I WILL DO THE SELF INTRODUCTION. ONLY OFFER IF YOU UNDERSTAND THE INSTRUCTIONS COMPLETELY & CAPABLE TO COMPLETE ON TIME. MAKE SURE YOU ATTACH THE DRAWING/PICTURE TO ASSIGNMENT WHEN COMPLETE.  THIS IS AN AMERICAN COLLEGE, FYI I WILL CHECK IT THROUGHLY & IT WILL BE CHECKED FOR PLAGARISM. YOU ALSO HAVE TO GRADING RUBIC, DON'T MAKE IT HARDER THAN IT IS!!! Forum #1 Assignment Instructions Find the instructions for this week's forum below. See the  course schedule  for due dates and remember Indiana is on Eastern time Forum # 1 Instructions According to holistic nursing philosophy, nurses must learn self-care and self-awareness before they can heal others. This week we will explore art therapy, a practice that used to express feelings, relieve stress, improve creativity, and increase self-awareness. Please see the art therapy class exercise attachment below for instructions on this activity.  After completing the art activity post to Forum 1 the following: A self-introduction What you drew Your thought as and feelings surrounding your drawing   How this activity related to one aspect of this week's required reading from the text book, the posted art therapy article, or the AHNA website. Cite the reading you have chose APA style meaning it must be cites both in the text with a full reference at the end of your posting. Either scan or take a picture of your drawing with your cell phone and attach it to the forum. Respond in a substantive way to at least one other  classmate. See the course schedule for due times. Note: If you only write a paragraph you are probably not going deep enough!! Art Therapy Exercise The unconscious mind has a wealth of information in which to help solve problems, and this is one way to problemsolve. The language of the unconscious mind speaks (nonverbally) in colors, symbols, metaphors, etc., which are mostly right brain cognitive skills.    For this exercise choose a drawing media (crayons, colored pencils, chalk etc…) and a blank piece of paper. Then draw one of the following: An expression of how you feel when you are either angry or afraid A sketch of yourself (how you see yourself either real or symbolic) Close your eyes and draw a line on the paper. Then open your eyes and slowly rotate the paper around until an image appears. Complete the image with lines and color. A mandala (a circular-shaped personal coat of arms with four quadrants depicting four aspects of your lives that are important to you) A dream image (recurring dreams work the best here) House or a tree Draw whatever you wish! Once you have finished your drawing, reflect on what your picture means, what you have gained or learned, and how you feel. You may wish to use the color guide below to help with your interpretations.  Although there are exceptions, there is a consensus among art therapists (and even psychologists) that regardless of gender, nationality, or ethnic upbringing, each color used in art therapy represents an archetypal meaning. T.

1. I WILL DO THE SELF INTRODUCTION. ONLY OFFER IF
YOU UNDERSTAND THE INSTRUCTIONS COMPLETELY &
CAPABLE TO COMPLETE ON TIME.
MAKE SURE YOU ATTACH THE DRAWING/PICTURE TO
ASSIGNMENT WHEN COMPLETE.
THIS IS AN AMERICAN COLLEGE, FYI
I WILL CHECK IT THROUGHLY & IT WILL BE CHECKED
FOR PLAGARISM.
YOU ALSO HAVE TO GRADING RUBIC, DON'T MAKE IT
HARDER THAN IT IS!!!
Forum #1 Assignment Instructions
Find the instructions for this week's forum below. See the
course schedule
for due dates and remember Indiana is on Eastern time
Forum # 1 Instructions
According to holistic nursing philosophy, nurses must learn
self-care and self-awareness before they can heal others. This
week we will explore art therapy, a practice that used to express
feelings, relieve stress, improve creativity, and increase self-
awareness. Please see the art therapy class exercise attachment
below for instructions on this activity.
After completing the art activity post to Forum 1 the following:
A self-introduction
What you drew
Your thought as and feelings surrounding your drawing
How this activity related to one aspect of this week's required
reading from the text book, the posted art therapy article, or the
AHNA website. Cite the reading you have chose APA style
meaning it must be cites both in the text with a full reference at
the end of your posting.

2. Either scan or take a picture of your drawing with your cell
phone and attach it to the forum.
Respond in a substantive way to at least one other classmate.
See the course schedule for due times.
Note: If you only write a paragraph you are probably not going
deep enough!!
Art Therapy Exercise
The unconscious mind has a wealth of information in which to
help solve problems, and this is one way to problemsolve. The
language of the unconscious mind speaks (nonverbally) in
colors, symbols, metaphors, etc., which are mostly right brain
cognitive skills.
For this exercise choose a drawing media (crayons, colored
pencils, chalk etc…) and a blank piece of paper. Then draw one
of the following:
An expression of how you feel when you are either angry or
afraid
A sketch of yourself (how you see yourself either real or
symbolic)
Close your eyes and draw a line on the paper. Then open your
eyes and slowly rotate the paper around until an image appears.
Complete the image with lines and color.
A mandala (a circular-shaped personal coat of arms with four
quadrants depicting four aspects of your lives that are important
to you)
A dream image (recurring dreams work the best here)
House or a tree
Draw whatever you wish!
Once you have finished your drawing, reflect on what your
picture means, what you have gained or learned, and how you
feel. You may wish to use the color guide below to help with
your interpretations. Although there are exceptions, there is a
consensus among art therapists (and even psychologists) that

3. regardless of gender, nationality, or ethnic upbringing, each
color used in art therapy represents an archetypal meaning.
Typically, the color selection, as well as the objects drawn
(house, tree, etc.), often parallel emotional expressions of one’s
mental/emotional health. The absence of a color does not mean
a lack of something, rather the colors used express that which
the unconscious mind wishes to covey at the time of the
drawing. The following suggests associations between colors
and their archetypal meanings.**
Red
: Passionate emotional peaks (from pleasure to pain) can
represent either compassion or anger.
Orange
: Suggests a life change (big or small, and typically more
positive than negative).
Yellow
: Represents energy (usually a positive message).
Green
and Blue:
Suggest happiness and joy (blue may even mean creativity).
These colors also suggest a strong sense/desire for
groundedness and stability in your environment.
Purple/Violet
: Suggests a highly spiritual nature, unconditional love.
Brown
(and earth tone colors): A sense of groundedness and stability.
Black

4. : Can either represent grief, despair, fear, or a sense of personal
empowerment.
White
: Can either mean fear, avoidance, cover-up, or hope.
Grey
: Typically represents a sense of ambiguity, uncertainty about
some issue you are working on.
** adapted with permission from
Seaward, B.L. (2010).
Mind-body-spirit stress management workbook,
Boulder, CO: Paramount Wellness Institute
Example:
Self Introduction
My name is Samantha Sharp and I am a stay at home mom and
nursing student. I have one daughter named Advah who is 7
almost 8 years old. Advah has Autism but is high functioning
with the use of medication and multiple therapies. Once of her
therapies is art therapy. This assignment was very interesting
because for the first time, I was the one drawing the picture. I
also have another baby girl on the way. I am currently 38 weeks
pregnant and definitely ready to deliver anytime. Baby Olivia is
mine and my husband’s first child together and we each have
one daughter. We will have three girls, and we plan to adopt a
boy in the future, if all works out according to our plan. I have
a wonderful husband who is my better half and my best friend.
We have two dogs Moses and Taz and a fish named Pauly. We

5. have a wonderful and happy life and are active outdoors almost
daily. It will be difficult handing a newborn and school, but I
think the most difficult will be making school a priority over
going for a walk outside. I think this class will help however,
because I am very interested in alternative therapies before
invasive therapies.
What I drew
As for my drawing, I drew a picture of the sun on the left top
corner of the page with one cloud and four birds. I colored the
sky blue, the birds black, the cloud white, and the sun yellow. I
drew the ground green but with a brown walking path down the
center with flowers on both sides of the path, one flower patch
violet and the other patch purple. To the left of the path I drew
a gray bunny with tiny pink ears and above the hill I drew two
apple trees with red apples. In the center of the page, I wrote
using a black sharpie, my daughter’s morning schedule. I had to
make a new morning routine schedule to help Advah get ready
in the morning when summer begins. Right now our current
schedule is created for school.
Thoughts and feelings
As I was creating the picture I had a clear mind and felt love for
my daughter and a desire for her success. I put the little bunny
because I thought Advah would like to see a cute bunny in the
morning. The flowers were because I wanted to make my picture
pretty. I am not very skilled in drawing but my picture is simple
and pretty. The birds are exactly how I drew them in grade
school, and look like a wide lower case m in cursive. The sun is
on the left and very bright and the one white cloud is almost the
same size as my sun. The picture reminds me of a warm, sunny,
and happy day. Starting with the sun in my picture I am
radiating positive energy and the white cloud represents hope
for my daughter to begin a good day. The green grass and blue
sky suggests that I require a stable environment for my
daughter. The small amount of red suggestions compassion, the
purple violet flowers show my unconditional love, and the grey
represents my uncertainty of how my daughter’s day will truly

6. go (Seaward, 2010). The meanings for the colors I chose are
very accurate in my opinion.
Related to weekly instruction
Requests for alternative therapies is on the rise (Fontaine
,2011). The use of antibiotics and pain medication are being
overused and abused and people are looking for a safer, less
addictive approach. According to the American Holistic Nurses
Association (2016), there is a growing need for a holistic
approach in hospital settings. Art therapy is one way to allow
the unconscious to become known (Hansel et al., 2012). This
can allow for a clearer assessment on the patient and assist in
providing a more natural solution. Art therapy can also be used
to eliminate stress, allow emotional release, increase self
awareness, and provide peace of mind (Hansel et al., 2012).
Holistic nursing provides a complete care in nursing. Even when
using medicine or other medical treatments, alternative
therapies can complete the patient care. The total human being
being treated rather than the one medical issue can lead to
greater awareness of self and others (Fontaine, 2011).
Picture
References
AHNA. (2016). American Holistic Nurses Association Home
Page. Retrieved May 16, 2016, from
http://www.ahna.org/
(Links to an external site.)
Fontaine, K. L. (2011). 3. In Complementary and alternative
therapies for nursing practice (4th ed., pp. 37-43). Hammond,
IN: Julie Alexander.
Hensel, D., Bradburn, T., Kelly, A., Manahan, I., Merriman, H.,
Metzinger, F., & Moore, H. (2012, September 24). Student
Impressions of an Art Therapy Class. Retrieved May 16, 2016,
from http://jhn.sagepub.com/content/30/4/264
Seaward, B.L. (2010). Mind-body-spirit stress management
workbook, Boulder, CO: Paramount Wellness Institute