How can you have a session without actually seeing my drawings?
I get this question a lot - especially from phone clients. My answer is: what matters is not what I see in your drawing but what you see in it. If I were to see your drawing, my mind might start to interpret it and apply meanings that aren't correct. That is why I ask you to describe what you drew and listen deeply to what you have to say about it. This is all the information I need to help it clear from your system.
How is drawing an emotion different from simply writing about it?
You've heard the adage "a picture is worth a thousand words"? The act of drawing is thus the act of pouring thousands of words out onto the page.
Also, whereas words stem from our logical, linear left brain, drawing taps into our primal, emotional, right-brain in a way that writing words on a page cannot. Symbols and images are powerful communicators of meaning and feeling. Click here to read more about this.
If, as you say, these parts want to "protect" and "support" me, why would I want to get rid of them?
First of all, you shouldn't "get rid of" any part of you that truly feels like it's serving your growth and helping you to flow freely through your life. The parts you should draw out are those inhibiting your ability to move forward in life, trust yourself, take action without fear, feel at peace, etc. They are like scared little children clinging to your coattails, weighing you down, making it difficult to take steps. Or they're like mean bullies and resistors that, no matter how hard to push, they push back even harder.
Either way, they're holding you back - not because they're trying to hurt you but often because they're scared and want to prevent you from getting hurt. (They also want to be heard and loved.) However, their view of the world may not be as mature or expanded as yours is. We have far more power and far more choices as adults than we did as children. So, in order to truly feel free and empowered, we need to let these parts of us speak so that they will finally feel understood and let go of their mental and emotional fixations.
Does the Drawing Out Process® work for all emotions/thoughts/behaviors within us?
As someone who has tried many different emotional release techniques, I can confidently say that no single technique works on every emotional or mental challenge we face. This is because emotional parts of us often have different qualities, beliefs, resistances, etc. that respond differently to each approach.
In my experience, the techniques that do work are always the ones that successful release whatever resistance we carry inside us. For example, acupuncture needles and energy healing modalities draw energy to areas of the body where the energy is blocked, thereby opening those channels to flow again. The Work by Byron Katie guides us to question our stressful thoughts, thereby reducing the conviction we feel around them and allowing in other perspectives/possibilities. The Sedona Method poses the question, "Can you just accept...?" and "Can you just let that go?", helping us accept (rather than resist) what-is and recognize that we have a choice whether or not we want to hold on to old resistant thoughts and emotions.
Similarly, the Drawing Out Process® works because it provides a safe way to recognize and express these parts that plague us - and thereby gives them permission to release their hold on us. It is yet another empowering tool in the compendium of emotional release techniques that help us to recognize and free blocked energy within us.
When you feel plagued by one particular thought that doesn't seem to have a "monster" associated with it, The Work will work wonders! On the other hand, the Drawing Out Process® can unravel many different stressful thoughts and emotions at once - because they may all be possessed by the same "monster" within you. As you draw out that part of you, you clear out a huge chunk of those old emotions, beliefs, and behaviors within you.
There is no one way or answer. Whatever technique feels most right for you to use at any given time is the one you should use.
Does the Drawing Out Process have any religious affiliations?
No. The Drawing Out Process® is entirely neutral with regard to any religion or spiritual belief. I have worked with Christians, Jews, Muslims, and Hindus, and none of them have expressed any conflicts between their religion and the concepts of the DrOP. The DrOP addresses emotional issues which are universal to all human beings - no matter what your religious, cultural, or societal influences.
What do I do with the drawings once I'm done with them?
You can do whatever you feel like doing: keep them, throw them away, or perhaps burn them to ceremonially mark their departure from your life. It's up to you. I still have all of my past drawings but only to serve as an historical record of how I used to feel and how different I am today. When I look at them now, they hold no resonance for me anymore.
Once I've drawn out a part of me, will it bother me again?
No. My intention with every session is to guide that character within you to a permanent state of peace. It may disappear (either during the session or soon after), or, from now on after the session, you will experience it as a loving, supportive presence within you. But you will never experience that same energy the same way again. Some clients continue to be aware of its presence after the session, but it is calmer and more peaceful than it was before.
From time-to-time, a client will say, "After our session, [so-and-so character] reared its ugly head again!" And I say, "Are you sure it was the same character? Was the energy exactly the same?" They think for a moment and conclude, "No, you're right. This energy was a little different..." Often, they think it's the same because, for example, both characters made them feel anxious or angry. But just because the emotions are the same doesn't mean they're originating from the same place within you.