Picture This: Using Bilateral Drawing to Recenter and Destress

Because classroom behavior issues continue to rise in frequency, I am constantly looking for effective remedies to common challenges. 

Recently, I’ve been reading about the benefits of bilateral drawing in art therapy. This type of therapy can include simple exercises to help students self-soothe, self-regulate, and calm themselves when they encounter stress and overwhelming feelings.

Bilateral drawing is one form of art therapy that involves doodling, scribbling, or drawing with both hands together. Because it uses both the left and right sides of the brain, it can help warm up the whole brain and stimulate creative thinking.

Cathy Malchiodi, PhD, a licensed professional mental health counselor, author, and registered art therapist, defines bilateral drawing as a “deceptively simple art-based activity … that capitalizes on self-regulating properties similar to rocking, walking, cycling, or drumming.” 

With bilateral drawing, “the intent is not necessarily to make a specific image but to instead just engage both hands in spontaneous drawing with chalks, pastels, or other easily manipulated art materials.”

Bilateral drawing as art therapy has been in practice since at least the 1950s. Early art therapy practitioners like Florence Cane observed that large swinging movements from the shoulders, elbows, or wrists both enhance creativity and support healthy rhythms in the body and mind. Translating these large movements to drawing materials and paper can help children feel grounded, regulated, and calm.

This exercise has many benefits. As our bodies relax, we feel more grounded and we feel calmer and more in control of our impulses. This is an excellent technique for students feeling stuck in big emotions because it shifts their focus and helps their minds think of something else. It helps them process feelings and emotions by soothing and calming their reactions to stress. Because of this, students can move past anxious feelings, anger, sadness, and other feelings that may feel too big to handle effectively.

Malchiodi states, “Students often need experiences that involve movement to reduce sensations of feeling trapped, withdrawn, or out of control…. Drawing bilaterally shifts attention away from a distressing situation to a more action-oriented, self-empowered focus…. which can alter one’s internal rhythms for self-regulation and well-being.”

If you want to try bilateral drawing with your students, all you need is a piece of paper and your choice of drawing materials. 

Sit or stand in a position that will allow both hands to move freely at the same time. I recommend taping the paper down so it doesn’t move. The key is to move both hands together and try to draw with the same movements. The drawing does not have to be continuous, so feel free to change colors and take breaks. Some people choose different colors for each hand so they can see the distinction between both sides of the drawing. 

This activity is meant to help students relax and destress, so there is no need for a time limit.

I like playing music to stimulate other senses, such as hearing and feeling. Allowing students to draw along to the music brings in emotion, and allows them to move to how the music makes them feel. 

Remind your students that there is no right or wrong picture to create; it is just how their body chooses to move their colors across the paper with both hands at the same time.

After you complete your drawing exercise, take a moment to guide your students to reflect on how they feel now. You can ask things like:

-How does your body feel?

-How is your mind feeling?

-Do you feel differently than when we started drawing?

Try giving many opportunities to do art therapy often. Be creative in finding ways to fit it into your week. Try using different styles of music, modeling different movements on the paper, using bigger pieces of paper and bigger body movements, or standing up and using more arm and shoulder motions.

I hope you find using bilateral drawing helpful when your students get stuck in negative behaviors. Remind them that they can add this as another valuable skill they can do to help them feel more calm, regulated, capable, and at peace.

Warmly,

Debbie