Alternative Therapy
A Doodle a Day Makes Everything Okay
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By Carol Lippert Gray
You’re sitting in class, and the teacher is droning on and on. What do you do?
You’re on a Zoom, and the leader is droning on and on. What do you do?
You’re on the phone, but your friend is droning on and on. What do you do?
Well, if you’re doodling, you’ve got a lot of company. And it turns out doodling actually is therapeutic.
According to New York-based art therapist Nancy Nelson, about two-thirds of the population admits to doodling. “Saying I don’t doodle is like saying I don’t dream. It’s unconscious,” she says. In fact, she adds, "It comes from the same area of the brain as dreaming. It’s an art expression to let off steam. It’s a good stress reliever for many people.” Instead of robbing focus from a meeting, class, or call, it can help clarify your thinking. And, she says, “It’s valuable as a release. If you’re feeling lethargic, bored or tense, doodle away the anxiety."
You’re sitting in class, and the teacher is droning on and on. What do you do?
You’re on a Zoom, and the leader is droning on and on. What do you do?
You’re on the phone, but your friend is droning on and on. What do you do?
Well, if you’re doodling, you’ve got a lot of company. And it turns out doodling actually is therapeutic.
According to New York-based art therapist Nancy Nelson, about two-thirds of the population admits to doodling. “Saying I don’t doodle is like saying I don’t dream. It’s unconscious,” she says. In fact, she adds, "It comes from the same area of the brain as dreaming. It’s an art expression to let off steam. It’s a good stress reliever for many people.” Instead of robbing focus from a meeting, class, or call, it can help clarify your thinking. And, she says, “It’s valuable as a release. If you’re feeling lethargic, bored or tense, doodle away the anxiety."
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Nelson wrote two books about doodling (and was the first to do so). Sadly, both are now out of print: The Doodle Dictionary (Doubleday, 1992) and The Doodle Diary (Random House, 2008). In the first, she wrote, “There is no fear of being exposed, so doodling is truly a free, honest, and comfortable form of expression. For some, it’s also an addiction, but one of the few with no harmful side effects.” For the same reason, she says, “I’m also a big fan of adult coloring books."
Nelson’s first book also says, “Doodling also has a soothing effect. The repetition of lines and shapes helps you relax and focus your thoughts, similar to the chant of a yoga mantra or the motion of a rocking chair. Doodling can even help you work through those big decisions and perplexing problems!" Nelson became an art therapist after many years in the business world. “I was 38 and didn’t know what to do with myself,” she says. “I wanted to go into the helping professions. I went through a two-year master’s program, did my first internship at New York Hospital/Cornell Medical Center and my second at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York.” |
“Doodling also has a soothing effect. The repetition of lines and shapes helps you relax and focus your thoughts, similar to the chant of a yoga mantra or the motion of a rocking chair. Doodling can even help you work through those big decisions and perplexing problems!" ~ Nancy Nelson (The Doodle Dictionary) |
The experience made her realize she wanted to focus on pediatrics. Coincidentally, New York Hospital needed someone to start a pediatric, art therapy program and hired her. “I started at 40 and did it for 16 years,” she says. “It was so rewarding. I worked with physically ill and dying children and their families.” She then went on to open a private, art therapy practice for young adults and adults, retiring after 30 years.
She’s collected celebrity doodles from the likes of Charlie Chaplin, George Gershwin, Alfred Hitchcock, John F. Kennedy, Carly Simon, H.G. Welles, and more, many of which are in her book. She says she heard Tony Bennett is a doodler, so she contacted him, and he gave her one.
Like a Rorschach Test
“As art therapists, we’re trained to interpret personality through artwork,” Nelson says. “You have to look at a lot of work by the same person, using doodling as a therapeutic tool. Children who can’t verbalize issues during traditional psychotherapy can draw them.”
What to look for? There’s a lot, but here are two hints for the non-professional: Heavy pressure might indicate tension. Optimists might doodle high up on the page.
And don't feel intimidated if you don’t consider yourself an artist. “Doodling has nothing to do with artistic ability. A lot of people who are not artists doodle. If they can hold a pen and put it to paper, they can doodle.”
She’s collected celebrity doodles from the likes of Charlie Chaplin, George Gershwin, Alfred Hitchcock, John F. Kennedy, Carly Simon, H.G. Welles, and more, many of which are in her book. She says she heard Tony Bennett is a doodler, so she contacted him, and he gave her one.
Like a Rorschach Test
“As art therapists, we’re trained to interpret personality through artwork,” Nelson says. “You have to look at a lot of work by the same person, using doodling as a therapeutic tool. Children who can’t verbalize issues during traditional psychotherapy can draw them.”
What to look for? There’s a lot, but here are two hints for the non-professional: Heavy pressure might indicate tension. Optimists might doodle high up on the page.
And don't feel intimidated if you don’t consider yourself an artist. “Doodling has nothing to do with artistic ability. A lot of people who are not artists doodle. If they can hold a pen and put it to paper, they can doodle.”
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A Note from Nancy:
I’m a retired art therapist after being on staff at New York Presbyterian Hospital, Department of Pediatrics. I got bitten by the writing bug after having two books published by Doubleday and Random House. In March, 2020, after one week of isolation in my New York City apartment, while mourning the COVID deaths of two close friends, I had an idea for another book. I started to collect stories and poems about pandemic life from Gen Z writers across the country. Knowing about this population from my clinical experience, I felt these young people would be most affected by the crisis. By June 2020, through networking on social media, I had over 80 contributors whose written work was courageous and creative. In October 2020, I self-published Young People of the Pandemic: An Anthology of Stories, Anecdotes and Poems by 10-21-Year-Old Americans. The compilation was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life, odd that it occurred during such a bleak time for most people. |
I will send a free copy to anyone who can review or blog about our book - partial proceeds from sales go to Save the Children Coronavirus Response Fund, United Negro Scholarships, and American Art Therapy Association.
Readers can find an excerpt of Nancy's book in Sanctuary.
Readers can find an excerpt of Nancy's book in Sanctuary.
Carol Lippert Gray is an award-winning public relations professional and longtime freelance writer and editor. Her career has spanned books, newspapers, magazines, broadcast and online media in fields as diverse as crafts and corporate finance, parenting and philanthropy. She is Co-Associate Editor for Sanctuary.
