Winter Blues Workshop: Painting for Depression
This workshop combines art therapy techniques and Seasonal Affective Disorder treatments to combat depression and sadness. Grab your blues and paints of all hues for painting your blues away. Kids do not need to experience SAD to participate.
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a mood disorder subset in which people who have normal health throughout most of the year exhibit depressive symptoms at the same time each year, most commonly in winter. Common symptoms include sleeping too much, having little to no energy, and overeating.
Art therapy is used as a treatment for SAD. For centuries, artists have used the medium of painting for its healing properties. Picasso’s Blue Period is testament to this, when he employed painting as a method for coping with the grief from the loss of his friend and depression.
What you will gain in this workshop:
- Techniques to decrease depression and sadness
- Mood uplifting through entering a creative flow state
- Tips for combating Seasonal Affective Disorder
- Socialization during a lonely time of the year.
When: Sunday January 21, 2024, 1:30PM – 2:45PM (75 minutes).
Where: 25 Burns Street, Forest Hills Gardens.
Fee: $60.00 Current clients and families will receive a $10 discount. Payment is due prior the start of the workshop. Materials provided.
Did you know?
- January is known as a time when many report feelings of depression.
- The third week in January is known as the most depressing because it starts with “Blue Monday.”
- January 24th is known as the most depressing day of the year.
- January is International Creativity Month!
Group Leader: Christina Hoodho, LCATJanuary
What is Groups Therapy?
Group Therapy is a form of psychotherapy the consists of multiple members led by one or more therapists. The group dynamics and peer interactions are used to increase the understanding of mental illness and improve social skills.
Supportive Therapy gives children and teens support to cope with day to day stress. It also helps to identify helpful and unhelpful behaviors, and improve self-esteem.
Therapy is not a quick fix. Often, it can be a complex, rich process that. Over time, therapy can reduce symptoms, provide insight, and improve a child or adolescent’s functioning and quality of life.
What are the benefits of group therapy?
Initially, joining a group might feel intimidating. However, there are many benefits to group therapy that individual therapy may not provide. Pre-adolescents and adolescents are typically able to express their emotions verbally and tend to gravitate towards peer feedback and support. Groups targeting this age range will likely consist of a combination of talk therapy and structured activities.
- Universality: Children and adolescents often feel their problems are unique to them and this can lead to feelings of isolation. Being a part of a group of people who have similar problems make children feel validated, supported, and understood.
- Increased coping skills: Through the use of structured activities, the therapist teaches strategies to cope with specific problems. Group members will have the opportunity to practice these skills in a safe environment and receive feedback. With time group members begin incorporating these strategies into their daily lives.
- Foster Relationships: Groups provide a structured environment that allows kids to have positive social interactions with peers and form supportive bonds. Through the use of developmentally appropriate activities, children will be able to articulate feelings and social feedback that they may have difficulty expressing to adults.
- Social skills: This setting can assist children in learning through social interactions. The therapist models active listening, provides constructive feedback, and offers support. Group members also provide feedback on social behaviors. Over time, children pick up on these behaviors and begin to implement them both in-group and in their everyday lives.
- Improve Social Confidence/ Self-esteem: Group therapy offers a platform for children to help others. In a group setting they realize that they have skills and experience that may be helpful to their peers. The power of helping others is therapeutic and enhances self-esteem and self-worth.