More Little People

So…In my spare time between exposures, I have been drawing Little People pictures. For those unfamiliar, exposure therapy is a core component of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and is often used to help people face fears, trauma, and anxiety in a safe and structured way.

According to the American Psychological Association, exposure therapy is:

“A psychological treatment that was developed to help people confront their fears. When people are fearful of something, they tend to avoid the feared objects, activities, or situations. Although this avoidance might help reduce feelings of fear in the short term, over the long term it can make the fear become even worse. In such situations, a psychologist might recommend a program of exposure therapy in order to help break the pattern of avoidance and fear. In this form of therapy, psychologists create a safe environment in which to ‘expose’ individuals to the things they fear and avoid. The exposure to the feared objects, activities, or situations in a safe environment helps reduce fear and decrease avoidance.”

Exposure therapy can be emotionally exhausting, and after each exposure, I have found that drawing helps me calm down and regulate my emotions. It gives me something creative and grounding to focus on after doing difficult therapeutic work.

As an added bonus, it has led to some pretty cool pictures. Here are the latest additions to my Little People collection.

Little People and a frog.

Little People in a Circle.

Little People in a Zigzag.

Little People in a Line.