Four (4) Creative Ways To Use Framing-Story In Art Therapy

Over the last two weeks, we marked a first recovery from the COVID-19 situation. I chose the positive side of the new evolving-routine and got back to making Art-Therapy. Here are some ways you can use the Framing-Story technique that I found adequate and encouraging.

The first thing I did was fitting up a story for a music therapy group of young kids. Luckily, the group pivots around a framing-story. Hence I could easily blend some resilient-friendly elements for them. Thru the story, we went back to the same spot where the Corona Pandemic had stopped us. We processed bodily and emotionally the fears and anger. We hooked up to rejoice, hope and success. I took my "Corona's" lesson, and I was story-telling with my laptop. Guess what? It worked like magic.

Though being a square, "framing-story" is a flexible intervention in Art-Therapy. It touches deeply one's life. It's the Aesthetical Form emerging in therapy that opens a potential space for mutual creation. Having concrete boundaries and order it can hold both healthy and pathological parts of mental life (Inspired by Winnicott, 1995; Zoran, 2000).

Connected to the patient's primary life-story, Framing-story is always there in therapy. Overtly or covertly. A little practice, and you will be able to catch the moment and use Arts to develop your patient's own story. That was The intervention that helped me quantum-leaping into Online Art Therapy during the COVID-19 crisis. Versatile and Evocative, all-ages suitable, it helped me create a safe analytic space Online.

1. Discover Your Story in Motion

Dance-Movement Therapist are always willing to "dance" their story. With patients, it doesn't come easily. But people love moving and dancing. You have to give them a sense of control and a Dancing-Frame.

> Choose together the topic of the dance

> Announce start/finish points in the room

> Choose ten movement archetypes

> Don't rush them to build their story

> Let them pick a song to inspire their story

And off you go! Let your patients find out something new about themselves.

2. Changing Your Story Viso-Musically

My favorite therapeutic intervention. An interconnected Art mediums of drawing, melody and text. You don't have to be an expert in Arts to maintain a mutual creative space. Once you have a Framing-Story at hand, it will work Online as well.

> Select three to four scenes (but not more)

> Create one main drawing for each scene

> Optional: Add a few words to describe each scene

> Record improvised music for each scene

> The patient is the director, composer, player, actor, conductor.

> Edit all into a Viso-Musical story and watch it together!

Your patients will gain the chance to re-write their life story!

3. Play Your Story Adaptively

Warning! This type of Framing-Story requires Improvisation and Innovative skills. No worries, You can learn and practice that in my upcoming "Framing-Story" workshop (To be published soon). So, did you ever try to tell the here-and-now of the therapeutic session? I mainly use it with young kids. The Adaptive Story has three to five imaginary friends. They move along with the kids' current temperament and atmosphere.

The imaginative Adaptive-Story, accompanied the group to a safe place in the wood, when the Corona COVID-19 Crisis started. The kids were well equipped to catch the tiny-bitting-flies of the forest. Last week, when things started to get back to "normal" (walking and working with masks and gloves), the group stepped out of the wood. They received a powerful cloak, a magical-powder, and two friendly birds to safely bring them back home.

4. Background Your Story

Excellent for Online Art Therapy. You can turn the background of your video call into a Framing-Story. It's precisely like a gamer's Skin. Think about it as a digital projection of the self into therapy. I cannot avoid mentioning here Anzie (1995). Take the best out of new technology. Find out what is your patients' story behind their chosen background. It will enhance self-confidence and your therapeutic alliance.

Every form of Art is already a Framing-Story. Deep inside, People need to tell their story. They want to be heard and seen. Framing-Story in therapy keeps the analytical space safe for unconscious work. It is always relevant to our patients' lives. It opens a window for a change and defragmentation. Now please share with me the way you use Framing-Story in your therapy.