🌱 Growing Self-Awareness 

Through the Emotion Garden

One of the most powerful milestones in therapy is when a child begins to understand their inner world — not just through words, but through symbols, stories, and play.

When Millie first entered the Emotion Garden framework, she often drew pictures that showed how trapped she felt inside — houses with no doors, figures in cages, and erased drawings that spoke quietly of her fear of being left or unseen. These early images gave shape to emotions that were too big or confusing to name.

As therapy continued, her artwork began to change. The cages slowly turned into gardens — delicate blossoms, thorned roses, ivy reaching outward, and strong oaks rooted deep in the soil. Each plant represented a feeling: something to be cared for, pruned, or allowed to grow. Through play and art, Maya began to realize that her emotions were not problems to fix, but living parts of her that could be tended with love and attention.

This shift marked a turning point. She started to use the language of the garden to describe how she felt — “my rose is blooming again,” or “my ivy is wrapping too tight.” The Emotion Garden gave her a developmentally appropriate, creative way to talk about her feelings while learning how to nurture herself from the inside out.