Type of study :Art therapy applied to an adolescent with Asperger's Syndrome
What is Asperger's Syndrome:
Neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by impairments in social interaction, restricted, repetive and stereotyped patterns of behavior, interests, and activities. Adolescents with this syndrome have developed a compromised self-regulatory system, which leads to difficulty in many ares of functioning - include social, behavioral, emotional and an increase in anxiety.

The goal of art therapy:
Clients to become more autonomous, spontaneous, and confident. Employing active expathic listerning in a safe space, the client feels fully heard and deeply understood and in the case of art therapy, active listening also includes active "seeing." Art expression creates a tangible outcome that taps into personal strengths and resources that can then be incorporated into positive, successful life changes.

Therapy period : 7 months

Case example: (Emma) An adolescent with Asperger's syndrome.

Aim: to address case subject's difficulties with social interaction and integration appropriate for her developmental age. Subject has difficulties in negotating the environment usually become apparent with Asperger's syndrome later than other pervasive developmental disorder (PDD) happens is not until a child reaches adolescence. The 1st sign of difficulty may show up within the secondary school setting, when peer interaction becomes integral to normal development. The adolescent does not receive the proper support, causing further delays in addressing the issues impeding normal development and academic achievement. In this case example of Emma presents an illustration of an adolescent who was initially misdiagnosed as to have social phobia.

Description of presenting problem:
Emma entered into therapy due to difficulty in school and socialization within her peer group. She was experiencing extreme anxiety, having difficulty tolerating the class room environment and engaging socially, and avoiding eye contact. When her stress level increased, she would ritualistically tug at her hair and clothes, many times creating holes in her shirts.
She was 1st diagnosis of Social Phobia - prescribed Lexpro, a serotonin reutake inhibitor for depression and anxiety, to help stabilize her mood and despite of that she still continued to be anxious and has the side effect of flattened affect.

At the beginning of the therapy:
. avoid eye contact
. sat in the corner of the couch
. wring her handsidiosnyncratic speech
. do not know how to begin
. bangs in a repetitive pattern
. suck on the sleeve of her shirt
. need to redirected and refocused

Over 7 month period of therapy using creating art, she became increasingly more communicative and comfortable in social interactions.
9 projects - 4 collages, 1 template design, conversation in crayon, coffee filter designs, mirror on tile and masks.

Project 1 - Magazine collage
Collage is a great approach for allowing adolescents with AS to be expressive without the anxiety that drawing and painting may trigger.
Materials: Different types of magazines
Directive: Using cut or torn out pictures from the magazines, create a collage that represents who Emma is. After finishing - she was asked to write adjectives that she would use to describe herself.
Procedure: Cutting, pasting a number of pictures. Written adjectived that she describe herself "carefree, loveable, unique, nice and spunky" very smalland tenatively throughout the collage.
Outcome: Gave a good indication of Emma's world. Included pictures - a garden, animals, a car, money, a camera and an anatomical heart with space still available between most of the picture, but she did not include many human figures and she make great effort not to have most pictures not ove3rlapping or even touching.
The written adjectives indicated that she does not see herself as being connected to social situations, but prefer situations where social interaction is not required, however looking at the adjectived she added did express a desire for connection, leaving her to feel isolated.


Project 2i - Geometric templates designing.
Materials: a variety of geometrical shaped templates, crayons, markers and colored pencils.
Directive: Create a picture using the templates provided as a guide.
Procedure: Used colored pencils, engaged with great intensity applying extremely heavy line pressure, traced and colored in the shapes, causing several pencil tips to break. As she was becoming more comfortable, she started to integrate and move her design to the center
Outcome: Indicated an interest in becoming a part of the whole.

Project 2ii - Conversation in crayon
Materials: Crayon
Directive: using crayon and converses, not with words but by taking turns drawing on a piece of paper.
Procedure: drawn once again remained in the corner, resisting moving toward the middle of the page, at one time therapist eventually moved closer and crossed ber line, Emma responded by moving closer but then retreated back to the corner of the paper.
Outcome: Apparently she remained very controlled, resistant to integrating her design - acknowledge she stays isolated, expressed that she had a strong desire to be socially involved, but felt exrtremely awkward when faced with most interpersonal interactions.

Project 3 - Soft material collage
Material: Cloth, ribbons, string, decorative trim, 11' x 14' white paper, scissors, glue, clitter glue, and puff paint.
Directive: Have fun with the materials supplied
Procedure: She chose a selection of items and glued them on white paper, stated to use the glitter glue, enjoyed making dots in almost a ritualistic manner throughout the artwork. Used her finger to spread the glue aroung - appered ritualistic but to her soothing. Utilized the entire page to create a composition, however she continued to keep a large amout of white space. Enjoyed the glitter glue, relaxing to make the repetitive dots.
Outcome: Spreading the glue around - soothing. Glitter glue - relaxing.

Project 4 - Coffee filter designs - to focus on integration.
Material: Coffee tilters, watercolor.
Directive: create a free flowing visual design
Procedure: At first she had a hard time allowing the colors to run on the wet filter. But began to paint a controlled circle on a dry filter. Given colour markers to create a design using the markers on the coffee filter, which would then be dipped in water.Got excited when designs were dipped in water and the colour stated to run.
Outcome: became mesmerized, enjoying the sensation of the repetitive circular motion. Activity acted as the catalyst to their conversation, focusing on allowing things to come together and being part of the situations. She likes being included and part of social situations, but sometimes she gets uncomfortable not knowing how to react when everyone is talking. At this point, therapist suggested a role-play activitiy focused on how to interact in conversation and respond to what other's say.

Project 5&6 - Mirror and tile design
Material: tile, a variety of mirrors, art supplies
Directive: Design the rtile anyway you want, but you need to include at least one of the mirrors in you design.
Procedure: Firstly - glued the mirror onto the tile, only worked on the side of the tile, resisted moving to the top where the mirror was mounted. Engaged with glitter glue by using her finger in a tactilely soothing manner, then added a row of plastic beads, then surrounded by glitter glue.
Later - moved slowly to the top of the tile, adding plastic beads, ribbon moving up toward the mirror, allowing herself to see her reflection.
Finally - finished off her design with a ribbon surrounding the mirror.
Outcome: Able to integrate the mirror, commented can see herself working, this project also pointed out to Emma that facial expressions are very imprtant in order to engage socially.

Project 7: Expression collage
Material: Magazines
Directive: List different expressions and then find pictures that represent each of those expressions.
Procedure: Written list included, annoyed, surprised, mad, upset, confused, deep in thought, excited and happy.
Outcome: Therapist asked the following - when might someone make that expression, give an example of a time you observed someone using that expression, have you every used that expression? but Emma quickly came up with - when and why someone might make a certain facial expression. She still cannot fully relate to her own experiences, therefore comes the next project.

Project 8i: Pulp masks
Material: White pulp mask, a variety of media, paint, flitter, clooth, ribbon, glitter glue, and glue.
Procedure: Used her fingers to mix the red and yellow paint, very similar to the tactile experience of glitter glue in earlier projects. Add red and used her fingers to blend it together. She started to add more pressure, and used black for the eyes, continued to use fingers and alternarted between layering paint and wiping it off. Eventually the pulp started to break down. At this point emma spoke about her frustration regarding her father's reaction to her leaving for school.
After finishing exdpredssing herself and a role-lay was completed, she stopped working and stated that she did not like the mask and wanted to start over.
Outcome: Through this project she spoke of
- excited and nervous of graduation from high school and going to college
- frustation regarding her father's reaction to her leaving for school
- her mother's supportive and ready to let go

Project 8ii: Pulp mask - new
Procedure: she started to paint a new mask bright green, stated that the green was more like her, there appeared to be a lighter person emerging. But the next session, Emma painted over the mask with a darker green. Stated that she was making "Elphie" from the play "Wicked" who has dark green skin. Added red eyes and chose letter beads to speal out "ELPHABA THROPP" which is the character's formal name.
Outcome : Like the character, she is sparkling on the inside, but perople do not understand her. Wheh she gets mad the spark is ignited and the fire comes out. She expressed that many times she feels misunderstood and that people just get upset with her. She said she was practicing her social skills, which helped to relieve her frustaration and anxiety.

Project 9 (Termination): Final magazine collage
Material: Magazine
Directive; Using cut or torn out pictures from magazines create a collage that represents who Emma is.
Procedure: Engaged, including pictures of mostly people laughing, thinking, enjlying life, pile of money, chopsticks, the beach, the word Capricorn, and her own hand drawn picture of Tinkerbell.
Outcome: When she finished she stated that she used picture of things she enjoyed. Explained that she added Tinkerbell because even though she is ready to grow up, she wants to continue to enjoy things young people like, video games and baseball. Using Peter Pan and Tinkerbell as representation of the relationship between Emma and her father. Able to tell her story through her interest and connection to both Peter Pan and Wicked.

To be continued - on Conclusion.

Michelangelo - 1475 - 1564

Born: 6 March 1475
Birthplace: Caprese, Italy
Died: 18 February 1564
Best Known As: Master sculptor of The David

Name at birth: Michelangelo Buonarroti

Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet. He served a brief apprenticeship with Domenico Ghirlandaio in Florence before beginning the first of several sculptures for Lorenzo de'Medici. After Lorenzo's death in 1492, he left for Bologna and then for Rome. There his Bacchus (1496 – 97) established his fame and led to a commission for the Pietà (now in St. Peter's Basilica), the masterpiece of his early years, in which he demonstrated his unique ability to extract two distinct figures from one marble block. His David (1501 – 04), commissioned for the cathedral of Florence, is still considered the prime example of the Renaissance ideal of perfect humanity. On the side, he produced several Madonnas for private patrons and his only universally accepted easel painting, The Holy Family (known as the Doni Tondo). Attracted to ambitious sculptural projects, which he did not always complete, he reluctantly agreed to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel (1508 – 12). The first scenes, depicting the story of Noah, are relatively stable and on a small scale, but his confidence grew as he proceeded, and the later scenes evince boldness and complexity. His figures for the tombs in Florence's Medici Chapel (1519 – 33), which he designed, are among his most accomplished creations. He devoted his last 30 years largely to the Last Judgment fresco in the Sistine Chapel, to writing poetry (he left more than 300 sonnets and madrigals), and to architecture. He was commissioned to complete St. Peter's Basilica, begun in 1506 and little advanced since 1514. Though it was not quite finished at Michelangelo's death, its exterior owes more to him than to any other architect. He is regarded today as among the most exalted of artists.(from Britannica.com)



Michelangelo famous masterpieces :-








Some of the quatoation from Michelangelo:

*A beautiful thing never gives so much pain as does failing to hear and see it.
*A man paints with his brains and not with his hands.
*Death and love are the two wings that bear the good man to heaven.
*Every beauty which is seen here by persons of perception resembles more than anything else that celestial source from which we all are come.
*Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it.

CPPD - Art and Image Making workshop 5 June (cont'd)

2nd half of the workshop after lunch.

One does not need to be an artist to engage in or benefit from art, which focus on our visual side of our brain that normally expresses our unconscious feelings through images instead of words.

In the 2nd half of this workshop, all participants were asked to do their own art piece, using the materials that are provided at the front of the class. Before starting the art piece, Alex asked them to allow their mind to float into creativity; they are to go towards the art materials to feels, smell, and touch and to connect to it before use it to do the exercise.

After we have finished our art master piece, we are to give a name for it. Then all of us broke into our own group. We are to tell out team mate what we have created. Our team mate then will ask questions, to clarify more, sometimes in doing that the person who own the art piece will be able to reflect deeper into his/her piece of art.

After we have finished our turn, then take their turns to step into our shoe and own our art to reflect more into it by using “If I owns this art, .......”.
It was fun though, as the person who stepped into my shoe, said something that I have not noticed. She said “If I own this art, I will put both ears into it.”

This is my masterpiece titled MYSELF - CELEBRATION
I have seen this activity done in Rama, where the children were given a paper plate and some materials to do her self-portrait. From that time on, I have always want to do mine and this chance was here.....



My reflection on - MYSELF - CELEBRATION
Curly hair (as I loved curly hair like in most fairytale stories where the princess have curly, long hair),
Thick eyebrow (my mum always told me look for a husband with thick eyebrow, why? because he has the ability to shoulder the responsibility of the family, is it same to female, I wonder)
Big rounded eyes (to see more things, be alerted, window to my soul)
Big pink mouth (to talk, but sometimes at some moment I got mute or stuck, I really wanted to talk more, but at that moment seems that no words coming out, why?)
A garden of flowers (I love flowers, sentimental I guess)
4 colourful ballons (when and where does ballons appears, during occassion of happiness, celebration, children, funfair - which I loved most but here I made it to represent 1 from BOLD, 1 from LION, 1 from family and 1 from my work)
Sprakling fireworks (small celebration?)

when I passed my masterpiece to one of my group mate, she said to me this.
I wonder where are the ears (it really make me realise, yeah where is the ears, why did I not include the ears, there must be a reason, if anyone read this can help me to intrepret, you are most welcome)

CPPD - Art and Image Making workshop 5 June

This a workshop that I have been looking forward to, maybe because I have seen a lot of art work and I really do not know how to decode them, especially those from the children that needs me to decode, so that I can sail towards the source.

Before the workshop, I always have the mentality that an artwork need to be very proper, very realistic, the colours should be right, good colour combinations and etc, but oh mine, how wrong was I. Even today the children sent to art studio for tuition, the centre will of course teach them of the mixture of colours, that is fine but what is not fine is that each of them will be given a drawn template to copy the drawing and colour – another ‘cut and paste’ learning procedure? That I know, because both my children gone through that, and when they come back and show me the drawing I will bit my lips and said “oh it is okay, oh it is nice” but to my mind then it is not okay, because the character was not drawn okay and the colour were bad combination.

Towards the end of the workshop, I remember that one participant asked Alex how can she teach her son since that her son motor skill is very poor, and the reply was a question "Do you need motor skill to do art?" Suggestion : hand painting, where you mess up both hand with colours the paste it on cloth or paper or sponge up colours and paste.

NOW, I know that art piece comes from within our heart, our unconscious, our feelings, our hurt, our sorrow, our celebration, our happiness, all from our inner self.

At the beginning, we broke into groups. Each group will have to choose a name, my group chosen the name Michelangelo. Besides knowing that he is a great artist painter, I really do not know his work.

What is Art Therapy - Wikipedia

Art therapy is a form of expressive therapy that uses art materials, such as paints, chalk and markers. Art therapy combines traditional psychotherapeutic theories and techniques with an understanding of the psychological aspects of the creative process, especially the affective properties of the different art materials.

Art therapists work with children, adolescents, and adults and provide services to individuals, couples, families, groups, and communities.

Using their skills in evaluation and psychotherapy, art therapists choose materials and interventions appropriate to their clients’ needs and design sessions to achieve therapeutic goals and objectives. They use the creative process to help their clients increase insight and judgment, cope better with stress, work through traumatic experiences, increase cognitive abilities, have better relationships with family and friends, and to just be able to enjoy the life-affirming pleasures of the creative experience.

Art therapists have generated many specific definitions of art therapy, but most of them fall into one of two general categories. The first involves a belief in the inherent healing power of the creative process of art making. This view embraces the idea that the process of making art is therapeutic; this process is sometimes referred to as art as therapy. Art making is seen as an opportunity to express one's self imaginatively, authentically, and spontaneously, an experience that, over time, can lead to personal fulfillment, emotional reparation, and recovery (Malchiodi, 2006).

The second definition of art therapy is based on the idea that art is a means of symbolic communication. This approach, often referred to as art psychotherapy, emphasizes the products—drawings, paintings, and other art expressions—as helpful in communicating issues, emotions, and conflicts. The art image becomes significant in enhancing verbal exchange between the person and the therapist and in achieving insight; resolving conflicts; solving problems; and formulating new perceptions that in turn lead to positive changes, growth, and healing. In reality, art as therapy and art psychotherapy are used together in varying degrees. In other words, art therapists feel that both the idea that art making can be a healing process and that art products communicate information relevant to therapy are important (Malchiodi, 2006).