List of necessary materials for effective isotherapy in the work of a psychologist

1. For isotherapy, you need a lot of paper of different colors and sizes. Nevertheless, for therapeutic work it is better to use the A3 format, because a sheet of paper is the psychological space of the client, and its artificial limitation can serve as a reason for the client’s psychological discomfort. For the initial stage of working with drawings, try using yellowish paper, such as is used in the mail for packaging. Leaving the white color removes unnecessary complexes and emotional-behavioral barriers of the client, memories of school failures in drawing. It is interesting to have paper of different textures in your arsenal, so to overcome the anxiety of the client, it is effective to use rough, textured paper that is uncomfortable for drawing, but overcoming such mechanical difficulties serves as preparatory work to activate the resources of the personality that will help find the necessary mechanisms to overcome the client’s anxiety. Pieces of textured wallpaper may also be suitable for such isotherapeutic work, an important fact that must be taken into account is that the choice of material is made by the client himself.
2. Liquid paints (diluted gouache or liquid watercolor), the number of colors must be at least 24. Gouache is an opaque, dense paint. When dry, it acquires a matte finish. You can work with gouache not only on paper, but also on primed (non-washable) canvas, fabric, cardboard, plywood. So – as if a person is in a state of emotional creative upsurge, there is no time to form the desired color. The colors of the paints should be saturated, easy to apply to the brushes and dry quickly enough, so that it would be convenient to work with the drawings later. Carry out interpretations or transformations, drawings, etc.
3. Wax crayons in blocks (so that it is convenient to take it in your hand and do not break like standard-shaped wax pencils)
4. Brushes should be comfortable enough to pick up and hold paint, not hard, but not too soft. Since in psychological drawing it is still important the symbolic transmission of the expression of feelings, experiences, emotions, memories, and not their photographic transmission with 100% similarity. After all, our spiritual sphere perceives images and symbols, imprints of sensations, and it is important to take this into account when working with a client and when selecting materials. An interesting current fact is that when a group or a client works long enough, then everyone has preferences for choosing a brush for drawing. A participant in therapy is looking for their exact brush from over fifty options presented in our collection of isotherapy brushes.
The brush is a kind of antenna that integrates, connects paints with the mental states of a person.
5. Dry pastel as a material should be an indispensable element for the analysis of dynamic changes in the process of therapeutic work of a psychologist and a client. Pastel (French pastel, from Italian. pastello, diminutive of pasta-dough) – dry, soft colored pencils without rims, pressed from finely ground high-quality pigments with a small addition of binders. Pastel is both line and color. She can draw both smooth, vague outlines and clear contours, apply one shade to another, and shade. So it is preferable to have a set of 100 or more colors, such a spectrum allows the client to instantly transfer his state to the color. This pastel is characterized by a fine gradation of colors, the clarity of the color gamut, which allows you to achieve expressiveness in the drawing. Dry pastel is the same watercolor that can be mixed in different shades on paper, shaded to obtain a uniform color directly with your fingers, which ensures a harmonious redistribution of the energy potential between the problem with which the client came from a sheet of paper, in itself has a therapeutic effect. Pastel is produced both in the form of crayons and in the form of pencils, but from practice the client chooses more often in the form of chalk. It is important to be prepared for the fact that the pastel stains the fingers; for this, it is necessary to prepare wet wipes for hands. After the drawing is ready, so that the pastel does not crumble, it is necessary to lightly sprinkle it with hairspray.

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