Large circle of mandalas. Application of the mandala method in psychotherapeutic work

Mandalotherapy

Currently, one of the most ancient methods of individual therapy - drawing sacred circles - mandalas, is becoming increasingly popular in psychotherapy. This method is called mandala therapy, combining art therapy with the magical properties of mandalas.

Translated from Sanskrit, the word "mandala" means circle and represents a pattern in a circle. In its deeper meaning, the word "mandala" is the extraction of essence. This is deep work with our unconscious, which helps to gain integrity and restores the harmony of our soul. The most famous mandalas are in Buddhism and Hinduism, where meditation with them has ritual significance and at the same time the process of self-integration occurs.

Drawing against stress

Level 1. Simple coloring.

Take your child's coloring book, choose the picture you like and color! Everything is very simple! But even such a simple action will bear fruit within half an hour. Irritability, anger and despondency will go away (if they existed, of course).

Level 2. Drawing.

Take a large sheet of paper and evaluate your inner state. If you are irritated or angry, you can take markers and pour out all your anger and anger onto paper. If, on the contrary, you want to create, take paints and draw whatever your hand wants. Try not to think. Listen to music and relax.

Level 3. Finger painting.

You will need a sheet of paper of at least A3 size. A stunning effect can be achieved if you put on headphones, turn on your favorite music and move away from stereotyped images. You don't need to draw anything, just apply the paint to a piece of whatman paper with your fingers. Sometimes wet your fingers in a jar of water and throw out everything that has accumulated, everything that you want to part with, everything that is rushing out.

Level 4. Coloring the mandala

A mandala is a drawing in a circle. A mandala is a mirror, an imprint of your life here and now. Anyone can color it. One day, when my emotional state was difficult, I started coloring mandalas. These templates can be found all over the Internet and can be printed on a printer. For example, in the Album of mandalas for coloring...

Level 5. Drawing a mandala.

Nothing could be easier! Trace a round plate and draw whatever your heart desires in the circle. Don't think about colors and concept. Just draw. Don't choose colors, don't invent a plot. Give free rein to your imagination, unleash your intuition and, ultimately, get a MASTERPIECE! What is a masterpiece? This is a work that will give you goosebumps... You will have a masterpiece if you can completely let yourself go in the flight of your soul.

Level 6. DIY mandala.

Any creative techniques you are familiar with can be used to create a mandala. Floristry, decoupage, embroidery, modeling, beading, knitting, mosaic... everything will come in handy! The main thing is that it is a circle filled with your creativity. A few recommendations:

Once you're done, find a place on the wall in your apartment that's worthy of your drawing. Let it decorate your home as long as you enjoy looking at it. Then take it off the wall, thank your drawing or mandala, and do whatever you want with it.

Try to listen to your subconscious. Mark all the colors that you used when coloring or drawing the mandala on the back of it. Try to give each color a name, define a feeling or sphere of feelings, without looking at the drawing. For example, blue - expectation, gray - relationships, red - love... Then look at the mandala again and remember where you felt tension, where it was easy and free to draw, maybe somewhere it was scary. Match your color names with your feelings while painting - you may see something you didn't notice before. Perhaps you are afraid of freedom, or annoyed by relationships, or waiting for love.

If you are coloring or drawing a mandala, pay special attention to the design and color in the center of the circle - this is what concerns you most in your life at the moment.

Exercise “Drawing circles...”

Time: 35-45 minutes.

For this technique, the circle was chosen as a mythological symbol of harmonies. It is believed that the circle, due to the absence of sharp corners, is the most “benevolent” of all geometric shapes, meaning approval, friendship, sympathy, gentleness, and sensuality. Working in a circle activates integrative, emotional, intuitive (right-hemisphere) thinking, and also unites, stabilizes the group, and promotes the formation of favorable interpersonal relationships. Even small children, according to the observation of S. Rais, prefer circles to all other figures. This is apparently due to the simplicity of the round shape. The artist, as E. Bülow noted in the article “And here is a sign for you...”, immersed in the process of depicting a wide variety of symbols, fills the entire surface of the sheet to the very edge, as if discovering them for himself. Many sheets, dotted with circles of sometimes larger and sometimes smaller sizes, touching or intersecting with each other, and sometimes included in one another, raise the question of the significance of the circle as a symbol. Typically, drawn circles are far from perfect in terms of geometry. However, they are self-sufficient entities for which it is difficult to find words. In consciousness only ideas about a certain form arise, the aesthetic merits of which retain attention.

Goal: development of spontaneity, reflection; allows you to clarify the personal characteristics, values, aspirations, nature of the problems of each participant, his position in the group; reveals interpersonal and group relationships, their dynamics, and has the potential to form group cohesion.

Materials: Two rolls (one for each table) of thick paper. A variety of visual materials and tools in sufficient quantity: pencils, felt-tip pens, paints, gouache, brushes, jars of water, eraser, tape.

Progress of the exercise: The group sits around the table, they are offered whatman paper, simple pencils, paints, brushes, glossy magazines and glue. Each participant draws a circle figure, and can also complete other people’s drawings and write wishes to each other. At the end of the work, the participants share their impressions of their joint work, show their own drawings, talk about the idea, plot, feelings, and, if desired, read out loud the good wishes that other participants wrote to him.

Instructions: Take a seat at one of the tables. You can change your location if you wish. You have the right to move freely around the table and work in any area. Draw a circle of the desired size in your favorite color. Then draw one or two more circles of any size and color on the sheet. Trace the outlines of the drawings. Connect your circles with lines that you like the most. Imagine you are building roads. Fill the space of each of your circles with plot drawings, icons, symbols, i.e. Give them your own personality. Next, walk around the picture sheet and carefully examine the drawings. If you really want to finish drawing something in the circles of other participants, try to negotiate with them about it. With the consent of the authors, write kind words and wishes next to the drawings that you liked. Be respectful of the space and feelings of others! Draw the remaining free space of the sheet with patterns, symbols, icons, etc. First of all, agree with other participants on the content and methods of creating the background for the collective drawing.
Issues for discussion:
"How are you feeling?"
“How are you feeling now?”
“Tell me about your drawing?”
“Did you complement the work of other participants?”
“What difficulties arose during the work?” and etc.

Psychological color and drawing tests for adults and children Shevchenko Margarita Aleksandrovna

Diagnosis by mandala colors

Mandala translated from Sanskrit means “magic circle”. The circle is the primary symbol of unity and infinity. A sign of absolute and perfection. Moving in a circle means constantly returning to yourself. Only by looking inside oneself can a person recover and gain new strength and energy.

There are painted mandalas used for concentration and healing, mandalas made from colored sand, mandalas of conditional mind enlightenment (bodhichitta), mandalas of absolute mind enlightenment, etc.

Currently, there are many methods for diagnosing one’s psychological state and knowing oneself. One of these methods is diagnosis based on the pattern and colors of the mandala. If you draw it and paint it in different colors, you can expand your knowledge about yourself as a person of color.

Each mandala is a composition of symbols, geometric elements and colors that cause changes both on the physical and on a more subtle level. When carrying out diagnostics, the size of the circle, the thickness of the connecting lines, drawn shapes, symbols and colors used are taken into account.

The symbols in the mandala drawing have the following meaning:

The circle means integrity and security;

The cross indicates your indecision;

A five-pointed star speaks of self-confidence;

The square means the movement of energy, a state of openness or closedness;

The triangle also means movement. If the apex of the triangle is directed upward, this means a desire for creation, if downward, it means destruction;

The spiral indicates the development and dynamics of the internal process;

The heart symbolizes love, happiness, gratitude, enlightenment;

The eye in the center of the mandala or in the center of some figure in the mandala design symbolizes the sun, sometimes clairvoyance;

The various images of animals in the mandala drawing are your reflection of the visual representation of our unconscious.

The choice of colors in a mandala gives a lot of information about the personality and state of mind of the author of the drawing, so when drawing it you should not think about the meaning of the colors, but try to be extremely sincere in reflecting your state of mind. When drawing mandalas, people often resort to their favorite colors, but children almost always use all the colors of the rainbow. Of particular psychological significance are the primary colors, that is, yellow, red, blue, which will always be present in the mandala drawing of a healthy person. Therefore, during diagnosis, great importance is attached to the predominance or absence of one or another color. The colors in a mandala drawing can reflect all the experiences of both the past and the present moment. That is why the mandala drawing should not be considered as something unchanging. After some time, it may be different, reflecting the changes that have occurred. This can be clearly seen from the drawings of mandalas of one of my clients in the following example.

Example. Here are two drawings of mandalas made with colored felt-tip pens by a fifty-year-old woman at different times (see color plate, Fig. 1, 2). She drew the first mandala drawing before she became interested in dancing, and the second - three months later, during the phase of active training. Comparing the two drawings, you can see how the symbols, shapes and colors have changed in the second drawing. So, in the first case, the mandala consists of various small geometric shapes with sharp edges. In addition, there are images outside of it, which indicates the woman’s unfavorable psychological state and anxiety. And the colors of the first picture look darker compared to the second.

In the second picture (see color plate, Fig. 2) you can see a completely different picture: new symbols of large sizes have appeared, for example, an eye and a treble clef symbol, which reflects a woman’s close connection with the world of music and dance, bright and saturated colors. Thus, the yellow and blue colors in the mandala design indicate her good health and mood. As the woman herself says, her intuition increased after she began dancing. She became more active and mobile.

D. Kellogg, studying the effect of a mandala on a person, identified two main types of mandalas in diagnostics: symmetrical and compositionally complex. The first type of mandalas reflects the current moment in time and situation, and the second - conscious and unconscious aspects of the personality. The left half of the mandala reflects unconscious processes. Right - conscious. When diagnosing a mandala, attention should first of all be paid to the location of its center, and then to the symbols, shapes, signs, lines and color.

You can draw a mandala while listening to relaxing music using watercolors, colored and wax pencils, felt-tip pens, and pastel crayons. The choice of colors is absolutely free.

Red color in a mandala drawing means the energy of transformation, action and purification. If the color red is absent in the picture, then this indicates passivity, as well as a lack of strength for self-realization.

Pink color– its predominance in the mandala drawing presumably indicates increased sensitivity, shyness, vulnerability, and the need for care.

Orange color reflects faith in one’s strength, will and ambitions, activates sociability and the desire to create. It is the color of joy, goodwill and optimism.

Yellow– energy, sun and warmth. The appearance of yellow in the picture indicates individuality and independence, reflecting the search for inner liberation. The predominance or absence of yellow indicates great willpower and high intelligence of the author of the drawing.

Green color– renewal, sensitivity and inner harmony. Its appearance in a mandala drawing indicates the desire for internal balance and harmony in the soul.

Blue in the mandala drawing symbolizes compassion, a feeling of motherhood and selfless love.

Blue color– the color of peace and tranquility in the soul. In the mandala drawing, the dark blue color reflects experiences associated with a threat to life, and also indicates unfavorable psychological conditions in childhood.

Purple colour in mandala designs indicates spiritual renewal, but at the same time indicates an escape from reality.

Purple reflects nostalgia, memories, desire for spirituality.

White– spirituality, purity, light.

Grey– neutral color, speaks of the absence or suppression of emotions, indifference and inertia. The frequent use of gray in mandala designs is found among drug addicts, since long-term use of heroin leads to emotional emasculation.

Brown color– a reflection of the need for emotional security. The use of brown, especially in the center of the mandala, may indicate low self-esteem, but sometimes reflects a revision of habitual values.

Black– the color of darkness, emptiness, intuition and rebirth. The black background in the mandala is especially conducive to the revelation of spiritual resources; moreover, unlike white paper, it encourages the use of lighter colors, which against a black background seem to glow and appear as if from the darkness.

From the book Cognitive Psychotherapy of Personality Disorders by Beck Aaron

Diagnosis When a person comes to treatment with low self-confidence and an apparently high need for support, a diagnosis of SPD should be considered. For example, Karen, a 45-year-old married woman, was referred to treatment by her physician for panic attacks. IN

From the book Dreaming in Wakefulness author Mindell Arnold

Chapter 16. Diamond center of the mandala Essence is Emptiness Everything else is unimportant…. In this world of deception, emptiness is what your soul desires. Rumi's "Emptiness" echoes what the Tantric mystics said - that "there is a universal emptiness, all that exists."

From the book Personality Theories and Personal Growth author Frager Robert

Diagnosis True to his belief that a theory must be useful to be worthy of attention, Kelly called diagnosis "the planning stage of psychotherapeutic treatment" (1955, p. 14) and viewed it as fundamentally important.

From the book Introduction to the Psychological Theory of Autism by Appe Francesca

From the book The Self-Liberating Game author Demchog Vadim Viktorovich

From the book Self-Teacher on Psychology author Obraztsova Lyudmila Nikolaevna

18. The dynamic nature of the fractal mandala So, “...experiments of recent decades have revealed the dynamic essence of the world of particles. It is clear that in this “...eternally vigorous circle of life”251 such concepts of classical physics as “material substance” and

From the book Psychological color and drawing tests for adults and children author Shevchenko Margarita Alexandrovna

22. Pregnancy of the Fractal Mandala Many people like the metaphorical comparison of the Fractal Mandala with the “female womb”, “uterus” (matrix), or with “Miss egg”287, or, in the pagan, Old Russian, shameless style, with the lustful and aggressively insatiable Goddess PIZY288 , or

From the book Holotropic Breathwork. A new approach to self-exploration and therapy by Grof Stanislav

Diagnostics Test. Motivation for success and fear of failure (A. A. Rean) This test allows you to assess which desire determines your behavior to a greater extent: the desire to achieve success or avoid failure. The preference for one of these two options is largely determined

From the book Dreaming in Wakefulness. 24 Hour Lucid Dreaming Techniques author Mindell Arnold

Diagnostics Questionnaire. The relationship between personality type and sphere of professional activity (J. Holland) American psychologist J. Holland identified six psychological types of people: realistic, intellectual, social, conventional (standard),

From the author's book

Diagnostics Orientation questionnaire. Determination of personality orientation (B. Bass) The questionnaire consists of 27 points. For each of them, there are three possible answers: A, B, C. From the answers to each of the points, choose the one that best expresses your point of view on

From the author's book

Diagnostics Questionnaire for assessing impulsivity You are asked 15 questions. If the answer is affirmative, place a “+” sign next to the question; if the answer is negative, put a “–” sign next to the question.1. Do you notice some haste in making decisions?2. Is it typical for you to

From the author's book

Diagnostic Test: Empathy Ability Rate each of the statements as follows: “I don’t know” – 0, “no, never” – 1, “sometimes” – 2, “often” – 3, “almost always” – 4, “yes” , always” – 5. Make sure you answer all points.1. I like books about

From the author's book

Reflection of the child’s emotional state by the preferred colors in the drawing. A child’s color drawing will always reflect his mood and emotions. When drawing, a child already at 3-4 years old chooses the color that most accurately reflects his mental and emotional state.

From the author's book

Black mandalas Mandalas are made using the grattage technique. Mandalas help to reveal extrasensory potential, stimulate the main sources of the subconscious, and include self-regulation mechanisms. You can look at a mandala drawing for five minutes at any time

From the author's book

5. Mandala Drawing: The Expressive Power of Art Mandala is a Sanskrit word. Literally meaning "circle" or "completion". In its most general sense, the term can be used for any pattern that has complex geometric symmetry, e.g.

From the author's book

16 Diamond center of the mandala The essence is Emptiness, Everything else is unimportant... In this world of deception, emptiness is what your soul desires. Rumi's "Emptiness" echoes what Tantric mystics said - that "there is a universal emptiness, all that exists

Module 12 you can join!

12 modules.

There is practically no literature on this topic in Russian. A specially designed training program based on research by foreign experts such as J.Kellog, J.Cornell, S.F.Fincher, G.Tucci, W.Kustenmacher, M.Gauding, K.Holitzka, R.Dane, J.Arguelles offers to fill this gap. , M. Maier, A. Huyser, W. Hund M. Bartfeld. As handouts, seminar participants will receive in electronic form more than 500 unique mandalic primordial forms that can be used for psychotherapeutic purposes.

Joan Kellogg (1922-2004) – creator of the projective test - MARI card test (Big Circle Mandal Joan Kellogg) and the art therapy method, which describes the sequence of stages of various life processes (age periods, stages of ego formation, stages of development of various situations throughout life) .

These methods were researched and tested by her together with Stanislav Grof in a research project at the Maryland Psychiatric Center for 8 years and were used to treat patients with neurotic disorders, alcoholism, cancer, etc. The method is based on working with circular images - mandalas. By analyzing tens of thousands of client mandalas, Joanna Kellogg was able to find a universal key to understanding their symbolism and deep meaning, which was called the “Great Circle of Mandalas.”

“Big Circle Mandala” is a unique tool for diagnosing and correcting a person’s psychological state, as well as self-knowledge and self-development.

When we create a mandala, we create an individual symbol that reflects who we are at that moment. Drawing mandalas has a positive effect, since the shape of a circle helps to access the deepest areas of consciousness, promoting both the disclosure of internal energy and the release of suppressed but not lived experiences. Knowledge and understanding of this concept opens up enormous diagnostic and therapeutic possibilities for the practitioner.

In a programme:

Diagnostic capabilities of mandalas;

Indications and contraindications for the use of mandalas;

Features of using mandalas with different types of clients;

Different types of resources and the possibility of their activation using mandalas;

Possibilities of working with the body using mandalas.

1 module

Key idea of the Great Circle of Mandalas .

Therapeutic strategies of the BCM concept.

Stage 0 – Pre-personal, serving as a matrix for further development. In adult life it serves as a “reboot”, zeroing out experience. A source of true light used for practical purposes (resource, healing from wounds in relationships, etc.).

Stage 1 - "Winter solstice". In ontogenesis - conception. In adulthood - a new beginning. In the shadow aspect - depression.

Methods and techniques for working with clients at these stages. Theory.

2 module

Stage 2 – “Bliss”, “Bathing in Light”.

In ontogenesis – prenatal development. In adulthood - a feeling of limitless possibilities, freedom, creative processes, incubation of ideas.

In the negative aspect - flooding with negative experiences, self-destruction, the whole range of addictions in order to escape from negative experiences.

Stage 2 theory. Strategy and methods of work.

3 module

Stage 3 – “Labyrinth-spiral-vortex”, “Preparation for the journey.”

In ontogenesis – the process of childbirth. In adulthood, we come into contact with this stage when, against our will, qualitative changes occur in our lives.

Shadow aspect: Birth traumas and their consequences, manifestations in adulthood. This also includes forms of addiction that require adrenaline doping (addiction to extreme sports, addiction to clubs, addiction to groups).

Integration of material in 3 stages. Stage 3 theory.

4 module

Stage 4 - "Start". "Acceptance of the new."

In ontogenesis – early contact with the mother. Topics of inquiries: contact with the inner child, perception of the world, perception of oneself as an adult.

At the transpersonal level, this is the beginning of a qualitatively new thing, contact with something that has not yet happened, a step into the unknown. Openness and orientation towards the world.

Shadow aspect: the desire for symbiosis, the unconscious need to merge, dissolve in a partner.

Strategies and methods of working with clients at this stage.

5 module

Stage 5 – “Target”, “Defending yourself.”

In ontogenesis there is a crisis of 3 years. In adulthood, “Target” is relevant in adolescence and for those who are rethinking their lives for further self-determination.

In the shadow aspect - endless trials, getting hung up on searching, trying different options, or getting stuck on one option.

Clinical aspect: Obsessive-compulsive disorders. Rituals.

Client requests: Theme of self-confidence. The theme of moving from words to deeds. The theme of self-expression and self-display. The theme of dependence or independence from the opinions of others. The topic of time management: planning your time and distributing your energy. The theme of relationships with a specific father and a parental figure in general. Very often this will turn to the topic of relationships with the opposite sex, habitual strategies, scenarios. When we think about building new relationships.

6 module

Stage 6 – “Battle with the Dragon”, “Paradoxical Splitting”.

In ontogenesis - the period of 5 - 7 years, when parental complexes develop. The dragon is the parent of the same sex, with whom we fight in order to win the attention of the parent of the opposite sex.

Then, for the second time, the process of separation from the parents.

And the third time - when the children grow up and leave home. Then we experience this stage from the other side. Then we are dealing with our inner dragons, an acute reaction to empty nest syndrome.

In adulthood: Any form of conflict interaction, when you need to either attack or fight back, activates the power of this stage in life.

On the psychological plane, in the inner world, this is the theme of interaction with polarities. Any conflict of polarity: conscious-unconscious, human-animal. The theme of confrontation between constructive and destructive. Theme of the head and feelings.

Transpersonal aspect. The struggle between good and evil: what place I occupy between good and evil, darkness and light. And through self-determination of what is good for me and what is evil for me, what is my position, self-identity is born. Once again the topic is addressed: Who am I and what is my purpose?

Shadow aspect. Hysteria, dissociation.

Strategies and methods of working with clients at this stage. Theory.

7 module

Stage 7 - “Squaring the circle.”

In ontogenetic development: The 3-year-old crisis is the first experience of contact with this stage. Then in the teenage experience as a need for independence, then in early youth when there are new beginnings. Any step towards something new in life is a contact with this stage.

Psychological topics: Realization of your freedom. The theme of independence. Mistakes and defensive strategies for dealing with those mistakes.

Negative aspect of experiencing this stage: Overestimation of one’s capabilities.

Clinical manifestations: MDP – manic pole.

Strategies and methods of working with clients at this stage. Theory.

8 module

Stage 8 - “Functioning Ego”, “Actions in the world”.

There is a constructive interaction between what is inside and what is outside. The task of this stage is to achieve a balance of internal and external in action. It is at this stage that we are talking about achieving maturity.

At the psychological level: Living through this stage is associated with self-sufficiency, with a sense of self-identity. The criterion of this stage is Satisfaction with one’s life.

Transpersonal level. Synchronization with the world: there is contact with oneself, a mature Ego, the ability to feel what is happening in the outside world, harmony with the dynamics of the outside world.

Shadow aspect: Self-absorbed and self-absorbed.

Clinical manifestations: Manic-euphoric states “I can do anything!”

Strategies and methods of working with clients at this stage. Theory.

Stage 8 integration. Basic methods and techniques for activating the Ego. Theory.

9 module

Stage 9 – “Crystallization”, “Reaping the fruits”.

In adulthood, we come into contact with this stage when we receive the result of our actions. Any termination of a long process.

On the psychological plane: Feeling of stability. It assumes a contemplative attitude towards life, contentment with what you have. Stability is associated with a feeling of inner harmony, acceptance of life as it is. Stability is the basis for creative self-expression.

Negative pole. Fear of change, fundamental reluctance to change, to improve the old ad infinitum, the desire to hold onto what has been acquired through backbreaking labor and prevent transformation. Very strong psychological rigidity: what does not fit into the picture of the world is not accepted. This is living in the past, going into memories.

Clinical manifestations: Obsessive-compulsive disorders.

Strategies and methods of working with clients at this stage. Theory.

10 module

Stage 10 – “Gate of Death”, “Liberation”.

Personal and existential crises. At this stage, liberation occurs from the baggage of accumulated experience. In order to gain access to something qualitatively new, you need to reset. Letting go leads to liberation.

At the psychological level, a switch occurs from external to internal. It becomes indifferent to what they think of me, how they will react to this, but suddenly what I feel deep down takes on increased significance. External intellectual and emotional stimulation ceases to matter; contact with oneself in the present becomes more important. As a result of this switching, different levels of loss, different levels of letting go, and different levels of death begin to be experienced. On a biological level - when the body fails us.

In the shadow aspect: a feeling of helplessness, indecision. Anxiety that is diffuse in nature and not tied to anything in particular. There is loss of certainty in one’s desires, emotional and physical discomfort that has no rational explanation.

In clinical manifestations, there are various kinds of masochistic tendencies, as well as destruction and autodestruction, which is perceived as something intoxicating. This stage is associated with a high level of suicidal impulses.

The gate of death is contact with the energy of life and the energy of death; there is a risk of confusing these energies.

On the positive side: a feeling of liberation, experiencing qualitative changes that are pleasant and pleasing, awareness of a world of endless possibilities, contact with freedom, contact with collective wisdom.

Strategies and methods of working with clients at this stage. Theory.

11 module

Stage 11 – “Fragmentation”, “Disintegration into parts”.

The stage of experiencing a crisis, when the stable, established structure of the EGO collapses.

At the biological level, it is a radical process of bodily change. The first time we encounter this is in adolescence.

During the transition from youth to adulthood, hormonal changes and a sense of one's physical limits also occur.

Next is the mid-life crisis, where there are experiences associated with the feeling of ourselves, our body, when we realize that we are no longer getting younger, and the body begins to let us down more and more. The aging process is also a process of fragmentation, not the most pleasant, but inevitable.

On the psychological level, disorientation: particulars may be understandable, but these particulars do not add up to the overall picture.

Shadow aspect: Self-aggression and social maladjustment are spontaneously activated. Very high risk of psychosomatic and psychotic conditions, schizophrenic symptoms.

Pros only on an intellectual level: Understanding that this is a process of cleansing and renewal.

12 module

Stage 12 - “Transcendental ecstasy.”

This is the final part of the transformation when the phoenix is reborn from the ashes. This gathering, this restoration, occurs through contact with the self. Defragmentation was necessary to realize that there is a part inside of us that cannot be destroyed. Through contact with the self, the ego has the opportunity to acquire a new configuration. It will appear in a new quality that has not existed before. This restoration takes place against the backdrop of pitch darkness, total “NOTHING”. This stage in itself is comfortable.

At the biological, somatic level this stage is experienced as rebirth and renewal. Metaphor of the awakening Kundalini. If before this we were looking for a resource in interaction with the outside world, here it turns out that the outside world frustrates us. We turn inside ourselves and there we find a force that does not depend on external sources and surpasses all types of energy that we encountered when interacting with the outside world. This energy gives us the strength to realize what we want.

On a psychological level Without devaluing past experience, perspectives that were not seen before open up. Contact with collective experience, with wisdom. The feeling of life as a flow and inclusion in this flow. Naturally, there is a risk of breaking away from reality, a strong idealization of what is happening, when the shadows are not noticed.

Shadow aspect: manic state.

Stage 12 integration. Stage 12 theory.

Psychological methods and techniques for working with mandalas: an integrated approach. Large circle of mandalas. Symbolism of color in mandalas.

Schedule

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Mandalotherapy is the diagnosis and psychotherapeutic use of circular images created in an arbitrary creative process or according to specific instructions from the therapist. It is a method of art therapy (“creativity treatment”).

Mandalas originally appeared in Buddhism and Hinduism. The word itself "mandala" translated from Sanskrit means "circle". The round sacred image represented the “world of the gods.” Similar centric symbols of the Universe were used for meditation, decoration and protection of sacred buildings, temples and homes.

Origin of the method

Psychologist Carl Gustav Jung drew attention to mandalas. The psychotherapist used circular images in the process of studying the unconscious. Jung perceived the mandala as a universal mental image, a symbol of the self or the deepest essence of the human soul.

Modern psychology interprets the round symbol as a reflection of the inner world, the sensory and mental side of the personality. The thoughts and feelings of the person who created the image or amulet are enclosed in a safe centric form.

Mandala is a connecting link between conscious and unconscious manifestations, a “thread” connecting the external and internal. A holistic and complete symbol allows you to identify disharmony using gentle methods and balance the state and manifestations.

Mandalotherapy is considered a safe and environmentally friendly method of psychocorrection and psychotherapy. In the process of creativity, a person gains integrity and strengthens his own “I” .

The essence and features of the method

There are three formats of mandala therapy:

active – the patient independently creates a mandala from available materials or fills an empty circle on paper with an image (color);
passive – the client receives a ready-made centric image or structure for therapy;
mixed type - a person chooses a ready-made template and paints the mandala.

Otherwise, the art therapeutic method excludes any restrictions. The process takes place in accordance with the needs and feelings experienced by the psychotherapist's client. This is the “flight of the soul” and complete self-expression. In some situations, the therapist recommends focusing on the problem that is bothering the person.

Working techniques

Free creativity: a circle Ø 28 cm fits into a sheet of A3 format. The resulting circle fits into a square that clearly adjoins the sides of the future mandala. A dot is placed in the center of the circle. The square is cut out with scissors. The resulting blank is used for mandala therapy.

Mandala Circle (by Joan Kellogg): a special author’s technique that allows you to track 13 states and stages of human development/activity, enclosed in a circle. To use the technique, you will need a manual and cards describing states and stages of development.

Thematic work: Before creating a mandala, the client receives a specific instruction - what the mandala will be about, what topic or problem to devote the creative process to.

The method is effective due to the following effects:

mirror effect– the mandala reflects the client’s internal state;
effect of structural components– the circle symbolizes spiritual manifestation, the square – material reality, and the point in the center is the “assemblage point”, the ego, the quintessence of meaning and importance;
meaning effect– with the help of a mandala you can address any topic upon request;
interaction effect with creative tools is a special property of art therapeutic methods.

Mandala “Healing, Development and Love”.

Where is mandala therapy used?

The tool is used by psychologists and art therapists when working individually with clients. The mandala will help you deal with child-parent scenarios and solve problems that arise for married couples.

Directions for using the mandala therapy method:

therapy for self-esteem disorders;
depressive states;
bringing a person to internal balance;
working through fears;
working with aggression and anger;
eliminating irritability;
the return of a joyful attitude to life, a bright outlook on the world.

Child psychotherapy using mandalas helps solve the following problems:

assistance in expressing feelings and emotions;
equalization of emotional state;
development of self-regulation skills;
stress relief;
increased concentration;
development of creative abilities;
development of the ability to express oneself.

Expert opinion

Educational trainer and art therapist of the PSI-Play training center (psiplay.biz) Natalya Bazika has been working with the mandala therapy method since 2009. The master emphasizes that mandala therapy is “the most ancient method of healing by nature.” Nature is filled with mandalas: many objects and phenomena of natural origin have a round and spherical shape - the Sun, sunflowers, fir cones.

Man, being a part of nature, also represents a special type of mandala.

Natalya is confident that the method allows you to strengthen self-esteem, develop skills and qualities, conduct self-exploration through the elements of nature, and strengthen your instincts that help you live, develop and create.

Reviews about the mandala

Valentina, who took a course of mandala therapy at the PSI-Play training center (psiplay.biz) with Natalia Bazika, emphasizes that the classes helped her reveal another side of herself and believe in her artistic abilities. After the training course, the girl confirmed the effectiveness of the method in practice by organizing an art therapy session for loved ones. Valentina uses the method for personal needs, returning herself to a state of harmony while drawing mandalas.

https://www.psiplay.biz/otzuv/valentina/

Anna Rossikhina - Galychaya speaks positively about the basic course of mandala therapy, noting that the tool allowed her to penetrate deep into herself. During the training, the student received the desired results and came to a deep understanding of the effectiveness of the art therapeutic method of mandala therapy.

https://www.psiplay.biz/otzuv/anna/

Mandalatherapy exercises

Mandala coloring

During practice, you need to color with a schematic image of a mandala. A round mandala is a mirror that reflects the inner state of a person at the moment of creating the image. While coloring, a person pours out his experiences, feelings and emotions onto paper, achieving a state of balance.

Mandala drawing

How to draw a mandala? Easier than you might imagine. Just trace the outline of the plate on a blank sheet of paper - and you’re ready to start! Completely let go of the inner adult who wants to control every little thing.

Creativity is flight, the privilege of the inner child who does not know rules, boundaries and guidelines. Free yourself from everything superficial and create a masterpiece. How do you know if a masterpiece has happened? Contemplating the result gives you goosebumps! Everyone is designed to be creative and fly, so don't think about whether you can draw, just let yourself go and immerse yourself in drawing.

DIY mandala

Complete freedom of creative expression. You can create a mandala from anything. What do you love, how do you feel? The round sacred symbol can be knitted or embroidered. Mandalas are glued from cones and dry inflorescences, and made from seashells and pebbles.

The shape of a circle is the only condition, and the rest is at the discretion of the artist. You can create a centric amulet in the style of decoupage, sculpt it from clay, or create a floral composition in the shape of a disk. Any materials will sparkle in the hands of the creator. Try beads and wicker, plasticine and sand. Express yourself and heal!

Mandalotherapy video

Mandalotherapy is an effective and exciting method of psychotherapy.. Creativity allows you to make the path of self-discovery pleasant and joyful. An outwardly simple technique - filling out a picture in the shape of a circle - guides spiritual and personal development, and sometimes even relieves physical ailments.

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A mandala can be perceived as a drop of blood taken for a blood test, from which one can determine what changes are occurring in the body and what the effect of treatment is. (Joan Kellogg)

How often in the process of life, while walking, traveling, commuting to work, on vacation, at home, do you pay attention to the circle shapes that surround you? In the subway, in parks, on the facades, floors, ceilings of buildings, especially cathedrals, churches... Perhaps some of them even evoked some associations, resonances, emotions, thoughts in you, and had a fascinating effect.

Such geometric figures in the form of a circle, sometimes inscribed in a square, are called mandalas. The word "mandala" is of Sanskrit origin and means "magic circle". In Buddhist and Hindu traditions, mandalas are sacred and symbolize the universe. The shape of the mandala is a circle reminiscent of the Earth or the mother's womb. Various cultures have turned to it at all times. The mandalas themselves are essentially energy matrices, concentrated clots of energy. By creating a circle, a boundary is drawn that protects physical and psychological space. The creation of a mandala itself helps to activate the main internal sources of energy imprinted at the subconscious level, including self-regulation mechanisms. A mandala can be called a “psychological transformer” that helps a person establish a connection with himself.

In Western psychology, the concept of “mandala” appeared thanks to C. Jung. For many years he painted images of mandalas, realizing that they were a symbol of wholeness, completeness, and used them in his client work. “The mandala was considered by him as an archetype, as an image of a huge container of all gods, as a symbol of the microcosm (a holistic - past individuation - personality), which is a reflection of the macrocosm (God). In 1928, Jung designated the “god within” with the term “self” (following the theological tradition, many Jungians to this day capitalize this word, emphasizing the divinity of the self). After several years of creating his own mandala drawings, Jung concluded that it depicts a map of the meaning and purpose of a person's life."

Jung has many followers who used mandalas in psychological work. Today I want to talk about one art therapeutic technique that works with almost any psychological needs - this is the “Great Circle Mandala” (BCM) (author – Joan Kellogg). BCM describes the sequence of stages of various life processes (age periods, stages of ego formation, stages of development of various situations throughout life). BCM methods were researched and tested by her together with Stanislav Grof in a research project at the Maryland Psychiatric Center for 8 years and used to treat patients.

Everyone has moments when it is difficult to understand oneself, to realize what is really happening, it happens that a feeling of confusion, melancholy overcomes and there is simply a desire for THIS to end quickly.

At such moments, working with BCM can be the key to starting to get out of difficult conditions. The uniqueness of this tool is that it works with almost any topic, while carefully and gently addressing the subconscious. Even a diagnostic session in itself is already healing, since insights occur at the level of consciousness. For example, “where I am” and “where I want to go.” Work also begins on a subconscious level.

“A mandala can be perceived as a drop of blood taken for a blood test, from which one can determine what changes are occurring in the body and what the effect of treatment is” (Joan Kellogg). Working with BCM helps to access the deep areas of consciousness, revealing internal energy, releasing suppressed, unlived experiences of fear, pain, disappointment, anger and transforming them. Also, working with a certain set of mandalas can activate your creative energy and help direct it to the creative process. By turning within ourselves, we find strength that is independent of external sources. This energy gives us the strength to realize creativity in any of its manifestations, what we intuitively felt, but did not dare to realize.

When over the past year I took a training course on working with BCM, it felt like I was living my whole life again, starting from the moment “before birth”, birth itself, contact with mom, dad, after - separation, adult life, nurturing the fruits of one’s labor, enjoying these fruits and distribution, fragmentation and ending with “transcendental ecstasy” - “death” or in other words, rebirth, reaching a new level. During the passage of the last 12th stage, my painting “Dance” literally “appeared”. When working with this stage, energy begins to rise like a fountain and it is no longer possible not to create.

I really love this tool and actively use it in individual work and ART meditations.

Drawing mandalas is one of the ways to establish contact with your subconscious. In a circle you can draw your state, as well as describe your feelings, thoughts, emotions (two to three pages a day). Try contacting it at least once a day and see what changes. After all, everything happens where our attention is. Abundance and prosperity to all, dears!