At art remedy, depending on how our first session together unfolds, we may hold off using art as a theraputic intervention right away, delaying it until the second or third session. This is because it’s important we don’t rush the process. Much like the Chinese idiom 盲人摸象 demonstrates.
The idiom refers to only having a surface-level understanding of something, or to only understand part of something but think you have the whole story. Literally, it means, blind people touching an elephant.
The story goes as such: A long time ago, there were four blind villagers who wanted to know what the mysterious new creature passing through the village, an elephant, was. But as they couldn’t see, all they could do was use their hands to touch. The first villager touched the elephants tusks and said “oh I know! an elephant is like a massive carrot”. The second, felt the elephants ears and remarked “no, no, no, you’ve got it all wrong, an elephant is like a large floppy fan!” The third, felt the elephant’s leg and the fourth, its tail. None of them could agree as to what an elephant was, and all were adamant the others got it wrong.
This story shows us that it is only when we take a patient, holistic approach that we can truly understand a whole picture. Unlike the villagers and the elephant, we need to be across all of the unique aspects that make you, you. A deeper sense of the bigger picture will allow us to facilitate the therapeutic intervention that is the most powerful for you.