macaw

I am a cat humour therapist in Art Asylum and my name is Scribble. Cat therapists usually take themselves rather seriously and some of them disapprove of jokes about therapy. Whilst I do like clients to see the funny side and I do recognize that there may not always be a funny side to see. So I take my cue from the client. If the client is worried and depressed you have to be careful. Worse thing you can do would be tell them to 'cheer up' and act kittenish. When clients start doodling scribble you can be on the lookout for therapeutic opportunities to help them take a lighter view. That does not mean laughing at their pictures. Often they draw themselves huddled up in a underground hole above which hovers an inky black cloud. Black and red are common colour combinations with angry skies and sinister nooses dangling from branches. Therapists like to encourage positive thinking but depressed people may not regard that as an option. So I try to work from their negative scenarios. If they say how bad their picture is I ask what they specially dislike about it, what is its worst feature.They may reply it is all just awful. So I encourage to look at it from different angles, consider whether it looks least awful upside down. If the client is really fed up and starts getting cross then it is best to let them calm down. So I purr soothingly till they start to relax and doze off a bit. I encourage them to do the talking, and let them make the jokes. With luck they might have a go at doing another picture that will help them escape from the hole in which they were stuck. If I start playing with the pens that usually gets their interest It is quite hard work being funny but very rewarding when you see the sad person begin to smile.
©Carol Cameron 2006-10