Smashing the Things That Hold You Back

Being angry is important!
Being angry is allowed!
We have written a blog about this before. You can read it here.

Within art therapy, I regularly encounter this theme. Thankfully! Nothing is more destructive than anger that slowly eats away at you from the inside.

When I (E) work with clients who have struggled through a number of things and have reached the point where they are completely done with them, we search for a way to truly say goodbye to those things.

One of the methods we use is smashing porcelain. It takes strength, you can put all your force into it, and you literally throw it away from yourself. And it breaks!

But it is not only about breaking something. Before we begin, we first talk about what is allowed to leave now. Whether it is shame, guilt, or that inner voice that keeps criticizing you over and over again…

And that is written onto the porcelain. A photo is taken of it, and then, with full attention and while acknowledging the honest anger, the piece of tableware is smashed with a bat or thrown against a wall or onto the ground until it breaks. A photo is also taken afterward, showing the shards scattered across the floor.

And when the shame, guilt, critical voice, or … (fill in the blank) comes back again, you take the photo and say: no, not anymore, never again. You are lying here on the ground completely shattered; you no longer have a place in my life. And you remember that moment when you broke it and removed it from your life.

The key?
1. You have to be ready to say goodbye to it.
2. Do it with your full attention.
3. Do not do it alone.
4. Take photos as a reminder of the moment.

Are you ready?
Feel free to contact us to literally smash into pieces the thing that has been bothering you for such a long time.