Doodling is the unconscious making of marks or drawings often done while we are bored or preoccupied. It is a technique I often encourage in an Art Psychotherapy session, especially if the client says they don’t know where to start. It is a simple but powerful tool that can provide an unconscious flow of information from the subconscious mind to the hand.
A client can, unconsciously, render in images/drawings, anxieties that we might have difficulty putting into words. Similarly to how dreams are thought to offer us a glimpse into our unconscious, psychologists believe doodling can give us an insight into our deepest thoughts feelings and emotions. This form of simple expression can greatly help us to process emotions.
According to research from the University of Plymouth, UK doodling boost your mind’s ability to notice and remember mundane information by 29 percent, (Andrade, 2010). This may be because doodling, to an extent, engages the person in the present moment.The act of drawing makes use of visuospatial processes in the brain that might otherwise be used for daydreaming, so preventing your mind from wandering. Doodling can clear the mind. It also has a meditative component to it and so it can induce relaxation and relieve stress and lessen anxiety. Famous doodlers include the poet John Keats, Samuel Beckett, Sylvia Plath, Leonardo da Vinci and George Washington to name but a few.
References
Malchiodi, C (2014) Doodling Your Way to a More Mindful Life
Andrade, J. (2010). What does doodling do? Applied Cognitive Psychology, 24: 100–106. doi: 10.1002/acp.1561.
Brown, S. (2014). The Doodle Revolution: Unlock the Power to Think Differently. New York: Portfolio Penguin.
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