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Find ways to express yourself and process your experiences through creative outlets like art, music writing and more.
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Thank you to everyone who tuned in for our latest community call on Creative Coping. This session was all about moving our inner worlds outward. If you are looking for new, gentle ways to process stress, navigate complex emotions, and reconnect with yourself, this recap is for you.
What is Creative Coping?
Creativity is simply the ability to bring something new into existence or find original, effective solutions. Creative self-expression is the act of communicating your unique thoughts, emotions, identity, and imagination through whatever medium feels most authentic to you. This doesn’t just mean painting or drawing; it can show up in writing, movement, music, fashion, gardening, cooking, or even working on a puzzle!
Why Practice Creative Coping?
Engaging in creative coping does so much more than just pass the time. It:
3 Creative Practices to Try Today:
During the call, we walked through three simple, accessible exercises you can practice at home:
A powerful way to ground yourself in the present moment. Grab a piece of paper and a pen, close your eyes or soften your gaze, and let your hand draw a continuous line that mimics the natural rise and fall of your breathing.
Writing allows us to gently confront what we are carrying. Set a timer and write a reflection starting with one of these three prompts:
Neurographic art is a simple drawing method designed to help transform stress and chaotic thoughts into calm, flowing shapes:
We were honored to be joined by Sally Kidd who shared tips and tricks from her vast experience in media.
Some tips for telling your story on video:
We were honored to be joined by award winning storytelling coach, Michael McRay who did a workshop on how to tell an effective story. Here are our favorite takeaways.
Michael then gave everyone a prompt, “Tell about a moment that you realized your lie wouldn’t be the same in big or small ways due to your cancer diagnosis. What happened? How did you realize it? Paint a picture of life before. Show us the after.
Storytelling frameworks:
STAR model – situation, tension, action result
Storytelling Canvas
If you want to tell your story from the prompt, avoid telling people about your diagnosis, instead (as Ari wisely said) “come and live with me for a few minutes.”
We were honored to have Dr. Jen Currin-McCullock join us to share about her studies and approach for photo storytelling. She walked us through the process using prompts available in her presentation and facilitated discussions.
We were honored to have Lisa from Elephants and Tea and Wendy from MD Anderson guide us through a Healing Through Writing Workshop. A few thoughts on writing as a healing modality: write what comes to you without judgment; the goal is to follow the pathway and allow yourself to process what you’re thinking and feeling; it can be helpful to put your thoughts on paper and then put the journal away; writing can be intimidating; sharing your writing with family and friends can be helpful for them too.
Elephants and Tea regularly has writing workshops that are free for AYAs to attend. Check out their Programs and Events page for more information.
During the workshop, we went through 5 prompts, took 3 minuts to write in response to each and then discussed what we wrote or how we felt about the prompt and process. Here are the prompts:
We were honored to have Callie Ludwig, LPCC-S, LPAT, ATR-BC, art therapist and LifeList alum give us an overview of Twist Out Cancer, Art Therapy, and walk us through an activity. See the presentation to learn more about art therapy, Twist Out Cancer, an activity walk-through, and how to find an art therapist in your area.
We were honored to have Megan McDonald, board certified music therapist, neurologic music therapist and music teacher join us to talk about Music for Self-Care while going through treatment.
We chatted about all things music and self-care and worked together to brainstorm some ideas of songs for playlists. Here are some helpful documents:
Music for Self-Care Leisure Ideas
Ultimate Coping Playlist Brainstorm
Music for Self-Care Presentation
Guided Progressive Muscle Relaxation (no music)
Guided Progressive Muscle Relaxation (with background music)
We were honored to have Rachel from Elephants and Tea and Wendy from MD Anderson guide us through a Healing Through Writing Workshop. A bit about narrative therapy: writing can help us make sense of our story and give words to our experiences. This can be a blog, notes you keep on your phone, scrapbooks with journaling, journals, or just jotting down your stream of consciousness. You don’t have to know where you are going to start and writing it down somewhere can help you think through what is happening, get it out of your head, down on paper, and reflect on it. Narrative therapy can really help when you don’t have someone right there who “gets it” as you can write to process and know that there is no judgment.
Elephants and Tea regularly has writing workshops that are free for AYAs to attend. Check out their Programs and Events page for more information.
During our workshop, we went through 5 prompts, took 3 minutes to write in response to each and then discussed what we wrote or how we felt about the prompt and process. Here are the prompts:
We worked together to create two amazing playlists. Give them a listen!
