Worry Monster: Art-Based Therapy Activity

• Plain white paper, letter size or larger
• Crayons, markers, or colored pencils; modeling clay if the child would rather build the creature
• Optional collage scraps: googly eyes, yarn, tissue paper, a glue stick
• A pencil for the speech bubble and the talk-back lines
• A second sheet for drawing the shrunken monster

Read each step aloud and let the child lead the drawing; your job is to stay curious about the creature.

1. 1
   Ask the child to remember a recent time the worry showed up: before a spelling test, at bedtime, on the way to a birthday party. Pick one worry for this drawing.
2. 2
   Invite them to draw the worry as a creature. A lumpy blob, a spiky dragon, and a tiny bug all count; there is no wrong way to draw it.
3. 3
   Ask for a name. Kids often pick something silly, like the Grumble or Mr. What-If, and the silliness can make the worry feel less powerful.
4. 4
   Draw a speech bubble and write what the monster says, such as "What if nobody picks you up?" or "Everyone will laugh." Do the writing yourself for younger children.
5. 5
   Get to know its habits. Write short answers around the drawing:

   • Where does it show up? (school, bed, the car)
   • What does it make you do or skip?
   • When is it biggest, and when is it smallest?
   • Who or what makes it shrink?
6. 6
   Plan the talk-back. Write two or three things the child can say to the monster, such as "You always say that and it hasn't happened yet" or "I can be scared and still go." Practice them out loud in a strong voice.
7. 7
   Shrink it. On the second sheet, the child draws the monster after it has been talked back to: smaller, sleepier, wearing a silly hat, or stuck in a jar.
8. 8
   Decide where the drawings go: a backpack, a folder in your office, or home to show a parent.

• During: What does your monster look like when it first shows up? What color is it today?
• During: What is the sneakiest thing it says to you?
• During: Where in your body do you feel it when it starts talking?
• During: Was there ever a time the monster told you something scary and you did the thing anyway? What happened?
• After: What would the monster hate for you to do this week?
• After: Who else should know this monster's name so they can help you talk back?

• Kids: For ages 5 to 8, keep it to one session, write the talk-back lines for them, and act the lines out with a puppet or stuffed animal. My Calm-Down Plan adds calming skills to use alongside them.
• Teens: Many teens find "monster" babyish. Offer a heckler in the back row, an annoying narrator, or a pop-up ad that won't close. The steps stay the same.
• Adults: Some adults enjoy the playfulness; others prefer a quick sketch or a written description. Saying "when the anxiety shows up" carries over well into talk sessions.
• Groups: Each child draws their own monster, then the group brainstorms talk-back lines for one another. Keep sharing voluntary and steer away from comparing whose worry is worse.
• Caregivers: Show parents the drawing so they can use the monster's name at home and cue the child's own talk-back lines.

• Trauma: Some worries are about real danger, such as an unsafe adult at home or ongoing bullying. Talking back to an accurate fear is the wrong tool. Check safety first and follow your reporting duties if the drawing or conversation points to abuse or neglect. With a child who has a trauma history, keep the creature about the worry as it shows up now, and never ask them to draw the frightening event itself.
• Flooding and grounding: If a child becomes very scared or tearful, pause. Turn the picture face down, have them press their feet flat on the floor and breathe out slowly a few times, or walk through 5-4-3-2-1 grounding together before deciding whether to go on.
• When to stop: Stop if the child seems more frightened after drawing than before, if the creature starts to look like a real person who has hurt them, or if they say no. Another day is fine.
• No diagnostic interpretation: Do not read the size, color, or features of the monster as signs of a disorder; the child's own description leads. When worry is constant and disrupts school, sleep, or friendships, complete a full assessment, since a drawing activity cannot stand in for structured treatment of an anxiety disorder.

A nine-year-old who had started refusing sleepovers drew a purple blob with long arms and named it The Clinger. In its speech bubble she wrote, "What if you throw up and everyone sees?" The Clinger was biggest, she said, the evening before any night away. Asked about a time she went somewhere anyway, she remembered a field trip where The Clinger talked the whole bus ride and nothing bad happened. Together they wrote two talk-back lines: "You said that on the field trip too" and "I can feel a little sick and still have fun." On the second sheet she drew The Clinger the size of a pea, asleep in a jar, and her father agreed to use its name when the worry came up at bedtime.