The Living Tree Activity is one of a few self esteem exercises on this website that offer a way to increase your self awareness.
Use the guidelines below to help you interpret your Living Tree drawing. Have some paper and a pen to hand when following the guide.
As you draw your tree, your attention is brought to various aspects of your life. It's like shining a light into a corner - you might see things you didn't notice before, or see something about yourself more clearly.
Memories and feelings might come up while you are doing the exercise. This is information you can use. It can help you see yourself or your life from different angles and expand your self awareness.
Understanding yourself better allows you to make choices that support you and help you live your life more effectively. This is the foundation of good self esteem. That is why many self esteem exercises focus on building self insight or self awareness.
The memories or feelings that might come up could be happy or sad. Whatever they are, simply:
1) notice them
2) name them
3) write down your thoughts and feelings in a journal or notebook.
These emotions and thoughts are clues about yourself that can help you understand yourself better. Having effective ways of dealing with emotions is part of having healthy self esteem.
If you plan to use this exercise with a group, please read the important information below.
How does the word you chose relate to you and your life? Is there any connection?
Is there something about you or your life that this might represent?
Did any feelings stand out? Who did it relate to?
Were there any that you had not thought about in a while? Did any memory or feeling stand out? Who or what did it relate to?
What did you see? What did it make you feel?
Why did you leave them out? What feelings did you have when deciding to leave them out? (Did you even notice?).
Who or what was it? What do you feel about the person or event?
For some people drawing something bigger means it is more important, or is 'on their mind' more than other things. It could also mean that the feelings connected with that person or thing are much stronger than with the others.
Drawing something much smaller could mean that it is something you find harder to look at, or something that is less important, or something that you want to keep to yourself for now. Drawing something really small, or not having a drawing at all might also mean something. What does it mean to you?
You might think the size is just accidental, but even accidental things can have meaning.
These are not hard and fast rules - your tree and its symbols are personal to you - only you can say what they really mean.
Are some of them are cut or broken off? If so, is there anything in your life that feels the same way?
Are you fond of it / hate it / couldn't care less about it....?
How does this relate to how you feel about yourself? Is it similar or different? How do you think this might relate to your self esteem?
Everything about this tree is a reflection of some aspect of you. Because you created it using only pictures and symbols - it has a 'symbolic' language personal to you.
The images you used contain information about you. Try understand what the symbols or pictures mean. If it isn't clear straight away, let your mind mull it over and see what comes up.
Because this exercise focuses on life events, the content is of a personal nature. When working in a group, protecting participants privacy is important.
The structure of the exercise allows some privacy because, by leaving out words, only the participants know what their drawings mean. People should not be forced to share or explain their drawing unless they want to do this freely and voluntarily.
It should be made clear before you start, that sharing is NOT required and that the exercise is for each person alone, unless someone volunteers to discuss the results afterwards. No pressure of any kind should be placed on partipants to share information.
Usually this is a gentle exercise, but sometimes it can allow feelings to come up unexpectedly. If any circumstances exist where you feel the participant might have an emotional reaction - be sure to be supportive of each person and allow them to discontinue the drawing if this is what they wish.
If any of these self esteem exercises are put to use within a therapeutic setting, the use and outcomes are the responsibility of the therapist or professional who is using them and no claims or liability of any kind can be made against the originator of the exercise.
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Living Tree Self Awareness Activity