Termination Tree

I recently terminated with a client, and wanted to make a special ritual for our last session. I printed out a picture of a tree (or you can have the client draw or paint their own tree), and told my client that on each branch, I wanted him to write different things he's learned in counseling.

It's a great way to help your client review how far they've come, what kinds of progress they've made, and opens up for discussion any concerns or thoughts they may have.

He discussed his long-term plans for maintaining his progress. He was very thankful for all the interactive activities we did, and was so proud of himself (and he had every right to be)! It was a very touching ending to our therapeutic relationship.

You can find where I got the idea and picture from here

Trauma Masks

People experiencing trauma tend to feel one way on the inside, but display a totally different person on the outside. Trauma Masks are a great way for trauma survivors to illustrate that.

Give your client a blank mask outline. On the front side of the mask, have them illustrate how they feel others see them. On the back side of the mask, have them illustrate how they view themselves/how they feel inside. You can imagine the striking differences you’ll see!

Explore the differences on the masks together and discuss the meaning of any pictures or words they used. Try asking about the feelings they have when they look at the masks. You may get a lot more insight into the person than you ever would have expected!

 Picture from here.

Focus Card

My client was sexually abused for several years and used dissociation as a coping mechanism. For the past couple has been going into more detail about the sexual abuse she experienced, and as a result she found that she’s been more spacey. I had her make a Focus Card to help ground her and this is the beautiful piece she created! I got the idea for it here. A Focus Card is defined as:

"A Focus Card has an image on it that helps you right now focus and be present. It is as simple as that; finding an image that emerges from being still and being inwardly focused that gives you visually what you need to feel centered, calm and present in your life. It takes strength to build resilience, inner peace and stillness in a world that is full of chaos and madness. This small card is a glimpse of stillness, a small oasis that can remind you that sanity is not far away. This calmness can carry you through the rest of the day and you can refer back to the image when you need to re-focus. It helps us to remember that not all of our life has to be calm, or in order. But small pockets of it can be, just like this small focus image. Starting small—and not expecting or trying to make all of your life manageable all of the time—is a sane way to live your life. There can be little spaces of calmness and sanity in the middle of the busyness of a day. Look for these spaces in your workday and home life."