Art is powerful, and this book gives practical ways to help process life through art. Runde is the perfect guide.

As a teacher, I am always looking for books that I can use in my classroom. Especially books that relate to the social-emotional learning theme.

I liked that this book included more ways (other than just coloring or drawing) and activities to do. It is laid out well into 5 sections: painting and drawing, digital art and photography, sculpting and textiles, writing, and collages.

I definitely learned some new techniques and look forward to implementing some of them in my classroom. Thank you to NetGalley and Jennie Powe Runde for the opportunity to check this book out!

I think putting your best foot forward and always looking ahead not behind is such an important trait for any human being to have. Now, this is easier said than done, but something that we can all work on. Working and redefining ourselves is the epitome of being human. I think that sometimes we become so caught up on the hype and trying to please others before we please ourselves is so detrimental.

This author was able to bring out those lessons that we need to hear and learn in order to become our best selves!

I loved this book! I'm currently doing group therapy myself, and we have 1,5 hour of creative therapy every week. I'll soon be finishing the group therapy, and when I saw this book I wanted to read it to find ideas to continue doing some exercises at home. I loved the ideas, and wrote many of them down to do later. I especially enjoy the photography exercises, so nice that you added them into the book!! I've always loved photography, but since my mental health declined I kinda stopped doing it. This way I'm going to try to pick up one of my biggest hobbies again! :) Thanks a lot. The ideas are all very nice and original, some i know already but most of them are new, even though i get creative therapy! So that says a lot! I think everybody would love at least some of these exercises!

I found this book very interesting and helpful with ideas for using art as a way to get in touch with feelings as well as a means of expressing thoughts and ideas.

This book has art activities designed to help with mindfulness split into chapters by technique:

1. Painting and Drawing
2. Digital Art and Photography
3. Sculpting and Textiles
4. Writing
5. Collages

I appreciated that it wasn’t just drawing and coloring. Some of the activities were unique and intriguing. That said, I’m a very visual person and without illustrations they all just sort of merged into one long chapter each for me. I really need examples and artistic inspiration to get excited for projects like these. Your mileage may vary.

I read a temporary digital copy of this book for review.

I’ve often been frustrated by both therapists and websites offering the same basic two to three mindful grounding activities. I requested this book from NetGalley in hopes that it might have a few creative additions to that basic toolkit. I’m glad that I did.

Mindfulness-Based Art Therapy Activities is split into five categories:
1. Painting and Drawing
2. Digital Art and Photography
3. Sculpting and Textiles
4. Writing
5. Collages
Altogether, the book offers about sixty suggestions. Not all will resonate with each reader, yet it would be impossible not to find quite a few appealing activities. I greatly appreciate that most require items you’d already have on hand. No need to bust your budget in search of grounding!

Jennie Powe Runde, MFT, REAT has created an interesting and useful self-help that I hope gains a wide audience to others looking for simple yet powerful mindfulness-based activities.

My thanks to NetGalley and Callisto Media for granting access to a digital ARC in response to my request.

Mindfulness based art therapy activities was a great straightforward read that I really enjoyed and got a lot from. The book starts off with the scientific information to backup the work and what will follow, that’s written in a really easy to read way and what follows was tons and TONS of activity.

I’ve always been attracted to the idea of mindfulness but as a fidgety person that likes to keep busy, it’s tough for me to dedicate time to do doing nothing but being still (I know, prob means I’d benefit most from it), so I found these art therapies much much kinder on my spirit and they made me feel positive about starting a mindfulness practice.

I don’t work in the mental health field so maybe some might find these actives are in other books but I really appreciate how they were laid out and how accessible and realistic they were for me to try. Nothing about this book intimidated me, and while I didn’t try activities from all of the categories, I tried many of the activities and enjoyed all of them.

Thank you to NetGalley, Jennie Powe Runde, and Callisto Media for the gifted copy to read and review. All thoughts and opinions are mine and given voluntarily!

NETGALLEY REVIEW | Mindfulness-Based Art Therapy Activities by Jennie Powe Runde MFT REAT
⭐️ Rating: 4/5
🏷️ Genre: self-help, mental health, art therapy, mindfulness activity book
📝 Review: This is a handy little activity book. I really appreciated the succinct explanations about MSBR and why art therapy can be helpful - most of the focus was on the actual activities. The activities were broken down into categories: painting and drawing, digital art and photography, sculpting and textiles, writing, and collage. What I really enjoyed is that the author further broke down what skills you might utilize while completing the activity. This book also has a VERY gentle voice, which when you’re exercising your vulnerability by making mindful art, is very important.
✔️ Final Thoughts: I did recognize some of these activities from other art therapy books I’ve read in the past, but there were plenty of fresh takes on them and also new activities I was not familiar with.
📚 Recommending: Yes. MSBR is something I’ve fallen in and out of over the years and it DOES have its benefits and this book made me re-realize that. I will likely be purchasing a copy to add to my personal, physical mental health toolkit.

Mindfulness-Based Art Therapy Activities: Creative Techniques to Stay Present is a resourceful guidebook for therapists and a self help book for individuals. It includes all the science for backing up its theories and describes what mindfulness based art therapy is. I did like the ideas but regardless of not wanting to influence peoples own creativity the lack of art or any form of colourful inspiration on the pages was a big disappointment. I just found the structure and pages a bit flat. Still it is full of some good ideas and activities, it just didn't look or feel how I expected it to.

I practice mindfulness and am also an artist who strongly believes in the power of art to positively affect the mind, body and soul. Given that, I’m a bit of a tough sell when it comes to self help books on these topics. I was delighted to find that I really, really loved this book. Ms. Runde is credentialed and experienced in Mindfulness Based Art Therapy (MBAT) and is able to share simple but meaningful activities in a way that should resonate with a variety of people.

The book starts with a chapter on the theory of MBAT and how it is used by professionals. To me, this was important information to judge the efficacy of the rest of the book. The rest of the book consists of activities using a variety of artistic media and tools to explore. Each of the exercises contains a moment of centering, an art activity such as painting, photography or writing, and reflection on the activity. What I liked most about these exercises was that there were no pictures to inadvertently Influence the reader about the “right” way to proceed. All of the instructions are clear, gently presented, and allow for variations depending on individual circumstances (“if this is comfortable for you…”). They can be done with whatever materials the reader has on hand - if you don’t have acrylic paints, for example, use markers. The only activities I questioned were the collage tasks - assembling materials for collage is much harder now that fewer people have a bunch of old newspapers and magazines hanging around. Oh well, that’s just another reason to get creative!

I’m looking forward to purchasing this book and going to it again and again. Thank you to Callisto Books and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book provides a good description of what mindfulness-based art therapy and what science is backing up its effectiveness. I think it helps readers better understand how to approach the activities later in the book. As for the activities, I think that it is a nice touch that the author separated the activities by art medium. By having different mediums, the book is more inclusive of people's interests. Would definitely recommend as using this along with other work given by therapists.

The title of this workbook is what caught my eye when I was browsing NetGalley. I am a therapist and enjoy reading self-help books not only for my own interests but also because I’m curious about what’s being published out there for consumer use.

This workbook is a great tool for individuals who are looking to practice mindfulness via creativity. It’s also a good resource for providers who want to lead their clients in these exercises. It’s easy to read, has good information, and would likely be helpful for many. I’d like to get a copy for my own use.