Aug 8, 2019
Vidcast: https://youtu.be/H4mvftl5mrQ
If your teen daughter has headaches from adolescent stresses, she may want to pick up a paintbrush as part of art and mindfulness therapy. A small study at the University of Washington just published in the journal Art Therapy shows the usefulness of this approach.
Therapists there intensely studied a group of 8 teen girls who each experienced 3 or more stress-related headaches over a 2 week period. During the 6 twice-weekly therapy sessions, the girls would draw body maps of their pain and stress points, do mindfulness exercises, and create art.
The therapy reduced their headaches by some 40%. The teens particularly liked the square breathing mindfulness exercise and painting with oil pastel paints. Though experiencing fewer headaches, they still felt stressed but better able to cope.
If your daughter, or for that matter your son or you, is experiencing headaches due to life pressures, you might just want to try some mindfulness exercises coupled with drawing, painting, or some other creative pursuit.
Elin A. Björling, Christine Stevens, Narayan B. Singh. Participatory Pilot of an Art-Based Mindfulness Intervention for Adolescent Girls With Headache. Art Therapy, 2019; 36 (2): 86 DOI: 10.1080/07421656.2019.1609325
#Headache #stress #teens #girls #arttherapy #mindfulness