Lego model helps combat anxiety

An artist has created a Lego model to act as a fun reminder of techniques that combat anxiety and distress.

The four corners use different characters and scenes to represent the acronym TIPP, which stands for temperature, intense exercise, paced breathing and progressive relaxation.

Artist Julia, who has asked us to use her first name only, created the memory aid because of sessions with Art Psychotherapist Maura Walsh, who received a Swansea Bay Patient Choice Award as a result of Julia’s nomination.

Now Maura is going to use images of the model with others undergoing therapy to help them remember the practical steps they can take when emotions are intense.

The four corners of the model use different characters and scenes Credit: SBUHB

The model is one of several artworks created by Julia in many different mediums such as pastels, pencil, paint and collage, which helped her express herself when words were difficult.

“It’s why I nominated Maura. She reached into that part of my brain and inspired me. It reignited my love for art and creativity,” said Julia.

While many of the artworks created during her therapy are too personal to share, she is thrilled the model will also help others.

Based on Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), TIPP represents actions which can quickly shift your emotional state.

Julia’s model shows a bathroom with a character splashing her face with cold water to represent temperature because cold exposure or warm exposure, such as a warm bath or warm drink, can help with an emotional reset.

The same is true for intense exercise, represented in the model by characters in the gym, paced breathing, depicted as a man walking in the woods, and progressive relaxation, which shows a character lying on a bed.

“I’m more visual so to make it easier to remember I recreated the techniques in Lego,” said Julia.

Explaining how they work she said: “I put my face in a sink full of cold water and it instantly works for me. In terms of intense exercise, I go for a walk or up and down the stairs a few times.

“I like to do the paced breathing outside, which is why I have created a man in the woods. I breathe in for a count of four, hold for two, breathe out for six and then hold for two before breathing in again. It really works.

“The bedroom represents progressive relaxation which is where you tighten muscles in certain parts of your body and then relax them and continue all the way up to your head and face.”

Art Psychotherapist Maura Walsh, left, was nominated for a Patient Choice Award by Julia, right Credit: SBUHB

Speaking about her sessions with Maura, who is based at Tonna Resource Centre, Julia said: “I had some previous bad experiences with therapy. But we had online conversations to start with and straight away these clicked very well with me.

“I would create art whilst talking through the session and she would give me a starting point of something such as draw a box or draw this memory and then it might lead to something else.

“It built up to a piece of work that focused on my image of myself, and I am pleased with that work.

“There were so many emotions and thoughts in my head that were swirling and then to just get that out on a page and see another person understand it, it was very powerful. I felt seen.

“In addition, and most importantly, working with Maura has helped me to like and appreciate myself more, something that is truly life affirming.

“I can't thank Maura enough for her dedication, for the life tools she has equipped me with, her wealth of wisdom and for the utmost respect she has shown me throughout. It's been a real privilege to work with Maura.

“I just wanted everyone to know what a great therapist she is. I think it’s the quiet work which individuals do that also needs recognition.”

Maura said: “It was so lovely to be recognised, and it was an honour to be nominated for a Patient Choice Award by Julia.

“As therapists we sit alongside our clients as they do the work and it was a privilege to be part of that journey with Julia. I believe that a therapist is only as effective as the client’s reflection allows, Julia’s hard work was truly inspiring.

“My hope is that this award will help highlight the value and understanding of Art Psychotherapy, as it reaches the places words can’t, offering expression, where language fails. Most importantly, the credit goes to Julia. It was an honour to work with her, particularly given the complexity of her past therapy experiences.”

• The Patient Choice Awards are an annual feature of Swansea Bay University Health Board’s staff recognition programme and are awarded directly as a result of patient and family nominations. This time more than 500 nominations were received with hundreds of awards handed out across more than a dozen events.