Art and the therapeutic uses of art provide older adults with valuable ways in which to express and share their feelings, needs and fears, and with a resource for coping with life's major changes. This practical book is filled with step-by-step exercises for art therapists and other professionals to use in work with older adults, either individually or in groups. The author provides brief, imaginative warm-ups, which encourage participants to become more at ease expressing themselves creatively. She offers ideas for engaging and innovative creative projects across a range of media, including art, music, movement, poetry and creative writing, all of which can be adapted, personalised or combined to meet the particular needs of individual participants. Points to consider when working with this client group are explored, and case study examples, with participants' artwork, are included throughout. Appropriate for use with all relatively able older adults, including those with depression, anxiety or in the early stages of dementia, this will be an invaluable tool for art therapists as well as counsellors, psychotherapists, social workers and carers.

It all begins with a blank page and a real-life coping problem. What ends up on the page and how much it helps you cope depends on two things: how hard you're willing to work, and how honest you can be with who and what you really are. You will be asked to take a hard look at yourself to see what tools you already have to help you find a way to peace of mind in the midst of an ever changing universe where you must quickly adapt or die. These gifts are simple things like the love of figuring out stuff on your own, a great sense of humor about life, a curious mind. The combination you have is unique to you and the beginnings of putting together your coping tool box. As it turns out, perception is not reality; only reality is reality. Perception is your mind getting fooled by a bunch of facts that seem to add up to more than they really do.

This photocopiable activity book helps teens and tweens who are feeling voiceless, ineffective or fearful in response to events at a world, community or individual level. It incorporates exercises using art and craft, nutrition, mindfulness, yoga and other movement based activities. This book offers dozens of suggestions, interventions, and activities for ways that tweens and teens can care for their physical and mental health, including managing life's stressors, how to recognize 'red flags' in a relationship, and listening to their body's intuition more often. Ideal for mental health counselors, social workers, program coordinators, and other providers working with this age group, it can also be used by parents.

Everyone has different needs when it comes to coping with life's stressors, and children are no different. Some need quiet and soothing activities to calm them down, whereas others require more physical activity or intense sensory input to relax their minds and bodies. This resource comprises a collection of fun, flexible, tried-and-tested activities and make-it-yourself workbooks for parents and professionals to help a child in need of extra emotional support find the coping skills that fit them best. Each activity lists the materials required and includes clear directions for how to do it. There is something for every child: whether they are dynamic and creative or more cerebral and literal. Projects include making wish fairies, dream catchers, and mandalas; managing unstructured time with activities such as creating comics, dioramas and tongue twisters; and simple ideas for instant soothing, such as taking deep breaths, blowing bubbles, making silly faces, and playing music. Creative Coping Skills for Children also includes specific interventions for anxious or grieving children such as making worry dolls and memory shrines. This book is full of fun, easy, creative project ideas for parents of children aged 3–12, teachers, counselors, play therapists, social workers, and all professionals working with children.

From Filmmaker, IndieFlix CEO & Co-Founder Scilla Andreen and Illustrator Jerrin Padre comes a book to help people of all ages talk about their feelings, connect with friends and family and to nurture an empathetic community; be it at home, school or work.

This collection of fun and adaptable activities, games, stories and handouts is a complete resource for supporting children coping with stress and difficult emotions. From engaging arts and crafts, to interactive stories and relaxing meditations, all the interventions and activities are thematically structured so that each chapter contains the means for building specific skills or overcoming behavioral issues. Each chapter contains suggested goals, positive affirmations and photocopiable handouts to enable a child to continue practising and learning new life skills outside of sessions with parents or professionals. The activities in this book are ideal for use with children aged 3-12 to help them rebalance and gain a strong grasp on their emotions.

Art Therapy and Creative Aging offers an integrated perspective on engaging with older people through the arts. Drawing from the author’s clinical, research and teaching experiences, the book explores how arts engagement can intertwine with and support healthy aging. This book combines analysis of current development theory, existing research on creative programs with elders, and case examples of therapeutic experience to critically examine ageism and demonstrate how art therapy and creative aging approaches can harness our knowledge of the cognitive and emotional development of older adults. Chapters cover consideration of generational, cultural, and historical factors; the creative, cognitive and emotional developmental components of aging; arts and art therapy techniques and methods with older adults with differing needs; and examples of best practices. Creative arts therapists, creative aging professionals, and students who seek foundational concepts and ideas for arts practice with older people will find this book instrumental in developing effective ways of using the arts to promote health and well-being and inspire engagement with this often-underserved population.