Thursday, March 21, 2013

Depression Trees

This is an activity created by one of my coworkers, Adrianna Markley, CTRS.  It's an awesome intervention!!
Sorry about the poor quality of this picture -
I took it quickly at work one day!

Have the patients draw a "depression tree."

The base of the tree is to represent them and their personality.  Write character traits on the tree trunk.
  *If they saw a weak base, they could make the tree thin or broken looking
  *If they felt they had a strong base, the tree could be wide and healthy
  *If they felt complicated, the base could be twisted or have multiple trunks

The leaves of the tree are to be references to their depression and things they feel when they are depressed (i.e. isolates, stays in bed, insomnia, no appetite, etc.)

Lead a discussion on how depression, like tree leaves, go away at different times but can come back.  How do we continue to cope with it?

Have patients write their coping skills around the tree, both things they have done in the past and new ideas they want to try.

No comments:

Post a Comment