Repost from @upstream_art_therapy
IN HONOUR NEURODIVERGENT PRIDE DAY!
In a recent Supervision session with the wonderful Rae @creatingwellbeingmelbourne, I enjoyed a playful and chatty self-care session where I put some finishing touches on some incomplete pages in a particular art journal such as quote stickers and sari ribbon scraps. This art journal is only used for play and experimenting with materials and creating aesthetically pleasing pages – something that I intensely enjoy as an AuDHD person, but don’t do enough!
As I created, Rae and I discussed my emerging identity as a late-identified un-masking AuDHD human and Arts Therapist, in comparison to my clients that have been identified earlier in life, and how Special Interests appear in different age groups or generations. I always aim to work in a neuro-affirming manner with my clients and allow space for them to engage in their Special Interests during their sessions (I love a good Info Dump!) but when asked what MY Special Interests were or sharing about them, Rae identified how I seem embarrassed to talk about them. As a 40 year old woman, I am still learning how to take pride in my neurodivergence!
So Rae gave permission for me to have a good ol’ Special Interest Info Dump about Art Journals and Mixed Media Art and my hyper-specific taste in Music and how I always link up the two (thanks to a thing called Synthesia!). There were flappy hands, eye sparkles and happy dances in my seat and all!
As we reflected on my process, we found a parallel between our discussion versus which pages I had chosen to complete, right down to the use of colour and quote stickers!
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