I was so excited this week because one of the children I work with finally told me he wanted to draw a picture during our session (I work in an elementary school doing child-directed play therapy, and so far, all of the kids have only wanted to play board games). My client is 7 years old and it was our second session together.  I was looking forward to seeing a different side of him through his art, and I was also looking forward to putting some of the skills I've learned this semester into practice.

My client started to draw a map of a city, and my first inclination was to take out a marker and a piece of paper and draw next to him. However, I remembered our conversation in class surrounding what do to in this situation, and I decided that it would be more therapeutic to be present and watch his art-making rather than to focus on my own. I asked him if I could move the case of markers that was blocking his paper so I could watch him draw, and he said yes. For a minute, the room was quiet as he drew and I looked on. Then he said, "It's really quiet in here."As I'm not someone who is particularly comfortable with silence, I was surprised that he said this because I hadn't even noticed it was quiet-- I was so focused on what he was drawing. However, once he said this it was clear to me that he felt uncomfortable with the silence/me looking over his shoulder and giving him my undivided attention. I asked him how he felt about the silence and he said he didn't mind quiet if he was expecting it to be quiet, but he didn't like it if he wasn't expecting it to be quiet. I asked him if he wanted us to talk while he drew and he said yes. We started to talk but I could still tell that he seemed uncomfortable. My instinct told me that he didn't feel comfortable with all the attention I was giving him and his art, so I asked him if he wanted me to draw with him. He said yes and when I asked him what he wanted me to draw he said that I should also draw a city so we could put our pictures together when they were done.

I started to draw my own picture and the vibe in the room was immediately more comfortable. It was much easier for us to talk when I seemed to be focusing on something else. This changed the focus of the session and the purpose of the art making--his art was no longer the main point of the session; rather, it served as a distraction so he could talk more freely without feeling threatened or vulnerable.