Wellbeing through doodles

When I started to communicate guided self-help CBT techniques as a Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner, I found that using doodles to break down concepts or conceptualise a technique was memorable and helpful; especially for people with learning, memory and concentration difficulties or for more visual learners like myself. I love how one doodle can be interpreted in a very personal way – often depending on how that person is feeling and what they have going on in their lives.

I wanted to combine promotion of the benefits of CBT and my limited doodling skills, so I started the self-care wellbeing Instagram account tidyminddoodles. Tidyminddoodles presents CBT techniques, mindfulness and compassionate self-talk in an accessible, simple and uplifting way. It encourages people to look after their mental wellbeing by following simple tips in bite-sized colourful chunks, and to share this information with those who might be struggling.

As a mental health professional it can be easy to promote self-care but harder to follow. Creating these doodles helped me to follow my own advice, giving me the gentle nudge I think many of us could benefit from.

Do any other readers use doodles or similar in their professional or personal lives?

Natalie Hanley 
Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner for the NHS – 2gether Trust

Update, March 2021:

A few months following the appearance of my self-care doodles in The Psychologist, therapists and educators contacted me to say how much these doodles resonated with their patients and how they were saving screenshots of the doodles as a background screensaver on their work laptop and mobiles to give them that self-care nudge as part of their daily routine. This gave me a real sense that maybe the doodles were making a difference. I was on a high!

However, even though I know comparing yourself to others is a big no-no, I found this style of thinking  dominating my thinking. I looked across at other accounts with a huge following and lots of likes, and I questioned the usefulness of my account.  

It took me a few months to realise that this thinking style was making me miserable. I had allowed social media to seduce me into believing that my doodles were not worth anything unless I had the hundreds of thousands of followers and likes. No wonder I felt rubbish! No wonder I talked myself out of putting the doodles out there. I had completely forgotten why I had started doodling in the first place – to help people manage their mental health. 

In an attempt to stop comparing myself to others and do my own thing I created Tidy Mind Doodles channel on YouTube, including these videos: 

Self Care Doodles - How to Feel Positive - Ups + Downs

Self Care Doodles - 3 Ways To Stop Comparing Yourself to Others.

These weekly doodle videos give me the time out to create a little bit of art in a more engaging, personal and interesting way than a static doodle. I am still able to feel like I am sharing knowledge and training but for some reason I just don't feel that pressure to get lots of subscribers and likes in the same way as Instagram.

Comparing myself to others has often been the cause of me talking yourself out of things. It's definitely a work in progress trying not to do this. What has been a therapy tip you advocate in others but often find yourself failing into? What do you talk yourself out of doing that you wish you could do? I hope this story has motivated or inspired you to give whatever it is a go!