Client Feedback

These statements have been provided by online assessment and in-person workshop participants:

I thought this experience was very unique. I am surprised I was able to learn so much about myself that I didn't realize. I never knew that events from my past really shaped the life I have now. You don't really see the connections as you are going through them, but see the pictures and what I wrote laid out in a sequence was eye-opening.

I think it was a great program to find out about oneself. It was kind of like digital meditation. I was able to recall and think about past memories and visualize them with the drawings.

This was a wonderful take on my life and the way I think about things.  I am very thankful for the opportunity because it has shined a new light on what I'm willing to say and do in order to make things more enjoyable for me in life...  Thank You.

It was hard at times, but there was a reoccurring theme throughout my life that became more apparent as the study progressed. I will continue to be kind to myself, and to protect myself from people that are not healthy for me.

It is impressive to me how things from different exercises came together to form a coherent statement about the way I handle myself and other people. At first, some of the drawings and the point of them was slightly confusing because I didn't know how it was going to come together in the end. However, the farther I went, the more it made sense and gave me an interesting insight into my own head. Not only did I have to confront some less than pleasant memories, but I was able to handle them in a way that gave me creative freedom to express it as I needed to. Exaggerating some things and downplaying other things. It tells me that I've been hiding in a turtle shell for goodness knows how long and seem to have forgotten how to come out of it. I am already making some small, manageable changes to try and attain the things I want out of social relationships, but they are baby steps. This gives me an idea of how I can continue and where I can go with it. The better I know myself, the better I can be at showing others who I am.

I have been given an insight to my character that I had not realized before.  As much as I was trying to avoid it, I was becoming like my mother and father.  I wanted to control my finances and blame my husband if things did not work out the way I wanted them to.  I need to be less controlling and not bottle up my feelings.  I need to be more understanding and listen to my husbands wants a desires as well.  I need to experience life and not be afraid of it.  I need to meet new people and be open to new friendships.  Life is always changing and I need to accept the change and either move with it or move beyond it.

I feel like it opened my eyes to seeing how I react to certain things and situations. I have been able to pinpoint feelings that I have had or see myself in other's situations. I can tell how I have been acting and how I actually should be acting when it comes to certain situations or feeling different emotions.

I learned a great deal about myself. I went into the program thinking that drawing a bunch of pictures was going to be useless. I thought it was just a glorified art project. I was very wrong. Sketching out the ideas helped me put a picture to my thoughts and feelings. When I looked at the pictures I was able to articulate feelings I didn't even realize I had. I feel like I was able to see how I truly am. This was great because it allowed me to see areas I can improve in. Like a cat, I am a solitary animal. I shy away from people and am self absorbed. I now realize that I can have more fulfilling relationships by opening up to people.

It opens up my mind and lay my life out for me in a path that I can see and understand, I now know the importance of the steps that I went through in my life. All are important and are steps for me to complete my life and have a proper path. Without writing it down, it is all a jumbled mess. I am glad to participate in this project, it helps me with my healing process.

It did help explore my inner-self and try to find the roots of my problems and why I am the way I am.  By focusing on the root, I can find the solution to lessen its impact on me and use it to sprout up great fruit for the future.

It was nice to really pinpoint where my character flaws were and come up with a plan to fix them.

I never really thought of how my Dad leaving affected me to the point where I have to protect my Mom and never say no but also enable my Dad because I am afraid he will leave again.  I realize how I live my life for others and not myself and how I don't think i am as important as other peoples needs.

I think it can be rare to reflect on your life. It allowed me to analyze my experiences and trust in my decision making process.

This was a really fascinating learning exercise. I've not often thought about aspects of my personality in the context of my entire life, or with how I handle conflict. As someone who loves literature and film, it's easy for me to escape into a fictional world, but I think the real draw for fictional worlds, to me, has always been how they reflect certain aspects of our real lives, and of humanity. These exercises have given me not just a better understanding of myself, but of how I process real life situations through the lens of fiction.