2207 191U 1SN ( 3in1io ] oFednyd Table of Contents iolence and trauma, this zine was created While this zine s a resource for people who need healing specifically for incarcerated survivors of police violence from any ty] Introduction-3 Safe Space-4 Drawing a Breath-6 Mandala’s-8 Protective Container-10 Monsters-12 Paving the Way-14 The Chicago Torture Justice Center (CT)C) isa community center for Chicago police torture survivors and anyone who has experienced police violence, directly or indirectly. CTIC was established as a result of a historic Reparations Ordinance passed by the Chicago City Councilin May 2015 and serves survivors of police torture, their family members, and community members. CTICisthe first community center in the United States that provides specialized trauma services tothose tortured by law enforcement officers within the country. We are a part of and supporta movement to end all forms of police violence. Our support is rooted in what we call “politicized healing” Politicized healingis the belief that our healing s political and our politics are healing. Politicized healing addresses the harm—felt by individuals and communities—caused by historic and evolving systems of oppression. It reminds us that surviving and healing as individuals is also healing to our communities and the world we would like to see flourish. WHAT IS ART THERAPY? Arttherapy is used to help individuals to verbalize their thoughts, feelings, and beliefs. Especially while ncarcerated you may not be able to express your thoughts and feelings verbally in a safe way. Art and writing can help youtostill express it and get those emotions outside of your mind and body. It also can provide an alternative place to focus attention and new practices that can serve as support. Art therapy is not about making an objectively good piece of art. Focus less on the result and more on the process. Itis about the mental and emotional experience rather than the result. You can have a more healing experience drawing like a 6-year old than by creating a masterpiece, art therapy is about engagingn the process fully. Each of these directives has different purposes. Some are calming practices, some require deeper engagement. Pay attention to yourselfand what you need. If you are constantly feeling high levels of emotions, it may be more helpful for you to engage in calming practices rather than the ones that may trigger more emotions. These directives are not a substitute for having your own therapist or engaging in counseling, but rather a tool to help support you navigate your emotions All of these directives are created to be able to be completed with a pencil and paper, but f you have access to more materials, feel free to alter the assignment to work with the art supplies you have. This zine s created to bea setof guidelines to getyou started on using art for healing, but you are the only one that knows what you need. Feel free to use this as a jumping-off point for your own creativity and create whatever feels best SAFE SPACE Having a place that feels safe and that you can retreat to when things get tough is important, butisn't always physically possible. A helpful alternative is creating a safe space in your mind thatyou can go to when fear, panic, or traumatic memories become overwhelming. Havinga mental safe place can help you to cope with stress and increase your sense of safety. As you begin, try and think about a location where you have felt safe at some time in your life or imagine a new place that would be safe foryou. Think about what smells, sights, feelings, and: sounds you would experience in your safe place. Think about if it would be inside o outside. You can work off of a space that you already have experienced or create an entirely new imaginative space. When you are ready, begin to draw what your safe place would look like. Who would be there? What objects would be there (furniture, activities, comforts etc.) How do you enter and leave the room? s there a way to secure it from unwanted people or things? Think about the details and what makes those specific details feel safe to you Afteryou are done creating your space on paper, practice visualizing the image in your mind’s eye. Create a plan for how you would enter the space, would it be a room at the top of a set of stairs, would you have to climb up a hill? Practice entering and leaving your safe space in your imagination so that when your feelings or surroundings become overwhelmingyou have a place to retreat to. aoeds ajes Is DRAWING A BREATH Breathing is a natural action that we do without thinking every day. However, when we are in distress we may begin to breathe rapidly or shallowly, which only serves to increase our anxiety. Conscious breathing that is slow and deep when we are feeling distressed can reduce our distress by releasing muscular and emotional tension. Focusing on breathing can also shift your attention away from flashbacks or unhelpful thinking and bring your focus back to the present reality. When you are ready to begin, take a piece of paper, and while you are inhaling and exhaling pay attention to the rhythm, depth, and sounds of your breathing. Draw a line that has similar qualities to your breath. Think about if the lines should be long or short; curved or angular; quick or slow; light or heavy pressure; dashed or solid line. After doing this for a couple of minutes with your normal breathing, focus on changing your breathing to being slower and more controlled. You can try saying something silently to yourself like “breath in calm, exhale tension” if it helps you. Draw your new pattern of breathing on the other side of the paper for a couple of minutes. Pay attention to the depth and length of your calming breaths. After you are done, compare the two drawings. Do you notice any differences? Do you notice any differences in your stress levels after changing your breathing pattern? This can be used just once as a reminder to work on controlling your breathing, or you can use this directive as a coping skill when you are experiencing anxiety or heightened stress levels and you can draw your breathing in order to help you calm down. yieaug ee 3uimelq 17 MANDALAS Mandala is a Sanskrit word that means circle and is a symbol that is a part of spiritual and religious practices in Hinduism and Buddhism. Itis a set of designs in a circular pattern like pictured below. The circle is a representation of wholeness and unity and creating within a circular pattern helps to bring a sense of calmness. Drawing a mandala can be a practice in mindfulness meditation as well as a calming practice when anxiety or other emotions get overwhelming. The mandalas below are examples of what they can look like. Feel free to try to recreate one of these or design a new one. When creating a mandala, start withacirclein the middle of your paper and draw repeating geometric patterns around it layer by layer. Itis common to make petal, leaf, or triangle shapes and fill in those shapes with more geometric patterns. Have fun with it and challenge yourself to try different designs as you go! = 5