Touching Grass & Letting Go

Walk / Find & Select / Outline in Sunlight / Reflect & Repeat

During a recent hour-long walk, I collected samples of eight different types of grasses along a roadside in Maryland. Some grasses were tall enough to brush the tips of my fingers as I walked, maintaining a rhythmic pace. Nature Informed therapists understand that even the most subtle somatic experience with the natural world, although seemingly insignificant, can restore calm to the human body. The impact on our mental health can be substantial.

Being outdoors or allowing fresh air into a secure place can also usher in calmness. Open a window, find a spot to sit outside, take a walk, or simply enjoy the daylight streaming through your window. Even the smallest moments of connection to nature contribute to wellness.

Walk / Find & Select / Outline in Sunlight / Reflect & Repeat
(a Nature Informed Art Therapy prompt to let go)

1. Take a Walk: Head outside to any area with plants, trees, or water (a city block, backyard, park, or roadside).

2. Look for Something: Anything found that resonates with you while walking on that day.
Bring the object home: if it does not disturb the landscape or cause harm, bring the object home with you.

2. Place the Object: Onto a clean white sheet of paper in direct sunlight, in any arrangement you wish.

3. Outline the Object with Its Shadow: Mark the day and this moment in time by outlining the silhouette of the object or plant with shadows. You may find you need to work quickly as the light shifts slowly.

4. Color the Outline: Once the outline is completed to your satisfaction, select any material you like to color or fill in the lines - graphite, pencil color, markers, watercolors, etc.

Untitled drawing by Renee Vanderstelt, graphite on bristol paper, thread, stones, 11 x 14"

Experience the harmonious dance of nature through drawing what you see.   

5. Notice Your Thoughts: While working (perhaps keep a journal of passing thoughts). Do any meanings or metaphors arise in your mind as you work quietly? If yes, jot them down, and allow the image to form with acceptance.

6. Reconsider Your Drawing: Consider going back to reconsider and work on the drawing in another sitting, perhaps redraw the object in another light. Notice and accept changes in your feelings and thoughts about the work. Notice how the light or object has changed.

7. Be Open to Changes: Be open to incorporating unexpected changes into the drawing. Simply notice and let them go – accept changes as they occur in the process without judgment.

8. Repeat the Process: When you feel the image is finished, and it resonates with you, take another walk and repeat the process.

“Do everything with a mind that lets go. 

If you let go a little, you will have a little peace; 

if you let go a lot, you will have a lot of peace; 

if you let go completely, you will have complete peace.”
   Ajahn Chah (With thanks to Rita Singer for sharing this quote.)

Renee Vanderstelt (she/her)
LGPAT, LGPC, MA/art history, MFA/drawing, MA/art therapy
Nature Informed Art Therapist, Artist, Educator

Chesapeake Mental Health Collaborative & Center for Nature Informed Therapy

Grow & Nurture / Nature-Informed Creativity

This April, I was entrusted to lead an art therapy group for the Center for Nature Informed Therapy’s live, 3-day, in-person nature informed training. Below are images from the experience, including guiding prompts designed for 23 participants. If interested in how nature informs mental health or in the integration of nature in your counseling or therapeutic practice, take a look at CNIT's website. https://www.natureinformedtherapy.com/training

Nature informed art therapy can directly engage the body and five senses through exploring a direct, non-verbal relationship with the natural world. Meaning lies in what a person selects from a landscape, how items are arranged, and how the memory of their body in space and time becomes a vital part of the therapeutic experience. The process of touching, taking apart, manipulating, and reassembling natural objects builds an experience of creative, present-moment awareness. 

Below is a framework provided (as seen on the white sheet in image above). 

1. When outside, in a park or a natural site of your choosing, look around, select & bring back...

    ● 4-5 natural items that interest or draw your attention in some way*

2. Choose a round-cut wooden panel

    ● 8” round panels: cut from scrap wood or order a 10 pack of 8” unfinished natural wooden 

       birch panels for DIY online @ $12.99

3. Explore the selected items…

    ● Take apart, experience the item

    ● Notice your responses / physical sensations, thought responses

    ● Are responses strong, subtle?

4. Arrange & glue - however you feel compelled to arrange

    ● Mindfulness: being present in the here & now, without judgment

    ● Relational: Become familiar with organic properties

    ● Accept / Reciprocity by becoming familiar through sensory knowledge

    ● Listen to sound while working

5. Hang as a visual calendar & reminder to look, select, & arrange natural objects in reciprocity.

6. Repeat seasonally: make a new arrangement or sand off the natural items made from a 

    previous day to find, arrange and glue new items.

*Natural items may be fresh and green as well as dried. Your arrangement will likely change as it continues to dry out after it is glued onto the board. Embrace and watch the changes as an ephemeral process. This is a welcome part of the nature-based art therapy experience. 

Finding Hope: Writing & drawing in NIAT*

Many people are experiencing climate grief with a deepening sense of hopelessness around climate change. In an effort to process this grief myself as a nature informed art therapist, I have been listening to The book of hope (2021, J. Goodall & D. Carlton Abrams). This book is beautifully read by both authors. Abrams asks probing questions and Goodall responds with well-informed, but steady and clear-eyed hope in the face of climate change. Jane Goodall shares years of wisdom working outside with wild chimpanzees among other animals as a naturalist. She also started Roots & Shoots, which is an organization that invites young people from around the world to bring wellness to animals, humans and the natural world. For her, hope is a matter of survival and it is critical for all living creatures.

The future we choose: Surviving the climate crisis (2021, C. Figueres & T. Rivett-Carnac) has been a compelling companion book to read alongside listening to Goodall and Abrams. Nature informed art therapists use art as a tool to see and identify fears. Art in therapy is also a tool for identifying unacknowledged grief/loss. Taking time in therapy to express one's own human response to climate change in addition to other issues that arise in the art making process is important while locating hope and strength to build stress tolerance and self-compassion.  This drawing was made with both books in mind. 

A quick, 60 min. watercolor by author in response to a need to grow new forms of active hope in the face of climate change.

In addition to making art, writing increases connection to the natural world, the self & others. 

This poem below was written while reading The future we choose: Surviving the climate crisis.

        Morning poem / January 23, '23

        In the quiet
        hear them breathing

        in the garden of intention.
        The rewilding of lungs entwining
        back into soils of regeneration.
        Humans pulse within nature, not apart.

        This breath ignited by stubborn
        optimism. An active hope to redesign
        a way out of extraction.

        Restore the nutrients still offered.
        In gratitude for another chance.
        Change picked up and inhaled.

        Indigenous values reignited. 

        Breath by deliberate breath.

Visual art and writing are often richly inter-woven to activate or enrich meaning in nature informed art therapy. What is a client reading and thinking about outside of therapy? Clients find their own visual and spoken forms of creative expressions of course. Some people find it helpful to ease into art making through writing. A doodle that is quickly scribbled after a sentence is helpful. Expanding a tentative doodle onto a larger sheet of paper or building that same idea with organic materials found outside is often helpful. The three steps from writing to image allow clients to step into visualizing their lives in rich ways. Through writing and art making, client's thoughts or feelings are often viewed for the first time outside of their minds and bodies. This process of seeing one's own experience apart from the self is tremendously helpful as a mirror into the self to embolden self-love, courage and hope-filled change. 

*Nature informed art therapy (NAIT)

Mandalas and naturally sourced materials

 

Nature mandala made by nature informed art therapy group using found & picked seasonal plants from wooded site.

Mandalas are used in many Eastern spiritual traditions as a form of meditation. Mandala means 'circle' in Sanskrit. Some consider the mandala a symbol of the universe. They are used as a form of stress relief by therapists today because clinical studies have shown that making a mandala can lower blood pressure, reduce stress and pain, promote sleep and ease depression. Art therapists sometimes ask clients to make their own mandala to express how they are feeling in the present moment as a check-in at the beginning of a session. When making a mandala inside, people often work from a template and are invited to use line, shape, form and color in any way they wish. 

A mandala made with natural materials found outdoors in a therapy session is present-centered activity that invites clients into a quiet absorption. When indoors, provide natural objects or cut plants on for selection and placement on a table or floor. Begin with found objects gathered from nature. Be mindful of whether it's alright to pick living plants at the site where the art therapy session occurs. Select what appeals to you from what's available. 

If unsure where to begin, start in the center. Or set the outer boundary first, then fill areas in any manner. 

Allow the natural mandala to spontaneously evolve in any way desired. 

When finished, invite clients to write in a journal or share thoughts about the process and experience. Often surprising discoveries, phrases, revelations and associations come to mind. Sometimes, it's helpful to give the mandala a title to end or close the mandala making session. 

Time spent making a mandala encourages direct connection to nature through haptic touch, feeling textures, seeing colors, measuring forms found and used as mandala materials. The mandala is an ephemeral land drawing: transient and changeable. These inherent qualities may also be something to reflect upon as it relates to life cycles, accepting change, and letting go. Nature informed art therapists hold an ethical responsibility to be well appraised of pre-established outdoor locations. The site itself must be secured with liability insurance and the client's written consent  before venturing outdoors. 

Watch for the next blog entry about the expressive therapies continuum and how natural materials might be integrated into this important art therapy theory (first developed by Kagin and Lusebrink in 1978).  

Genograms made with natural objects in art therapy

A genogram is a diagram illustrating a person's family members, including how they are related. Genograms often include the medical history as well. Making a genogram allows people to step back to consider their family with a bit of distance and without judgment: to broadly view inherited patterns of behavior as well as medical and mental health issues running through the family. Genograms are helpful in family and couples therapy.  A genogram is diagrammatic: it makes visible the complex map of a person's social context. 

Art therapists are trained to use genograms in creative ways with clients if it is thought to be helpful in therapy. They help therapists understand and find strengths (& challenges) in a person's community. The way a person arranges their family within their larger community says a lot about a person's life relationships that extend from learned family patterns of behavior.

Author's community genogram (fall, 2021). Items were collected outside and brought inside to arrange on floor. 

A pen & watercolor drawing was later created as a 'key' to locate/remember each community group in the author's life.

Above is an example of a community genogram made with natural materials. It is arranged as a tree with a sturdy trunk and roots. Each branched area of the tree represents people in the author's life. The family groups closest to the person were represented in the trunk. The core family was represented by the nuts within the red berry circle at the base of the trunk. The roots are represented in the leaves curling toward family members on each side. In a nature informed therapy session, a client is invited to select and assign meaning and metaphor to different natural objects. The placement of each social group is as important to notice as assigned object meanings and metaphors in a genogram. 

While a genogram might be made outside with found objects, this genogram was made indoors and the natural objects are placed on a tablecloth and wood floor. Nature informed art therapists must be flexible as they respond to each client's familiarity with the natural world. If a client is not interested to work outside, ask if there is an interest to work with natural objects inside. If this seems of interest for a client, the natural objects may be made available for a client to select, arrange and combine for their personal genogram. Any natural object must be considered as safe in therapy. This means a natural informed art therapist is knowledgeable about the natural objects used, and materials are also sustainably sourced from permissible areas outside. 

Natural objects used in art therapy have textures, colors, shapes, and scents that inform the choices a client makes when forming the genogram. This can richly contribute meanings arising from the selection and placement processes and enriches later discussions. When working on the floor or outside, the genogram might be built in an intimate way, or it may become large-scale. If working on a tablecloth (as seen), it can be easily folded up and moved back outside as a session ends. Talking about how human's change and shape the natural world as a part of the living web of life forms and reciprocity might also be a discussion in therapy. A client's genogram becomes a helpful reference to deepen understanding toward one's identity in relation to family and community concerns.

What is art therapy?

It is an integrative mental health and human services profession that enriches lives through a combination of active art-making, creative process, applied psychological theory, and human experience within a psychotherapeutic relationship. Art therapy occurs with individuals and in groups. 

Image: a group participant makes a watercolor while sitting in a camp chair beneath trees in the spring.

Art therapists in Maryland are licensed as distinct mental health professionals by the Maryland Board of Professional Counselors and Therapists, which issues Licensed Clinical Art Therapist (LCPAT) and Licensed Graduate Art Therapist (LGPAT) credentials.

To become a licensed art therapist, a person must earn a masters degree which includes thesis research. This writer attended Notre Dame of Maryland University’s accredited master’s program, which required 1,000 hours of clinical instruction and a thesis project integrating research and field experiences. After a masters degree is earned, a person must pass state and national exams for certification. Once licensed, an art therapist begins work as an LGPAT to complete 2,000 hours of clinical work with weekly supervision from a licensed art therapy supervisor. Art therapy training has parity with LGPC/LCPCs in Maryland.

Poem, art therapy prompt, and drawing

Sometimes, it is helpful to offer & share a brief reading at the beginning of a nature informed art therapy session. Joy Harjo is an internationally recognized poet and performer from the Muscogee (Creek) nation. 

The Eagle

by Joy Harjo.

To pray you open your whole self
To sky to earth to sun to moon
To one whole voice that is you.
And know there is more
That you can’t see, can’t hear;
Can’t know except in moments
Steadily growing, and in languages
That aren’t always sound but other
Circles of motion.
Like eagle that Sunday morning
Over Salt River. Circled in blue sky
In wind, swept our hearts clean
With sacred wings.
We see you, see ourselves and know
That we must take the utmost care
And kindness in all things.
Breathe in, knowing we are made of
All this, and breathe, knowing
We are truly blessed because we
Were born, and die soon within a
True circle of motion,
Like eagle rounding out the morning
Inside us.
We pray that it will be done
In beauty.

In beauty.

Poem from: https://www.joyharjo.com/

     Or listen and watch J.H. reading her poem in this short video:
     https://www.worldwildlife.org/stories/eagle-poem

Harjo's poem promotes self-connection through observing nature: the poem aligns with nature informed art therapy. Nature brings an awareness of extending one's identity to other life forms, including non-verbal experiences. The watercolor seen above was made after reading this poem. While this drawing might look like a scribble, it includes five bird flight patterns arranged across the page and randomly colored. Art therapists often complete new prompts themselves before working with a client: this helps the art therapist to be sensitively informed. 

The art therapy prompt is,"after reading this poem, select a line or idea that stands out for you. Using the art and natural materials provided, respond in your own way, and without judgment." Clients are usually offered opportunities to share their visual responses before a session ends. Some clients talk openly about what they've made; however, simply making any response is also welcome.  

Art therapists are professionally trained to understand mental health diagnosis within stages of human development. They are professionally licensed (like LCPCs) to work in both talk and art therapy. Nature informed art therapists specialize in supporting non-verbal forms of response through creative art processes that integrate the natural world in many ways. Careful planning with clearly stated goals are always a part of each session. An alliance of safety, trust, respect, and confidentiality is upheld as stated in ethical codes of conduct outlined by the American Art Therapy Association (AATA). 

Oak and grass sundial: Reciprocity in nature

The image in this post was made with oak leaves and grass: it points to the North, South, East, and West, marking time through shadow (the picture was taken around 4-5pm in early November). This environmental artwork was made when attending a three-day certificate program with the Center for Nature Informed Therapy (CNIT/Towson, MD). The certificate program provides a clear theoretical perspective with emerging science-based research around benefits of nature informed therapy. The program is culturally sensitive to a wide range of views of nature, and provides practical resources and training for preliminary client assessment with insurance-related issues for outdoor therapy. CNIT's goal is to train as many therapists as possible to be nature informed.

As an art therapist, I am excited to deepen a nature-informed practice of care because connection with a wider range of life forms supports somatic (direct body) connections with our evolved senses in present moments. Reciprocity and connection to the natural living world (either indoors or outside) promotes calm and reflection. The generative space that nature informed therapy opens up allows for more places of personal meaning & growth.

Nature informed therapy: An emerging field

Ecological art therapy is an emerging field that uses natural objects as well as outdoor spaces to encourage healing with enriched connection with the natural world. When outside, the senses are naturally awakened for present moment awareness. Meaning making shifts as objects such as leaves and sticks are selected, held, arranged and placed with specific prompts and questions in mind. As an emerging art therapist, this way of working outside allows for an expanded field of art therapy with nature as supportive co-therapist.