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Autumn Leaves

Location: Indoors

Time: 45 minutes

Materials: Construction paper (green, brown, orange, red; blue or white for background)

Removable sticky tape, glue dots, glue, or glue sticks

Markers

Scissors

Optional: leaf shapes for templates

Objectives

• To stimulate thinking about behaviors, habits, or experiences that clients are ready to let go.

• To provide a visual representation of the process and a way to self-check desired changes.

Directions

1. Review directions and anticipated outcome with the group.

2. Ask each participant to choose a background sheet of construction paper.

3. Instruct participants to design their own tree trunk out of brown construction paper.

4. Have them cut out leaf shapes and glue them onto the branches of the tree.

5. Direct participants to place a few leaves at the base of the tree.

6. Tell participants to set aside four or five leaves on which to identify some personal feeling or behavior that one wishes to “leave behind.”

7. On the selected leaves, have participants write specific behaviors they wish to overcome. For example, snacking excessively, chewing fingernails, being impatient, procrastinating, or being late for appointments.

8. Using removable tape, have participants place the selected leaves on the tree or falling toward the ground. They can be positioned with the behavior showing or turned privately inward.

9. Encourage participants to keep the tree, and as they make progress, move the leaves down toward the ground.

10. If desired, paricipants can write behaviors of the past that they have already left behind on the fallen leaves.

Observations

This activity was done with a group of twelve. Several participants needed help and individualized attention to get started and to conceptualize desired life change. All embraced the concept of identifying behaviors they wished to leave behind, and about half put their trees in strategic locations so they could do daily checkups. One woman made a Christmas tree and decorated it with pinecones that fell off—Christmas represented her target date for achieving the desired changes.

Inspired by: A Yaqui Indian ceremony in which the entire village lets go of personal issues and the entire village is cleansed in a group ceremony.