Knowing, identifying and educating our emotions is essential for our personal development and also to interact with our environment. The Seniors' Department of Mijas has organised an art therapy workshop which pursues this objective and will take place in the three areas in Mijas. The first session took place yesterday morning at the Senior Centre in La Cala. This training programme, aimed at the elderly in Mijas, is run by the art therapist and Gestalt therapist Conchi Segura. “The aim is to work with emotions through art”, explained Segura, who also explained that “people think that art therapy is handicrafts, that it is about drawing a picture, finishing a project and taking it home, but that is not what art therapy is all about. Art therapy is about getting to know who you are, accepting yourself, teamwork, working in a group, because this is a group workshop”. 

 

Therefore, art therapy allows us to learn new ways to express feelings and emotions through verbal and non-verbal language, that is to say, it widens our ability to communicate. It encourages us to reflect on our worries and try to find a solution. Improves attention and concentration. “It's good, I've expressed things today that I've been holding back and I felt very good when saying them, it was a relief, to be honest”, said one of the students, Matilde Ibáñez, “because there are things that you keep to yourself, and in the end they hurt you and don't let you move forward”, she added. 

Silvia Marín (PP), councillor for the Seniors' Department in Mijas, visited the class today, where she stressed that “working on emotions, feelings and actions is very important for the elderly so they can exercise their memory, their mind and thus delay memory loss”. “I'm enjoying it so far, I'm really excited, I get excited easily”, said Paco Fernández, a neighbour from La Cala who is taking part in this activity, while his wife, Toti Santiago, agreed and pointed out that “so far I think it's great”.  Among the tasks they have to complete in this workshop, Segura asked them to create a therapeutic diary in which they have to express their emotions, fears and dreams. They can do this using any technique they wish, be it drawings, collages or writing. 

Active ageing 

The art therapy workshop is held on Mondays from 11:00 to 12:30 in La Cala, on Wednesdays at the same time in the Centre for Active Participation in Las Lagunas and also on Wednesdays, from 16:00 to 17:30 in Mijas Pueblo. The initiative is included in the active ageing programme of the municipal area. “I just hope that they like these workshops, that they participate, enjoy and learn from them and, above all, that they live a very active life”, Marín said. Many elderly people take advantage of this type of initiatives to remain active, like Paco Fernández, who said that in addition to this workshop “tomorrow we have another similar workshop, then we have another one on phone information and, later, on Thursday, another workshop, as well as the laughter therapy workshop and some other things that we have going on”.

 

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