Does Visual Learning Helps Manage Anger?

Helping children who have anger issues through art

Pursuing clinical psychology and using art as a medium to heal wasn’t planned at all. It all started when we were designated J. J hospital for our internship. Our teachers had asked us to complete the case file for our first semester. “You’ll need eleven cases to complete the case file” ,Head of Department (H.O.D) said. Eleven cases in three months sounded undemanding for the entire class. Unaware that it was the most laborious task, we all were excited to begin our new journey outside college. The mere thought of wearing the white coat and working in hospitals gave us immense amount of happiness. Our expedition into the clinical setting was going to start next week. The day came and as we entered the department of Psychiatry, the place seemed unusually quiet for what I had pictured in my head. Our H.O.D introduced himself and explained our roles, ethics and the importance of confidentiality. He instructed us to start working immediately, we had a number of clients waiting for us of all age groups.

I was naturally inclined towards working with kids since I felt building rapport with them and the healing process was swifter as compared to adults. As soon as everyone started working, I saw this little boy whining to his mother about how tired he was of waiting. I approached them and immediately introduced myself. In order to keep the confidentiality intact, I will refer to my client as Arjun. Arjun saw me and hid behind his mother. He seemed very shy and timid at first. I remember his first impression rather vividly because he was nothing like it towards our last session.

I spoke to his mother to have a deeper understanding of the reason they were here. His mother began by giving me a brief description of herself and a rather detailed one for her husband. Her husband was a chronic alcoholic since the past 4 years. It started off with social drinking and escalated to a number of pegs from day to night. Arjun had a younger sister who was only 3 years old. His father was emotionally abusive with everyone, especially Arjun. He would abuse him for not bringing ice when he sat down to drink whiskey. Post drinking, he didn’t want to talk to anyone. And if anyone came to call him for dinner, they would bear the brunt of his anger. Arjun wasn’t old enough to fully comprehend the spectrum of alcoholism. He learnt that no matter what he said or did, his father’s sober moments would unravel in front of his eyes and he’d lose him to the bottle again. And when he was sloshed, as he always would be, he was nasty. The anger and bitterness that consumed him spat out at everyone. Arjun despised his father. He grew up plagued with self-doubt which led to crippling low self-esteem. He naturally became aggressive from witnessing the actions and words of his father. He would beat up his classmates and abuse his mother which strained their relation. While narrating this story, his mother got teary eyed.

I reassured her that everything would be fine and therapy will be helpful. When I looked at Arjun, he seemed to me, just like any other 9-year-old that was highly bored to be at the hospital. By now, I guess, he had mastered the art of plastering his feelings. I asked his mother to wait and asked him to accompany me to this tiny room I was given for therapy. He was inquisitive of what I would be doing with him. Since Arjun was missing school, I had very limited sessions to do therapy. I started off by building rapport where my mere focus was to only have him talk to me openly. We spoke a lot about his likes, dislikes and his love for art. While expressing, he told me how we would start coloring in order to ignore the circumstances. That’s where I realized maybe I could use art as a medium to have him express what he repressed. After a couple of sessions of rapport building, we had successfully reached a stage where he trusted me enough to talk to me without second guessing.

I began my therapy with practicing mindfulness so he is aware of his surroundings and himself. Our next session, I focused to have him express so I got clay. I asked him to make anything that would help him process the source of his anger and release it with creative energies. The focus was to make him feel calm and safe. Arjun made a beautiful Ganpati idol with little help. On asking him why he chose to make an idol, he explained how he had full faith in god making his father fine and how he felt safe around Ganpati bappa. He asked me if I had another clay packet to make a tiny idol for his sister. It made me feel like art was a perfect way to lead the upcoming sessions. Next session, I wanted him to express his anger that was thwarted. I handed him paper and watercolors. The end result was an animal he drew in black and red. The next session was to have him do some reflective writing about his thoughts and ideas behind the picture. His answers were elaborative which helped both of us to be more aware of his feelings. We progressed towards us recognizing signs that triggered his anger followed by brainstorming healthier ways to displace his anger. Each session Arjun was better at expressing his feelings and managing anger. He became hopeful and so was his mother. Changes were easily noticeable. Our last session Arjun made a colorful Ganpati idol as a way of thanking me. His mother said art had been a wonderful mode of catharsis and Arjun was getting better at managing his anger. Art lead all of us to come closer. What was just thought to be fun became a tool for healing. Art is, after all, an expression. It is our self outside the body. A manifestation of our mind and feelings penned down in ink or washed in colors.