Title of the module: Promoting mental wellbeing through creative self-expression and self-management

Organisation: Artemisszió

This module focuses on equipping facilitators with the knowledge and tools to utilize creative outlets as powerful means for self-expression, enabling participants to explore and communicate their emotions. Additionally, it provides practical techniques to teach emotional self-management, fostering resilience and mental well-being in workshop settings.

Learning goals of the module:

After completing this module, the learner will be able to:

• Understand the role of self-expression and self-regulation as a milestone in building resilience and mental wellbeing
• Design a Workshop to Enhance Self-Expression
• Integrate Mindfulness and Relaxation Techniques

Practical info on setting space for creative outlets and teaching self-management with practical techniques

In the previous module, we explored how applied arts can create a space for relaxation, stress relief, and overall mental well-being, while also providing a platform for expressing emotions or experiences that might be difficult to verbalize. Building on this foundation, this module will focus on two practical aspects of fostering resilience in a workshop setting: guiding participants toward self-expression and equipping them with tools to help them self-regulate their emotions.

The aims of such a workshop are to help participants overcome creative blocks, become more playful, introduce a creative flow, let go of the need to please others and accept that mistakes are part of the process.

Creative flow and overcoming blocks:

Often, fear of making mistakes holds us back from even starting a project. Many perceive creative and artistic activities as being reserved for a talented few, which can be intimidating. However, everyone can benefit from creative expression—it’s a fundamental human experience that enriches our lives.

To support creative flow, workshops must address key obstacles: fear of failure, overthinking, and lack of confidence. By creating an environment that encourages free experimentation without judgment, facilitators can inspire participants to take risks, embrace mistakes, and develop resilience.

Integrating the Growth mindset into our workshops:

A growth mindset, a concept introduced by psychologist Carol Dweck, emphasizes the idea that abilities and intelligence can be developed through dedication and hard work. This mindset is essential for fostering resilience and perseverance, especially in creative activities. In a workshop, promoting a growth mindset encourages participants to view mistakes not as failures but as valuable learning experiences.

Mistakes are integral to the learning process, and accepting them can build confidence over time. When participants realize they can learn from each misstep, they become less fearful and more willing to explore and innovate. This shift is particularly important in a creative setting, where the journey of expression often holds more significance than the final outcome. Encouraging participants to take risks and view challenges as opportunities to learn helps them build resilience—a skill that extends beyond the workshop and applies into all areas of life.

Creating a Supportive Space for Experimentation and making mistakes

Establishing a non-judgmental, open space where participants feel comfortable exploring and making mistakes is crucial. Facilitators can model this by engaging openly with their creative processes and reframing mistakes as “happy accidents” that add to the creative experience or mark them as a natural parts of a project. It can encourage participants to see that the facilitators themselves make mistakes and can also correct them. This approach allows participants to let go of rigid expectations and engage fully in the workshop, knowing they’re in a supportive environment.

Incorporating activities that explicitly involve the potential for mistakes can normalize the experience of “failing” and help participants process their feelings around it. Here are a few techniques:

• Drawing with Eyes Closed: Ask participants to draw a self-portrait without looking at the paper and without lifting their pen. This exercise demonstrates that mistakes are inevitable and, in this case, welcome. The resulting drawings, though imperfect, often lead to laughter, helping participants embrace imperfections.
• Abstract Collage: Participants create collages from random images, magazine clippings, and various textures, focusing on instinct rather than precision. This exercise emphasizes free association, showing that there’s no “right” way to create.
• Shared Reflection on Mistakes: After an activity, encourage participants to discuss a part of the process where they made a mistake and share what they learned from it. Facilitators can ask reflective questions like, “What did you discover that surprised you?” or “How did a mistake change your original idea?”

By integrating such exercises, participants gain a hands-on understanding of the growth mindset. They learn that resilience comes from moving through challenges, not around them, and that every misstep can add depth to their creative journey.

Example of an offline workshop structure

This example combines the concepts of growth mindset and resilience-building with various creative exercises that embrace experimentation.

• Introduction: Begin by introducing the workshop goals and emphasizing that mistakes are a welcome and valuable part of the process. Highlight the importance of a growth mindset and reassure participants that there’s no pressure to produce “perfect” art.
• Warm-up – Name toss: Begin with a fun icebreaker to set a playful tone. In this game, participants stand in a circle and toss a ball to each other, saying the name of the person they’re throwing it to. Adding multiple balls or asking participants to call out cities or other categories can create lighthearted chaos, showing that mistakes can be fun and even necessary to the experience.
• Group reflection: Pause to ask how participants felt when they made mistakes during the warm-up. Discuss the emotions that arise when things don’t go as planned and relate this to the creative process.
• Creative exercise – free movement and drawing: Engage in a brief free movement exercise, where participants can dance, walk, or stretch, exploring different shapes and motions. Next, they try to “draw” their name with their arms or other parts of their body. This serves to loosen up the body and mind, priming them for creative flow.
• Main creative activity – Mask making or collage: Participants select materials to create their own mask or abstract collage. They can mix textures, experiment with colors, and use materials like paper, fabric, or magazines. Emphasize that there’s no “wrong” way to create—each choice is part of their unique expression.
• Presentation and positive feedback: Encourage participants to present their work, sharing what they enjoy about it and any unexpected discoveries they made along the way. To support a growth mindset, others in the group can ask questions or offer positive feedback, helping each participant feel valued and confident in their creative expression.
• Wrap up – reflection: Close the workshop with a reflection on what participants learned, both about themselves and about the creative process. Ask questions like, “How did letting go of the need for perfection feel?” and “What’s one thing you’ll take with you from today’s experience?” Encourage participants to consider how they can apply these insights to other areas of their lives, reinforcing the long-term benefits of a growth mindset and resilience.

Online Adaptations

For virtual settings, similar principles apply. Facilitators can guide and encourage participants to use household items and readily available materials. For example, Mandala drawing and coloring can be an engaging online activity, where participants draw patterns without lifting the pen and then color it in, adding layers as they go. Mistakes become part of the design, demonstrating that imperfection can enhance creativity.

Self-Expression Through Collage Workshop

This chapter focuses on using collage as a medium for self-expression, guiding facilitators on how to structure and lead a workshop that helps participants express complex emotions and experiences in a creative, non-verbal way.

Collaging is a powerful tool as it guides participants to explore and release emotions through artistic means; however, it requires no artistic ability or qualifications. The process is nonverbal, which helps deal with emotions that may be difficult to express through words alone.

People might even find some release in being asked to tear up newspapers and glue them on paper without it needing to be perfect. Compared to other means of artistic expression, such as drawing and painting, participants in general experience less performance anxiety.

This chapter will walk through the setup, techniques, and objectives of a collage-based workshop designed to enhance mental well-being and self-expression.

Goals of the Collage Workshop

Encourage Self-Expression: Various materials can be used. Generally visual materials like magazines, newspapers, fabric scraps, scissors, white paper and some glue are sufficient in many cases, but other creative materials can be used also, such as: graphite pencils, oil pastels, children’s crayons, and pens. Depending on the task and topic of the workshop or session, participants are asked to create images that resonate with their emotional state and inner reality.

Promote Reflection: The non-verbal process of cutting, arranging, and gluing helps participants access subconscious feelings, which can lead to personal insight and emotional release.

Foster Mindfulness and Presence: The tactile and repetitive nature of collage-making encourages participants to stay grounded in the present, focusing on their creative process rather than being overwhelmed by their worries or stress.

Build Community and Shared Understanding: By sharing their artwork, participants can connect with others in a safe, non-judgmental space, fostering empathy and reducing feelings of isolation. Participants are never obligated to share everything that is depicted on the picture and can share only as much as they are willing to verbalize.

Self-Management through Forest Bathing

Forest bathing, or shinrin yoku, is a Japanese practice that emphasizes immersive, mindful experiences in nature. At its core, it’s a practice of relaxation and presence in a natural setting, helping people de-stress, re-center, and reconnect with the world around them. Forest bathing doesn’t require access to a remote forest or specific wilderness skills; it’s a versatile approach to emotional and physical well-being that can be practiced in any green space, from a park to a garden. By consciously slowing down, observing natural elements, and engaging the senses, individuals can experience a sense of calmness and centeredness, and these cultivated self-management techniques can be applied beyond the forest. This chapter explores the mental health benefits of forest bathing and outlines practical techniques facilitators can use to incorporate it as a self-management tool in workshops.

Studies have consistently demonstrated that exposure to nature can reduce stress and anxiety. Roger S. Ulrich, an environmental psychologist, conducted research showing that natural settings positively impact mental well-being and can lead to faster recovery times, lowered stress hormones, and improved mood. His research found that patients recovering from surgery with views of trees healed faster and required less pain medication than those looking at brick walls. Forest bathing takes this a step further by immersing individuals in a natural environment, which can help reduce cortisol – the stress hormone -- levels, lower blood pressure, and increase feelings of calm and well-being. The sensory engagement provided by nature can act as a reset for the mind, which is especially beneficial in our often overstimulated and fast-paced lives.

Being surrounded by natural beauty not only fosters relaxation but also cultivates mindfulness. The practice of forest bathing naturally promotes mindfulness by encouraging participants to focus on sensory experiences: the sight of sunlight filtering through leaves, the sound of a breeze rustling branches, the feeling of soft soil underfoot, or the scents around them. This shift in awareness can gently guide individuals away from their usual worries and distractions and bring them into the present moment, which is often where healing and mental clarity begin.

In this module, participants can learn about the following specific techniques, that are connected to the practice of forest bathing:

• Grounding: Through Grounding we invite participants to find a comfortable spot whether that be in a training room, in their own homes, or in a natural environment and help them achieve a sense of calm. Invite participants to find a comfortable spot. They can either stand or sit with their feet firmly on the ground. Encourage them to close their eyes and take a few slow, deep breaths. As they breathe, guide them to notice the sensations underfoot, the texture of the earth or grass or indoors the texture of the rug or ground, and the sounds around them. This grounding exercise helps individuals feel more connected to the earth and less focused on internal stressors, fostering a sense of safety and stability.
• Mindful walking: Through Mindful walking we encourage participants to engage with their surroundings in a thoughtful, intentional way. Lead participants on a slow, quiet walk through the area, encouraging them to move at a comfortable pace. Ask them to focus on each step, feeling the texture of the path under their feet, noticing the small details in their surroundings, like the way the sunlight catches on leaves or the different shapes and colors in the trees and plants. Mindful walking helps individuals disconnect from overthinking or anxious thoughts and allows them to engage fully with their senses.
• Breathing exercises with connection to nature: It encourages participants to center their focus on breathing while taking in the natural surroundings, helping regulate emotions. Guide participants to focus on a natural element that captures their attention, such as a tree, a flower, or a stream. Encourage them to take slow, deep breaths, inhaling for a count of four, holding for four, and exhaling for four, then keeping it out of their lungs for four seconds. This technique has various names, such as Box breathing. This can be repeated multiple times to achieve a feeling of centeredness. As they breathe, ask them to observe this natural element closely, noticing its details and changes in light or movement. This exercise combines mindful breathing with observation, fostering calm and focusing on pleasant details we can find in nature.
• Engaging our senses: Through this exercise we encourage participants to bring full sensory awareness into the exercise and deepen their connection to the environment. Guide participants through each of the five senses. Start with sight, encouraging them to take in the surroundings and notice specific colors or shapes that stand out. Move on to hearing, prompting them to focus on the sounds of nature—whether birdsong, the rustling of leaves, or the distant sound of flowing water. Next, ask them to touch something in their surroundings, like a tree trunk or leaf, and to notice its texture and temperature. If appropriate, invite them to focus on the scents around them, such as the earthy smell of soil or the freshness of pine. This activity can conclude with a brief reflection, where participants share any sensory details that helped them feel more present.
• Reflective Journaling in Nature: Through this exercise we provide space for reflection and connection with one’s inner thoughts and feelings for the participants. After completing the previous exercises, provide participants with a few minutes to journal about their experience. Encourage them to write freely about any emotions or thoughts that came up, any observations they made, or any sense of peace or clarity they felt during the process. This reflective exercise allows participants to deepen their understanding of their experience and provides a tangible takeaway to revisit.

How to integrate Forest bathing into self-management workshops?

Forest bathing can be a rich addition to self-management workshops, especially for individuals seeking to build resilience, manage stress, or navigate life transitions.

Facilitators can encourage participants to use these techniques outside of workshops by applying them in other green spaces they encounter, like city parks or gardens. This flexible approach to forest bathing emphasizes that nature’s benefits are accessible, regardless of location, making it self-care tool available to people whenever they need it. Facilitators can organize their self-management workshops to take place outside, in a forest, or city park, and include these exercises with other activities.

In order to achieve a positive experience facilitators should create an open, respectful atmosphere where participants feel comfortable engaging with nature and exploring their inner experiences. This can involve steps such as facilitators sharing the framework of the training, dedicating time for breaks, quiet times or times where participants can practice the exercise they have found the most beneficial. It is also important to encourage participants to keep respectful distance from others, let people enjoy the quiet time if they would like to spend it away from social interaction within the group and offering gentle reminders to stay in the present moment if participants appear distracted. It’s also important to remind participants that forest bathing is about connection, not perfection; there’s no “right” way to experience nature.

For participants who may feel unsure about their ability to focus or connect with nature or are uncomfortable with this experience, facilitators can reassure them that this practice takes time and grows more rewarding with consistency. Even brief periods of mindful nature connection can yield mental health benefits, so there’s value in embracing this process, even when it feels unfamiliar.

References

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Dweck, C. S. (n.d.). Growth mindsets. Association for Psychological Science. Retrieved from https://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/dweck-growth-mindsets

Greater Good Science Center. (n.d.). Why forest bathing is good for your health. Retrieved from https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/why_forest_bathing_is_good_for_your_health

Malchiodi, C. A. (n.d.). Expressive art therapy articles and links. Retrieved from https://www.cathymalchiodi.com/resources/expressive-art-therapy-articles-links/

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SAGE Publications. (2017). Rethinking the value of growth mindsets. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 12(6), 1026-1032. Retrieved from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1745691617707315

Forestry England. (n.d.). Forest bathing. Retrieved from https://www.forestryengland.uk/blog/forest-bathing