National Self Awareness Day – An Art Therapist’s Tip
Cultivating Self-Awareness Through Art
National Self-Awareness Day invites us to pause and reflect on the ways we connect with ourselves. Whether through scribbling, painting, collaging, or molding clay, the act of creating offers insight into our own self-awareness if we approach it with intention.
Why Intention Matters
Self-awareness comes from noticing what’s happening within us while we create. If we don’t focus our awareness on what precedes these creative acts, how we shift during them, and what we feel after them, self-awareness remains static.
While creating, ask yourself:
What attracted me to this material or process in the first place?
How do I feel as I begin?
Do my feelings shift as I continue to create?
How do I feel now that I’ve finished?
This kind of mindful attention turns even the simplest creative act into a practice of self-awareness.
What Does Self-Awareness Mean in the Context of Art Therapy?
Check-ins: Group sessions often begin with a brief, formal check-in, sometimes metaphorical, like “what color are you feeling today?” These gentle questions create space for reflection.
The creative process itself: Making art creates a constant feedback loop with ourselves. Doubt, judgment, hesitation, frustration, joy, and excitement can all surface. These inner experiences are part of what makes the creative act inherently self-reflective. In art therapy, clients are encouraged to notice and name these shifts over time. An art therapist may also introduce specific materials or metaphors to guide this exploration such as a winding pathway or a bridge to illuminate barriers to success, or a lighthouse as a reminder of hope and guidance. Paying attention to what unfolds within us while we create deepens awareness of our emotional landscape.
Processing afterward: The true point where self-awareness is cultivated is the verbal processing that happens at the end of an art therapy session. There is no script, an art therapist responds based on where a client is in their journey and what goals they are working toward. For some clients, this means helping reduce the voice of their inner judge. For others, it may mean working through a memory that surfaced unexpectedly: What might have triggered it? How does it feel to sit with it now? What could help those feelings shift? Not everyone is ready to put words to their process, and that’s okay. Over time, these conversations help build safety, trust, and help cultivate awareness of what arises in the art-making process.
How Art-Making Helps Us Discover Hidden Emotions
Art-making can provide a bridge into our unconscious, and this happens in two ways. The first is through the creative act itself. When we are creating art, some decisions are made without planning or reflection, and these can shape the art into something that we were not expecting. Witnessing these subconscious decisions emerge in front of us forces reflection, which can stir unexpected emotions and memories.
Equally, once an art piece is complete, self-reflection can become more deliberate. Discussing the work can bring deeper meaning to both the creative experience and the content that emerged.
A Simple Prompt for Self-Awareness
While there’s no specific exercise, the most important part of cultivating self-awareness through art-making is consistency and intention. Whether it’s doodling or playing with clay, the key is to be intentional about paying attention to your inner dialogue. Over time, this practice of tuning-in regularly can help inner awareness emerge in everyday life.