Workshop Details

SESSION: F5a
ROOM
DATE Friday, June 19, 2015
TIME 8:00am-9:15am
ABSTRACT CATEGORY Clinical Skills
ABSTRACT TITLE

Mandala: The Utilization of a Historical Symbol as a Method of Self-Expression for Adolescents in the School-Based Health Center

ABSTRACT SUMMARY

Adolescents often present with depression and anxiety. Creativity in therapy is used as a tool to help adolescents understand their mental health issues, gain confidence, improve self-esteem and reduce anxiety and stress. In this program, the students color a preprinted Mandala, a symbol thought to represent the inner self. With the SBHC counselor, the adolescent explores the meaning of the predominant colors used to assist them to express their feelings and unconscious emotions.

ABSTRACT DESCRIPTION

The Mandala, which is a Sanskrit word for “circle “or “completion”, has a long history of being recognized for its representation of an individual’s inner self. The circle symbolizes wholeness, continuity, harmony and the circle of life. Circles are believed to help an individual focus inwardly. Psychoanalyst, Carl Jung felt that it was “a representation of the unconscious self” and this art symbol has been widely used in Eastern traditions. The shapes and colors that a person uses in creating their Mandala are thought to reflect the inner self at the time of creation. (www.meaningofmandalas.com, 2014) Use of the Mandala was incorporated in a research study that used different creative methods to help reduce stress and anxiety. The results of this study showed a statistically significant decrease in symptoms of anxiety and stress and increase of positive emotions after a brief intervention, which also used three other creative modalities. (Walsh, Chang, Schmidt and Yoepp, 2004) Many of the adolescents accessing the mental health services at the School-Based Health Center, often present with feelings of anxiety and stress and may have difficulty verbally expressing their feelings and the etiology of these feelings. If they desire, upon meeting with the SBHC Counselor, the student is offered a pre-printed Mandala to color while in session. Coloring the mandala provides a calming distraction which helps the student talk about uncomfortable feelings and events. Near the end of the session, the counselor asks the student to identify the primary color(s) that they have used with their Mandala. Utilizing a handout that identifies feelings associated with specific colors, they are asked to write what they are feeling at this time. Coloring the mandala and talking about their chosen colors and meanings encourages the student to develop self-awareness of their emotions The goals of this project are to have the student expand their awareness of different forms of self-expression and awareness. In addition, the student, with the assistance of the counselor, can make clinical connections between their unconscious feelings and their current emotional state through use of color interpretation.

PRESENTER(S)

NAME: Julie  Chiquoine  CFNP, MSN, BSN  ORGANIZATION: Christiana Care Health System
NAME: Polixeni  Stamatiadis  MSS, LCSW  ORGANIZATION: Christiana Care Health System

  
AUDIENCE
ADMINISTRATORS: N
PRIMARY HEALTH: N
MENTALHEALTH: Y
ORGANIZATIONAL: N
PUBLIC HEALTH: Y
EDUCATION: N
YOUTH: N
 
 
   

Technical issues should be directed to Deirdre Taylor via email: dtaylor@sbh4all.org or Telephone: (202) 638-5872, ext. 204