The Trouble Tree

Introduction

The Trouble Tree invites a young person into the concept of naming emotions, feeling them in their body and then releasing them in a deliberate way. I expected to use this with my very young clients (under 10) but found that teenagers also enjoy the step-by-step process it follows. It begins with a creative visualisation, through which the client is guided to find their Trouble Tree. From there they search inside the body for their troubles and hang them on the tree for the wind to blow them away. The client is then invited to choose one of four Trouble Tree templates the one that best suits their troubles. They then colour that in as they chat about what troubles they have and where they were found in the body. The exercise becomes more than a creative visualisation; it is a platform from which they have freedom to speak.

Some young people find it difficult to name their concerns, especially at the beginning of sessions when the therapeutic relationship is building. Having an exercise that expressly acknowledges firstly that we all have troubles, and that they are embodied, gives the young person insight into the connection between how they are feeling emotionally and its impact on how they feel physically. The exercise directs attention towards naming the emotion, feeling it in their body, and then letting it go. The Trouble Tree provides a structured way to explore what it feels like to go through that process in a creative way.

Context for using the Trouble Tree exercise with your client.

This exercise begins with a short visualisation in which you guide the client, to identify their emotion and seek where it is embodied. Just as it is for adults, stress for young people can often be held in the tummy, the neck or shoulders; but the client will let you know where their trouble resides and your acceptance of whatever they say will validate their inner experience. This teaches the young person that all emotion is embodied and informs through their lived experience the interconnectivity between body and feelings.

The client is then invited to leave their troubles on the low hanging branches of the Tree and is assured that the wind will blow them away. After the visualisation, the client is asked to make some art around their experience. For some young people the blank page can be intimidating as they may already carry a judgement around not being good at art from school. Instead, you can invite them to choose a Trouble Tree from the selection of templates offered and colour them in as they chat with you about what it was like for them to visit the Trouble Tree. The focus is on the process not on the picture, so do not fall into the trap of commenting on their picture one way or the other.

Containment

You will need to inform parents that the images made in counselling are not like other artwork young people bring home from school. These images are part of the young person’s process and that process may be evoked when the young person sees the image again or make them feel vulnerable with other people seeing it. So, it is not appropriate to display them on the fridge unless the young person expressly asks for them to be seen by others.  Be mindful that art made in counselling or psychotherapy needs the same kind of respect and reverence you usually have for therapeutic process, and all your ethical standards apply. If you are holding images for the young client, they belong under lock and key with your process notes and kept under the usual GDPR regulations.

Grounding

·         Set out a clear time frame for the exercise, letting the young person know how long each part of it will take.

Suggested time; 3- 5 mins for the visualisation and 8-10 for the drawing or colouring in.

·         Invite the client to sit or lie in a comfortable relaxed position where they are well supported with back long and eyes either closed or lowered to the ground.

·         Bring their attention to the breath, simply by noticing how the body moves as the breath flows in and out again. Invite their attention to drop deeper inside the body and see what sensations they can name. If they can feel any areas of tension or stress, ask them to describe it using sensation words. Invite them to breath into those places with a gentle breath of kindness.

·         Include any emotions that might be here today about doing this exercise. Remember all feelings are embodied so sometimes it’s the sensations that tell us where emotion is being experienced. Ask them to name the emotions if they can. (No pressure if they can’t) Invite them to breath into those feelings with kindness.

·         Bring their attention to the business of the mind inviting them to look at all their thoughts float by like clouds in the sky. If their attention is pulled into a particular thought, just notice that and gently bring the awareness back to the breath. Breath into the gaps between your thoughts.

Your language for this grounding process may be modified to make it more age appropriate and younger clients might just give you one word for body, feelings and mind. Don’t assume how much or how little they will say, but rather let your own attention to them in the process guide your language and timings for them.

Visualisation

When doing the visualisation with a young person, make it clear to the them that they answer any questions asked silently in their mind, so that they a know what is expected of them.

Imagine you are walking in an outdoor space. It might be a garden, the seaside, or the countryside. Choose whatever outdoor place you like best. Enjoy the smells around you, (pause for each of the senses) what sounds can you hear? Can you feel the textures of this place, maybe sand between your toes or the ground beneath your feet as you walk in this lovely place. Is it day or night? Is it warm or cool? What colours can you see around you?

Notice a path just up ahead that leads to a small group of trees. It is safe to follow that path so see yourself walking through the trees. It’s cooler in the shade and the sunlight dances on the path ahead of you. You emerge from the trees into a clearing where you see a huge tree standing at the centre. Pause for a moment to take in its massive trunk and the many low hanging branches that reach out like loving arms waiting to embrace you. You feel a warm glow in your heart as you recognise the tree and begin to approach. You know this is your Trouble Tree and that it is the place to bring any worries or troubles you have.

Standing before the tree, check inside your body to see where those troubles might be. Perhaps you feel them as a tightness in the tummy, or a strain in the back of your neck. Are you carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders or carrying it all in your hands. Perhaps for you those troubles are in the legs or feet or does your head feel weighed down with heavy thoughts, or perhaps your heart is filled with the stone eggs of the loneliness birds. (give time here for their exploration)

As you discover each trouble, take it from your body and place it on the low branches of the tree. One by one your body feels lighter, freer and more able to relax as you release your troubles to the tree. Breath kindness into the spaces where they were. When you have placed all of your troubles on the tree, know that the wind will come to blow them away. For now, you can find a comfortable place to sit or stand with your back to the tree, soaking up its strength and support. Take as long as you need here and when you feel ready, in your own time, make a piece of art around your experience with the trouble tree.

Leave Trouble Tree Templates, blank paper and art materials out so the young person can make their choice without needing instruction from you.

Processing the image

·         When the client has made an image, either colouring-in or freehand, invite them to give their picture a title.

·         Ask them how they feel now.

·         How is the part of their body where the trouble lived feeling.

·         Ask is there anything their tree needs; and if there is, are they willing to add that to their picture?

·         If the young person choses to chat while they are making their image, your role is to listen with interest and curiosity. Avoid interpreting what you see, only they know what the picture is about.

·         Invite them to connect once again with the breath, and notice any changes in their body from doing this exercise

·         Encourage them to try this at home anytime they feel troubled.

By using the Trouble Tree, you are giving the young person a creative resource that they will over time, make their own. This is an opportunity for you to encourage the use of a drawing journal, where the client makes their own Trouble Trees when something goes wrong. If you are willing to provide one for them, it is more likely that they will begin a creative practice as a way to self-regulate. Assure the young person, that this is not homework, and they do not need to bring their journals with them for sessions. However, if they do choose to bring it in, it might help them talk about a trouble they have experienced through the week. They learn to express their troubles by drawing them in their book, close the book and it can hold the trouble until they come to session to talk about it. Pictures or colouring-in images are more confidential than writing words and for young people who are challenged with writing, they are free to express themselves without that difficulty arising.

As with all the Mini-Modules, the process of bringing a creative approach to your practice is better scaffolded by having your own Creative Practice. Module one teaches you how to get started with that and the more you use it the more comfortable you become with offering it to your clients.