Art Therapy. Author's Methodology "Sacred Marriage"

2024 Author: Harry Day | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-18 02:26

Over the years of my professional career, having received certification as an art and sandplay therapist, exploring the depths of the mental with the help of Jungian analysis, and helping people, I am at that point on my path where I really want to share my experience. In this article I will try to tell you about my author's technique, which was inspired by my clients and the idea of K. G. Jung, that “Acceptance of femininity leads to integrity. The same is true for a woman who accepts her masculinity.”, Which in turn draws on his theory of archetypes. Jung considered the harmonious inner union of masculine and feminine principles to be a sacred marriage, to which any person unconsciously aspires. Hence the title of this work.

Briefly speaking about the PURPOSES of the technique, these are:

- the acquisition of energy and resources;

- the achievement of the transcendental function of the personality and, as a consequence, the disclosure of the essence of a person, and "the implementation - in all its aspects - of the personality, originally hidden in the embryonic germplasm; the production and disclosure of the initial potential integrity" (Jung, 1943, p. 103).

MATERIALS REQUIRED FOR WORK:

- clay

- sand

- water

- foil

- tablet candles

- seashells, pebbles, beads, twigs and other decor

The work conventionally consists of 3 stages:

Mood (input)

Visualization and work on images (creation of a mandala)

Reflection (discussion)

Each stage is necessarily discussed: fantasies, thoughts, emotions, feelings, memories, associations that arise in the course of work.

To create the necessary mood and enter the work, I offer the participants a short meditation (5-7 minutes) - to feel their body and explore the personal inner projections of these archetypes in the image of the flow of light and energy. In the course of the discussion, relying on the psychology of color, I can diagnose the emotional state of the client, investigate possible resistance and anxiety.

The next stage of working with the image is clay modeling. Clay, being a natural material, plunges into the depths of consciousness, connecting a person with the archetypal level (God molded Adam from clay) helps to cope in the most difficult situations.

(I think the properties of clay and clay therapy should be discussed in a separate article))

Working with clients in groups and individually, we have collaboratively explored the many “natural” and culturally imposed symbols.

“Such is the modern man - the creator of the symbols that we psychologists study. For a correct understanding of them, it is important to determine whether their appearance relates to purely personal experiences and experiences, or whether they were extracted by sleep for a specific purpose from the repository of universal human knowledge.”(Jung: Man and His Symbols)

On the example of the works of two women who visualized similar symbols - the Sword and the Rose, one can see what a different response they cause, raising unconscious insights, anxieties and conflicts.

The rose is the immaculate, exemplary flower in the Western tradition. This is a very complex, ambivalent symbol. She symbolizes both heavenly perfection and earthly passion, time and eternity, life and death, fertility and virginity.

Traditionally, the sword symbolizes strength, power, dignity, leadership, supreme justice, light, courage, vigilance. … At the metaphysical level, he personifies the all-pervading mind, the power of the intellect, insight. It is also ambivalent and can serve as a symbol of unity and union.

So for one woman (married, have children)

Rose - associated with beauty, love, a life filled with passion. She values these traits very much in women and in herself. And the sword as protection, heroism, and also as a means to achieve goals. The client is very ambitious in life - she sets goals and tries to achieve them. During the creation of the mandala, using sand as a basis (a symbol of the earth), trying to unite them, an insight visited her that in order to achieve her goals she had to sacrifice her beauty, perfection, since the sword can also cut roses.

And for another client (no children are married)

The sword is the eternal protector for the rose, which, despite the thorns, is vulnerable and lonely. When creating the mandala, I added a lot of water (literally flooded them) and the figures began to dissolve, which greatly frustrated the client, an alarm arose, together we discussed what happens in her life (in relationships with the opposite sex) when she cannot control her emotions? Then the opportunity opened up for further work related to the awareness of unconscious disturbing impulses that arise in moments of close relationships with the opposite sex.

By visualizing the images of inner men and women, sculpting figures from clay, as well as creating a mandala that unites these archetypes - creating his own individual "Sacred marriage", the client gets the opportunity to contact his inner natural forces: femininity and masculinity. Reaching the potential integrity reflected in the ancient oriental symbol Yin-Yang. In my practice, I somehow encounter clients' requests for personal happiness, finding a partner, creating a family or problems associated with difficulties in relationships, family and personal conflicts and crises. Often transferring your internal projections to a partner, it is easy to lose touch with a real man or woman. Such work helps to "disenchant" a partner and regain his strength, to feel like not a "half", but a whole person.

I will be happy to help you on your way, contact in person in Odessa and online around the world t. +38 096 369 17 27 (WhatsApp, Viber, Telegram)

Best regards, Natalia Kalashlinskaya!