macaw

Silly Grin Scribble is my name and I am a cat humour therapist in Art Asylum. Cat therapists generally take themselves rather seriously and some of them disapprove of jokes about art therapy. Whilst I do like clients to see the funny side 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 worrying themselves sick or heavily depressed you have to treat them with care. Worse thing you could do would be tell them to 'cheer up'. That is not funny but stupid and cruel. Better to be sensitive and discreet. When clients are ready to start drawing and doing artwork you can be on the lookout for therapeutic opportunities to help them take a lighter view. That does not mean laughing at their pictures because the pictures depressed people may be not funny. Typically they draw themselves huddled up in a underground hole above which hovers an inky black cloud. Black and red are frequent colour combinations with angry skies and sinister nooses dangling from tree branches. Therapists like to encourage positive thinking but seriously depressed people may not regard that as an option. So I have to work within 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. The aim is to encourage them to do the talking, and let them to 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 changes it can make.