Scribble Drawing: Art-Based Therapy Activity

• Plain paper, letter size or larger (bigger sheets invite freer arm movement)
• One dark crayon, marker or soft pencil for the scribble
• Oil pastels, colored pencils or markers for developing the image
• Optional: a timer and tape to hold the page down

Read the steps in a light, unhurried voice. The point is play, and no scribble is wrong.

1. 1
   Say plainly that skill does not matter here. One line that helps: "This one is all about loose lines. Nobody is grading the drawing."
2. 2
   Warm up for a minute: shake out the hands, roll the shoulders, or draw big circles in the air.
3. 3
   Hand over the dark crayon or marker. Ask the client to make one continuous scribble across the whole page for about 30 seconds, with loops, zigzags and crossing lines. Some people like to scribble with their eyes closed. Mention it as an option the client is free to skip.
4. 4
   Turn the page slowly through all four sides. Ask the client to look for a shape, creature, object or face hiding in the lines. Give this a full minute; looking is part of the work.
5. 5
   When something shows up, invite the client to bring it out with color. They can thicken some lines, fill in shapes, ignore lines that do not belong, and add whatever the picture needs.
6. 6
   Ask the client to give the finished picture a title, or to write a sentence or two about it on the back.
7. 7
   Talk about the picture in the client's own words. Follow their meaning, and hold your own guesses unless they ask for them.

• During: What do you notice as you turn the page? Is anything starting to show up?
• During: What does this part need? More color, a bolder line, more space?
• After: Tell me about what you found. What is happening in the picture?
• After: If this picture had a title, what would it be?
• After: What was it like to start with a mess on purpose?
• After: Does anything in the picture connect to your week, or to what we have been talking about?

• Kids: Play the turn-taking squiggle game. You draw a quick squiggle, the child turns it into something, then the child draws a squiggle for you to finish (Berger, 1980). Very young children may simply enjoy scribbling, and that is enough.
• Teens: Let them choose the materials and the time limit. Turning the page sideways or upside down often turns up a funny or strange image, which takes the edge off feeling watched.
• Adults: For a client who freezes at a blank page, scribble side by side on separate sheets. Seeing the clinician's scribble come out just as messy often breaks the ice.
• Groups: Everyone scribbles, then passes the page to the left. The next person finds an image in someone else's lines, and the page goes back to its owner for a title. Set a norm that members describe what they see and skip critique.
• Limited hand control: Use a thick marker or a foam grip, and tape the paper to the table so it stays put.

• Trauma: Keep eyes open as the default. For some trauma survivors, shutting the eyes in a room with another person raises alarm, so closing them should always be the client's choice.
• Flooding and grounding: An image that appears by surprise can carry strong feeling. If the client's breathing speeds up, their face changes, or they go quiet and far away, pause the drawing and ground first with feet on the floor, a slow exhale, or the 5-4-3-2-1 grounding exercise.
• When to stop: Stop or switch to a neutral task if distress keeps rising after grounding, if the client asks to stop, or if the image pulls them toward a memory they did not choose to explore today. Folding or covering the page can help put it away for now. If the client reports urges to self-harm, move to a risk check and safety planning.
• No diagnostic interpretation: Never tell a client what a shape or color means. Projective drawing assessments take specialist training to interpret, and this activity is a conversation starter. The client's own description of the picture is the only interpretation that counts.

A 29-year-old client working on job stress said she had not drawn since grade school and could not draw anyway. The counselor asked for 30 seconds of loose scribbling with a black crayon, eyes open. Turning the page, the client laughed and said one loop looked like a bird with its wings jammed against the edge of the paper. She colored the bird in blue and taped a second sheet to the side so the wings had room. Asked for a title, she wrote "Needs More Room." The counselor asked what in her week felt cramped, and she talked about a schedule with no break for lunch; they ended by picking one 20-minute block she would protect on Tuesday.