Hi, my name is Fred. I am 11 years old, and I am in my last year at Abbot College. Today I want to tell you about how, through Art Therapy, I learned how to express my feelings and learned strategies for managing my ADHD, particularly my impulsiveness and hyperactivity. Pushing buttons repetitively just to see what happens, talking all the time and being restless, calling out, confrontations with lots of students, etc were just a few things I got in trouble for.
In my experience with Art Therapy, I did activities that were appropriate for my age. I expressed myself through talking about my pictures that I had drawn. It helped me to come up with ideas that helped me cope better with friendships and classroom situations. Doing art in a structured way with certain rules helped me to improve my self-esteem and social skills. I also learned about how my medication for ADHD affected and affects my well being. Sometimes the time of day and the materials used increased my impulsiveness and hyperactivity. In the group, I felt safe, and I enjoyed working and sharing my experiences with my peers who were dealing with similar issues.
The Art Therapy session at my school ran for 8 weeks. There were boys and girls like me and about the same age. We set out some rules together so that we would all get a fair go. We introduced ourselves with a drawing. After the drawing, we discussed our drawings; some didn’t want to, and that was okay too! Next session we watched a video about ADHD, after a little discussion we were asked to draw about “ How do I feel about having ADHD”. In the next couple of sessions, we talked about other issues such as: the impact ADHD had at school, friendship, family members and medication. We drew or painted about each topic and discussed/shared it afterwards in the group
The Art Therapy sessions helped me to understand how ADHD impacts my social and academic performance. It helped me to improve my listening to others, and I learned to share ideas by looking at artwork and verbalising how I felt.
It was just good to know that I wasn’t the only one!
