Nina Ross, PhD

A student told me her dream fragment before painting today. She was in a large house, climbing stairs. it was necessary to find a secret room. She was scared. What would she find there? I told her to paint the feeling s that the dream evoked. She painted….
boxes and squares, each piled on top of the other, the insides hidden from view. there was one small square, however, which sat alone at the top of the others. She began painting the inside of the box with bright blue paint. She put her brush down, stepped back, and then painted swirly lines coming out of this lone box. After making these marks, she excitedly hugged me. “I’m not scared anymore!”, she exclaimed. Through the non-verbal painting process, she had worked out her fear. Not only that, but she discovered that the secret room she needed to find was her very own self!