Easy Creative Ideas to Use in Counseling

For many people, counseling is seen as a very clinical process. We go into a session with our therapist, talk about our feelings, and they help us process those feelings both in and out of session. There’s nothing wrong with this process - it really works for some! But for others, this can feel too clinical, too challenging, too devoid of humanity and flexibility and even fun.

In more recent years, a variety of different options have been established for how to be a counselor, and you can go to a school specifically for these differences. I, for example, went to school to be a drama therapist, and I learned so many valuable ways to bring that particular art form into a therapeutic space; however, I also learned many other techniques to use in session, ranging from art to poetry to play.

That being said, one does not necessarily have to be trained or certified in a certain form of counseling to utilize some of its basic tenets. In this article, I am going to illustrate three different creative techniques one may use in sessions to help break the ice, provide variety, increase rapport, and aid in the therapeutic process.

The first creative technique that can be helpful in therapy is known as Magic Box. This is traditionally a drama therapy technique, but variations of it have been used in many different modalities. You begin by pointing out to the client that you have a special box with you, which you then mime holding up for them. You may then ask the client to describe the box, including what it is made of, its color, etc.

Then explain to them that the box is capable of holding anything they would like to let go of or store for future use. It is important to stress to the client that this can be literally anything from emotions or situations to even physical items. If you like, you can also put something of your own in the box as well! Then you may encourage the client to take something good out of the box to bring with them throughout the following week. The beauty of this technique lies within the playful aspect of it. It encourages the client to temporarily suspend their disbelief and imagine such a box is both real and powerful.

The second creative technique I would like to teach you is a feeling externalization exercise. Similar to Magic Box, this exercise is also aided by imagination - and one can also rework it to more of an artistic exercise. In this technique, the therapist will ask the client to reach within themselves and pull out one of their current strongest emotions to examine. The therapist will then ask the client various questions about the emotion (what it looks like, what texture it is, color, degree of sentience, etc.).

After the client has described the emotion and/or interpreted it in some artistic manner, the clinician will ask the client what might be helpful for them to wrap around the emotion to help make it easier to manage in daily living. Once the emotion has been wrapped in whatever the client has chosen, the therapist will then encourage the client to place the emotion back inside themselves.

A third technique that can be very useful is a life timeline. Either the client or the therapist can visually create this timeline as the client mentions important events in their life. This can include major milestones in life as well as any changes or occurrences that feel important to the client. Once it is represented visually, the client and therapist can refer back to it at various points in therapy.

As with any technique used in a clinical setting, everything must be tailored to the client’s needs and wants. These ideas may work tremendously for one client and flop for the next! Flexibility is key. The most important aspect in any clinical setting is allowing the client the freedom to choose.