Learn How to Use the Mandala in Therapy Sessions

The Mandala is used in Creative Counseling as a creative tool for Therapists.

Below Mandala Example: This was a mandala one of my counseling graduate students did at Mercer University in an Art Therapy class. She chose to use cake decorating gel to create the mandala.

The mandala is a basic art therapy tool that every therapist and school counselor should be trained to use.

I use them in therapy sessions and in school counselor guidance lessons for an entire class. Everyone loves the mandala technique! You can use any type of material to create a mandala.

The mandala is a creative tool that helps us see reflections of our internal world. The mandala is similar to the sand tray as it brings a part of the psyche from the unconscious mind to consciousness. This is one of the first tools I ever learned as a counselor. 

Mandalas are derived from the circle. In Sanskrit language the world "mandala" actually means a circle. It can also mean to complete something.

Many cultures and religions, including Buddhism, Navajo Native Americans, Romans, Greeks, Christians, Hindus, and Tibetans have used this valuable tool for thousands of years. I have used the mandala with children, adolescents, teens, and adults.

The mandala is found everywhere in nature from the basic cell structure, atoms, solar systems, flowers, tree trunk rings, shells, etc. Look around you and you will see circles in most natural things.

The famous psychoanalyst Carl Jung was the first therapist to actually used mandalas with patients. He called the mandala "a representation of the unconscious self."

The mandala is a great source for healing and spiritual reflection. Creative Counselors use the mandala in many ways.

Please look for mandala activities in the free activity section. I have included the sand mandala, healing mandalas, and mandala symbolism activities.

I often do a mandala myself for myself each day. I also offer it to my clients and students. There is no right or wrong way to do the mandala. The healing mandala is a powerful tool and often brings me into awareness and more in touch with my feelings.

As a Creative Counselor I take the mandala in and out of the sand tray and paper. I offer a nature, flower, clay, colored sand, mandala journal, affirmation mandala, self-portrait mandala, past-present-future, healing and teaching mandala, and more to clients. One of my clients even made a pasta mandala.

This tool has endless possibilities to offer healing and spirituality to clients on a deeper level. Creative Counseling shows you how!

Disclaimer: The free activities found in this website should be used by licensed mental health professionals who have training, or are seeking supervision with a trained professional in the area of Creative Counseling and Creative Psychotherapy.

Creative Mandala to How To Create A Mandala 

Mandalas to Even More Mandala Examples 

The Mandala to Creative Counseling 101 Home

Disclaimer: This website and its content is intended for trained licensed mental health professionals and school certified mental health professionals to use for their clients / students at their own discretion.

*If you ignore the disclaimer above are using these techniques on yourself and you feel any discomfort or upset it is highly suggested that you seek out a licensed  mental health professional immediately.

"Beyond Art Therapy" is the concept from Dr. Stangline that combines all creative fields in therapy. It is not the traditional "art therapy" but goes beyond to include sand tray therapy, play therapy, mindfulness, meditation, color therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, and a vast majority of other therapies.

For any other type of mental health emergency call your local 911 / Police Number immediately.

Dr. Stangline does not offer advice / suggestions to anyone who is not a professional mental health provider, or a student who is studying this field and has questions about mental health programs of study.