is self-expression, not great art.

Do my parents hear what I talk about or see my art?
Your parents are allowed to see your art and be privy to our conversations however, I make a deal with them that they will let us have our privacy before we start except in extreme situations. I feel it’s important for artwork and conversations to be private.

Can I post my art on Facebook or DeviantArt?
It’s so important that the art be private that I expect the artwork to stay on the drives in my office and not be posted anywhere public. It’s tempting to create something you want to share only to have it commented on inappropriately by someone who doesn’t get it. For this reason, all digital artwork stays in your file and is private between you and me.

Use Your Imagination to Defeat Your Fears

Dr. Mendel — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 03:43:22 +0000

Over the years, I’ve worked with a lot of kids struggling with fears, phobias, and anxieties. Recently, I saw a nine year old boy who was having a lot of trouble getting to sleep because of night-time fears and bad dreams. This boy had one of the most vivid and creative imaginations I have ever come across. He uses his creativity to positive effect in lots of areas of his life, but when it came to sleep and night-time, the vivid images his mind came up with were so terrifying to him that he was unable to get to sleep. This situation was worsened and complicated by the fact that when he became scared, he went into his mother’s bed where he felt safe and was comforted to the point that he was able to sleep. Fortunately, his mother and father, who were recently divorced, were both fully on board in helping their son develop the skills and strategies he needed to be able to soothe himself to sleep.

My approach in working with this boy involved two main steps:

First, he needed to understand that the problem was “in his head.” That is, the things he feared and that were interfering with his sleep were not entities that he actually needed to be fearful of, but simply products of his vivid imagination. Fortunately, this boy knew this full well.
Second – and this is the key step – if imagination can cause the problem, imagination can cure the problem. I set this boy to work coming up with imaginary creatures that would be on his side and able to battle and defeat the monsters bringing him such distress. He created an intricate sequence of “blobs” able to outnumber and overwhelm the monsters of his bedtime.

The results were immediate: This boy and both parents reported that he was consistently sleeping in his own bed. Quickly, the frequency of his fears declined and he was able to dispel them rapidly when they did come on, with the help of his faithful “blobs.” To me, this approach was enormously gratifying for several reasons. The boy was able to defeat his imaginary monsters by himself rather than only through the presence of another person. This, I believe, will help him in many ways in his life, by strengthening his sense of competence and self-sufficiency. His belief that he was safe only in the presence of his mother, or of a protective adult, gave way to a view that he could be and feel safe even when he was by himself. Finally, rather than attempting to subdue or disparage his imagination – one of his great strengths – he was able to use his potent imagination and creativity to overcome this problem.

Balancing the Two Essential Aspects of Parenting

Dr. Mendel — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 15:50:49 +0000

I believe that there are two essential components of parenting:

providing warmth, comfort, nurturance and affection; and
providing structure, rules, discipline and a sense of responsibility and accountability.

The necessity of both components – and a reasonable balance between the two – is certainly not unique to post-divorce families; similar issues and similar complications arise in most families. I have seen intact families manage the issue in a variety of ways. In many families, one parent is the primary source of affection and comfort and the other provides most of the structure and discipline. I can’t tell you how many times a parent during an initial intake interview states that “I’m the disciplinarian in the family.” My personal preference is for each parent to participate extensively in both aspects of parenting. I think it is good for a child to see both mom and dad as sources of warmth and nurturance on the one hand and responsibility and accountability on the other. But I have seen many, many families in which a division of the roles works quite well.

I should emphasize that I view each of the two parental roles as absolutely essential and of equal importance. Neither should be viewed as secondary to the other.

Post-Divorce Families

The situation becomes far more complicated after a parental separation. Obviously, from this point forward, the child or children are with only one of their parents at a time. If a parent has heretofore functioned almost exclusively as a disciplinarian or primarily as a loving “buddy” to his or her child, he or she is likely to be ill-prepared to provide the other essential aspects of parenting. Functioning alone as a parent, he or she cannot rely on the other parent to provide the complementary duties.

Often, in post-divorce families, each parent views the other as inadequate in one or the other area of parenting. This may stem from the earlier patterns during their marriage in which each parent emphasized either discipline & structure or warmth and affection. During the marriage, the child could still be provided with all the necessary components of good parenting. After the divorce, he or she alternates, getting more comfort from and play with one parent and more structure and sense of responsibility from the other.

While this is likely to be confusing and distressing to the child, unfortunately the situation often worsens as time goes on. I have found that a sort of “dance” goes on between the parents, with each trying to balance out perceived deficits on the part of the other parent. For example, a mother who has traditionally provided the bulk of the rules and discipline may see the father as impossibly lax, as a “good-time parent,” a “buddy” to their child incapable of providing adequate structure and discipline. As a result, she may escalate her own level of rules and discipline to ensure that their child is learning appropriate lessons. The father, meanwhile, may see the mother as cold and “no fun,” ridiculously extreme in her rules and overly strict in their enforcement. He responds by becoming even more lenient, focusing almost exclusively on providing fun and entertainment to their child. The parents become increasingly polarized, so that one household turns into a place of strict rules and rigidity in their application, while the other becomes a playhouse, in which appropriate bedtimes and regularity in schedule is sacrificed in favor of constant fun and entertainment.

The main message is for each parent to strive for balance in his or her household. Each parent needs to remind him- or herself that both structure & discipline and warmth and affection are absolutely essential.

Neither is more important than the other. If you are a divorced parent, take an honest look at your ability to provide both aspects of parenting. Are you better at one than the other? If so, work on strengthening the area of relative weakness. You will feel better as a parent and, most importantly, your child will benefit enormously from receiving the full range of appropriate parenting from you.