From the author: An article based on materials from a training program (specialization) in art therapy. Features of an art therapy session:• Trust (openness, familiarity with the group, interest in yourself and others).• Concentration (drawing attention to others and yourself, focusing on feelings, emotions).• Cooperation (openness to interaction, sharing experiences).• Creativity.• Spontaneity. Participants are instructed to give in completely to their feelings and not to worry about the artistry of their creations. Usually it is not recommended to talk while drawing; it helps to create a special, new environment and be more attentive to feelings and bodily sensations. There are two main parts in the structure of an art therapy session. One is non-verbal, creative, unstructured. The main means of self-expression is visual activity (drawing, painting). A variety of mechanisms of non-verbal self-expression and visual communication are used (70% of the session). The other part is verbal, which involves a verbal discussion of the work done and its results, feedback from the participants and the presenter about the impressions that arose, associations from the perception of what was drawn (created) and the entire process of work. (30% of the session). An art therapy session may include the following stages: 1. Mood (warm-up, inclusion in work, the boundary that marks its beginning); 2. Updating visual, auditory, kinesthetic sensations; forming a request or topic of work.3. Individual visual or creative activity;4. Verbalization (communication); 5. Finalization of the drawing, continuation of work for multimodal techniques or group work (in pairs; small groups); 6. Reflective analysis. Conclusions: Art therapy techniques and exercises are often created spontaneously, intuitively, and creatively. Some classic techniques are described below: Drawing yourself: The goal of this exercise is to introduce yourself to the group without resorting to words. This could be: an illustration of your lifestyle, your values ​​and interests, your attitude, a metaphor that reflects you as a whole or the world in which you live. State drawing. Each group member has at his disposal a lot of paper and paint, colored pencils, and crayons. Take a minute or two to become aware of the sensations and feelings that arise at this moment. Forget about art and don't try to be an artist. Take a pencil and start making some strokes on the paper. Draw colored lines and shapes that show how you feel. Try to symbolically express your state at the moment. Don't force yourself to draw something specific and highly artistic. Draw what comes to mind. When all group members have completed the activity, the group can share their impressions of each drawing without judging it. Alternatively, try other materials, such as clay. In any case, trust your inner feelings and try to discover information for yourself in your work. Collage. When making a collage, there is no fear of evaluation associated with uncertainty in one’s artistic abilities; this technique allows everyone to get a successful result. Collage can be used in an individual session, in group and even independent work. It is effective to include in the collage drawings, personal photographs of the participants, the authors of which they are, or in which they are depicted, as well as the use of collage in performance and installation. The theme for creating a collage can be different depending on the needs of the group (“Man and Woman”, “body”, “I”, “past-present-future” and many others. The material for the collage can be glossy magazines, various images, photographs, natural materials, objects made or transformed by its creators. Instructions: cut out from magazines. figures of people, animals, etc., and then arrange them into a composition. You can do whatever you want with the elements, you can supplement the work with inscriptions, comments,paint over and decorate voids, be concrete or abstract. Exercise “Play like a child...”. Draw with your “non-working” hand the most favorite game (or activity) of your childhood and come up with a name for the drawing. For work, it is better to take soft visual materials (gouache, crayons, watercolors, etc.), large-format sheets of paper (A3 and larger). It is clear that when drawing with the left hand, a “right-hander” seems to push the boundaries of his skills, discover new feelings in himself, and become more spontaneous. At the same time, there is a high probability of the manifestation of strong feelings, childhood fears, and vice versa, the appearance of vivid creative images. Then we can discuss why this particular children's game arose in the imagination? How did the person feel while working on the images? How does he feel now? Working with clay. Use clay to express current experiences. This can be: tactile development of clay, squeezing, smoothing, tearing, shaping, throwing, etc. Work options: - Create a sculptural image with your eyes closed; - Create imprints of various objects in clay; - Make clay figures for a thematic group composition; - Make various vessels from clay; - Create and then paint figures from clay; - Create clay casts of various objects and surfaces, body parts; - Create a flat clay mask by rolling out the clay with a roller, decorate the surface with imprints of various textures (if firing is possible, this mask can then be painted); - Create a clay amulet or amulet. Working with effects develops spontaneity and novelty of perception. The goal of this work is always in-depth self-knowledge, mastering new types of activities and ways of behavior in an unknown situation. All these exercises actualize strong experiences, feelings, fantasies and fears. They do not have a clear thematic basis. They are applicable at the working stage of the group in conditions of an established atmosphere of trust and acceptance. These techniques relate to techniques for working with the deep unconscious and are used in the context of analytical and existential art therapy. Interaction with paper. Using paper, create a three-dimensional composition or sculpture. You can use scissors, glue, tape, etc. You can vary this task both thematically and instrumentally, for example: - pass a sheet of paper around and let the participants do whatever they want with it (crumple, tear, cut, glue, etc. ); - create or cut out figures from paper and play out a story; - use toilet paper to create a composition; - use wrapping paper, cardboard (corrugated, colored, etc.), bags, boxes, candy wrappers, etc. to create a composition .- use newspapers and magazines to create a three-dimensional composition. Drawing on crumpled paper. Use crumpled paper as a basis for the drawing. Pre-wrinkle it well and get ready for work. In this case, you can draw with paints or pencils (chalk), you can tear off the edges of the drawing, designing it in the form of an oval, circle, etc. Drawing on wet paper. Wet a sheet of paper and apply a drawing using watercolor (or powder), you can use a sprayer. You should experiment with colors, watch how they mix, spread and notice what feelings arise when doing so. Then you can try to transform the patterns into images and give them names. Group interaction and exchange of impressions are possible. Scribble. Freely moving a pencil over a piece of paper, draw doodles without any purpose or intention and pass them on to your partner, who will have to create an image from them and develop it. Options: - then exchange transformed scribbles with your partner and try to continue the drawing without disturbing what he has drawn, then discuss together your associations associated with each other’s drawings - after completing the drawing, compose a story based on the scribbles; - express your feelings and associations in words , which arose when perceiving the partner’s scribbles; - sweeping movements!