Do you have a dream—so powerful but distant—that it hurts? Is your vision of that dream clouded by procrastination, comparison-syndrome, fear or any other form of self-doubt?
Maybe perfectionism keeps you in a small box?
If you’re experiencing one or more of these, you’re not alone. You’re experiencing mindset roadblocks, and they’re are a normal part of life.
Fortunately, you CAN overcome these. The difference between people who succeed and people who don’t isn’t that some people don’t have mental roadblocks: they simply learn how to acknowledge and overcome them. It so happens that art therapy is a great resource to do just that, and you’ll learn to cultivate your courage as a result.
Art Therapy Is Game-Changing | Jodi Rose Gonzales
After starting and closing a small private practice in Tucson, I developed a system to address the fear, limiting beliefs and other mental roadblocks that kept me thinking small.
Since then, I’ve published two books, a deck of art therapy journal prompt cards, and I’ve established a new business with clinical- and non-clinical branches—all this, alongside the establishment of numerous community partnerships. My program suite is held within an app that is available on Google Play and Apple.
Let Me Tell You About Mental Roadblocks
Last year, several big things happened: I was celebrated as a Global Impact Artist on a Times Square Billboard by the International Association of Top Professionals; noted as Top Artist in the Marquis Who’s Who in America registry, and selected to be featured as a Fearless Leader in a book slated to publish this spring.
Remarkably, just four years ago I had NO art practice to speak of, and I was working outside of my field. Two attempts to start my own business had largely failed, because I lacked the courage to put myself into the world. Deep fear and insecurity roadblocked my efforts; time and again I shut myself down before I could even get started.
The gap between where I was at then, and where I wanted to be in my career was large—and painful. While I invested in my personal development, I used my skills as an art therapist to develop a system that addresses imposter syndrome—first, testing the system on myself.
Five Ways that Art Therapy Informs Courage
Here’s how art therapy informs courage:
Disempower the inner critic. You can create images representing your various inner critics and limiting beliefs, and then work with the images to reframe them so they hold less power.
Untangle strong emotions. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. Even the common doodle can help you sort and interpret complicated and strong emotions that might block your courageous efforts.
Recognize and soften the fear. Use of sensory materials and processes can calm the physical body, so that it feels more manageable to explore fear and fear-based belief systems.
A place to hope and dream. Art materials don’t tell you that you can’t, they support you without judgement as you give yourself permission to think big. Art-making thus becomes an emotionally safe container, or space, to explore possibility. This, in turn, gives you the felt experience of success—which reteaches your limiting narratives (said differently, your negative patterned thinking) as you prepare to move ahead.
Connection to your inner wisdom. Art therapy processing techniques help you explore the subtle metaphors and meaning held within your work. This depth work informs insight, self-awareness, and greater self-trust.
Through art therapy, courage is cultivated not by “building up”, but by exploring the things that block it. Art therapy allows those blocks to subtly shift and fall away, so that you can be more present and authentic to life’s challenges and opportunities.
Courage LieS Within YOU
Since developing my system in 2018, I’ve provided workshops across the US—presenting the Inner Critic Eviction to public health graduate students at the University of Arizona; at entrepreneurial training programs for yoga teachers with Yoga Specialists and Radiant Spirit School of Yoga; and partnering with Money Management Counselors, Inc as part of the Money Mindset Makeover. My system is now encapsulated within a signature course series called the True Natured Challenge, which is offered 2-3 times per year.
Today, my non-clinical practice focuses on supporting creatives of all genres who are ready to overcome their limiting beliefs in life and work; and willing use their creativity for navigating life…as well as for general self-care. My students connect with courage not through brute strength and or a “power” mindset, but from a place of compassion, self-acceptance, and grace.
Are you interested in the True Natured Challenge, or an organizational collaboration? Contact Jodi here.
Want to explore how art therapy can work for YOU? Join the 8 Keys mini-course. Inside the 8 Keys you’ll find audio meditations, fourteen art prompts, a practice guide, and additional resources to help you establish a nourishing creative practice. The 8 Keys is FREE and housed inside my app, True Natured Creatives. Available in your Apple or Google Play stores, or explore it online here.
Jodi Rose Gonzales ATR, NCC, ERYT, YACEP is an artist, art therapist, author and yoga teacher who helps creative people unlock their full potential. Get her free mini-course called Creative Freedom: Eight Essential Keys to Inspiration, HERE.