Philippa Glossopsa国际传媒檚 art school students always show up to class wanting to do well, usually with preconceived notions of what they are going to create.

It might be a portrait or a landscape with a sunset, a barn or a tree.

One student, who sits down at one of the long lines of tables in sa国际传媒檚 Maple Ridge home studio, begins to draw: a line.

However, the line is not right and the student, who is unable to move past this imperfection, becomes fixated on this fact. The studentsa国际传媒檚 mood quickly turns dour, feeling inadequate. Self-esteem and motivation is lost.

Glossop often sees the anguish of a situation like this presented in a panic attack, where the student feels like their breathing is cut off, as they deal with feelings of fearfulness and .

And after 27 years as an art teacher, Glossop has noticed that she is seeing more and more students with these types of . Some have been diagnosed with the mental condition and others simply have anxiety at one level or another.

When she first started teaching art in Kamloops, she figures that maybe one in a class of 27 had some sort of anxiety issue. Now, she says, itsa国际传媒檚 more like three or four and sometimes even five children in a classroom that have an sa国际传媒渦nhealthysa国际传媒� level of anxiety.

sa国际传媒淭heresa国际传媒檚 a certain amount of stress in your life that is healthy. But these kids are experiencing something on the other side of that,sa国际传媒� said Glossop.

So she started paying attention. She began by watching carefully for signs of what she calls sa国际传媒渘egative self-talksa国际传媒� sa国际传媒� negative thoughts about themselves. She tries to pull them out of those thoughts right away.

Then she gives them tools sa国际传媒� through art sa国际传媒� to deal with those emotions.

Usually, she starts by asking them questions about what they are doing at the class and what is happening at that moment. Then she asks them what direction they see themselves going in, then assures them that she will help them get there.

One problem some of her students have is a notion that they can be a perfect painter without putting the hours in.

So, early in the class, they talk about not being good at things right away because they are learning and how to deal with their frustrations.

One tool that Glossop uses is turning a painting upside down.

sa国际传媒淸Painting] a picture of a lion or an animal when your image is upside down, itsa国际传媒檚 not so much an animal anymore, you are just looking at shapes, you are looking at colour, you are looking at pattern, all the elements and principles of art and design, but in a way that it doesnsa国际传媒檛 stress you out,sa国际传媒� she said.

Glossop stresses that she is not an art therapist, but instead uses her art as recreational therapy.

She has two undergraduate degrees from Queens University in Ontario, one in fine arts and the other in art history.

She completed her mastersa国际传媒檚 degree in education at Thompson River University in 2014. Her thesis explored the relationship between self-compassion and creativity, called Itsa国际传媒檚 Not Perfect, I Need To Start Again, a common refrain she hears from her students.

It surprises her that, as part of her thesis, she was working with children as young as five who had anxiety issues.

Over the years, she has found that children between eight and 12 years old have a tendency towards anxiety.

sa国际传媒淚 would say that I am a specialist with children with anxiety only because Isa国际传媒檝e seen, over many years of teaching, Isa国际传媒檝e seen this develop,sa国际传媒� she said.

And she has become so good at helping them work through their issues that Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows school district brings her into classrooms.

Most of the children she works with put pressure on themselves to excel, for perfection, that she feels is often passed from parent to child.

But by learning how to cope with their anxiety through art, her students are transferring that knowledge and using the same tools she is teaching them to deal with other issues at school, such as taking tests.

sa国际传媒淲e talk about planning and we talk about how to approach things and what happens if you start to feel inside that you are starting to get worried that itsa国际传媒檚 not working the way you want,sa国际传媒� said Glossop.

sa国际传媒淲hat do we do, we step back, we look at it, we talk about it, we take a breath, we count to 10,sa国际传媒� she added.

In Glossopsa国际传媒檚 classes, students can paint or draw what they feel.

Lessons might be about colour, or what makes a good brush or a technique or something based on art history. Then it is up to her students to interpret the lesson in their art.

Another tool she teaches her students is to ask them what advice they would give a friend who couldnsa国际传媒檛 work through a problem. Because, she said, most people are harder on themselves than others, that they lack self-compassion.

sa国际传媒淭hink about what you would tell a friend and then tell it to yourself.sa国际传媒�

mailto:cflanagan@mapleridgenews.com
Like us on and follow us on