Journals

For ages 11 and up

Encourage your child to journal or draw about the following situations. Include what the child or animal in the story or picture does to feel better. What would the youngster do to make the animal or child feel better?

• A lonely, lost kitten that is wet, cold and hungry
• A doll or baby that can’t stop crying
• A strong lion that is chased away from the family he grew up in
• A magical band-aid that could heal any hurt it was used for – how and where might your child use it?
• An imaginary suitcase where a child could pack away all hurting memories or problems. What would be placed there?

The memories, even bad ones, belong to the child. It is very important that adults never make comments or corrections on the drawings or to the writing. Anxious children get relief by getting the memories that are on the inside to the outside. Putting them onto paper allows the child to begin to control or manage the memory, rather than the memory controlling the child. Only the child decides what he or she would like to do with the drawings or writings.

As your child becomes more comfortable with their feelings, suggest that they draw pictures or write in their journal – what can they do for themselves when they want to feel differently? What could they do to comfort themselves in order to feel better?

Photography

If you can, provide a camera for your teen to photograph scenes that he or she finds interesting. As they make an album or cut out photos to look at, encourage them to write about the pictures. What do they like or dislike about the pictures? How would they change what they see in the pictures to make them more to their liking?

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