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Guide VIII-020

Mandala work

C. G. Jung, Joan Kellogg1916
A 21 · L 42 · M 3711 interventions in the Trinity explorer
Client cardCompare
[source: …] where a claim comes from[uncertain] not confirmed in a primary source[synthesis] the writer's reconstruction

1. Introduction

Version followed: Western clinical mandala work as it comes down from C. G. Jung, through Joan Kellogg's Great Round of Mandala and MARI (Mandala Assessment Research Instrument, now run under MARI Creative Resources), plus the open mandala-drawing and mandala-colouring formats used in art therapy and research (Malchiodi 2010; Curry & Kasser 2005; Henderson 2007). Where Kellogg's original stage names differ from the revised ones, both are given, as reported by van der Vennet & Cassella (2020). Buddhist and Hindu mandala traditions are not covered here. They are religious practices held by their own communities: see guide 191, and the note in section 3.

What it is. Mandala work is a family of art-based procedures, not one manualised therapy. The client makes, colours or chooses images organised around a circle, usually a pre-drawn circle on paper. The clinician then uses the image to support self-regulation and reflection, and in the MARI tradition also as a projective, stage-based reading. [source: Malchiodi 2010; van der Vennet & Cassella 2020; Counseling Today 2015]

Core idea of change. Jung saw the circle as a picture of the self and its centring. He wrote that such structures "not only express order, they also create it" (Jung, CW, para. 870, as quoted by ARAS). He also observed that mandalas tend to appear "during times of psychic disorientation" (as quoted by van der Vennet & Cassella, p. 390). In 1918–19 he sketched a small circular drawing in a notebook each morning (Malchiodi dates his mandala paintings and sketches more broadly to 1916–1920) and treated each as a reading of "the state of the self" (Jung 1961, p. 196, as quoted by ARAS). Kellogg added a developmental map: the Great Round, 13 stages from 0 to 12. In her model, the forms, colours and placement a person is drawn to reflect where they currently stand in a cycle of beginning, struggle, integration, ending and renewal. [source: ARAS; Malchiodi 2010; van der Vennet & Cassella 2020]

The research literature puts it more modestly. A bounded, structured circular task may draw people into a calmer, focused, meditation-like state and give some order to anxious arousal (Curry & Kasser 2005). [source: Curry & Kasser 2005; Holt/UWE review]

2. Framework

No published phased protocol exists for mandala work as a whole. The structure below combines the formats the sources describe. Phase labels and the criteria for moving between phases are [synthesis].

Formats the sources describe

  • Single regulation task: colour a pre-designed mandala, or draw freely inside a circle, for about 20 to 30 minutes. Lab studies used 20 minutes (Curry & Kasser), and the review literature reports 20 to 30. One 10-minute study showed no benefit. [source: Curry & Kasser 2005; Holt/UWE review]
  • Brief structured series: e.g. three consecutive days of about 20 minutes each (Henderson 2007, trauma-focused, group format of 5 to 10), or daily colouring for a week (Flett et al. 2017, as reported in the UWE review). [source: Henderson 2007; Holt/UWE review]
  • Longitudinal mandala journal: a mandala made regularly over weeks or months, then reviewed as a series. This is Jung's own practice and Malchiodi's recommendation. [source: ARAS; Malchiodi 2010]
  • MARI assessment session: a free mandala drawing, then card selections, then counsellor feedback on the Great Round. It can be repeated over treatment to track shifts. Use only after MARI training. [source: Counseling Today 2015; van der Vennet & Cassella 2020; Krippner & Rhinehart]
  • Adjunct within Guided Imagery and Music (GIM): a mandala drawn straight after the music journey (Bonny and Kellogg, Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, 1970s). [source: Aalborg GIM thesis abstract]

Suggested phasing for individual therapy [synthesis]

  1. Introduction and regulation (sessions 1 to 3): low-demand structured colouring, or a free circle drawing with no interpretation. Goals: comfort with materials, a calmer state, a baseline image. Move on when the client tolerates the task without marked distress or performance anxiety, and shows some curiosity about their image.
  2. Exploration (ongoing; one mandala every one to several sessions, or a home journal): free mandalas, followed by the client's own description and title. Goals: putting words to the state, noticing themes across the series. Move on when the client can reflect on the images and the therapy has a clear focus.
  3. Focused work (optional): theme-directed mandalas, such as a trauma-material mandala (only within trauma-competent care; see 4.6), or MARI by trained clinicians. Goals: processing, or a structured reflective picture.
  4. Review and closure: lay the series out chronologically and look back. Goals: consolidation and a narrative of change. [source for series review: Malchiodi 2010; Jung practice per ARAS]

Professional frame.

  • In the UK, "art therapist" and "art psychotherapist" are titles protected by the HCPC, reached through a master's-level training, with BAAT as the professional body. In the US, AATA is the association and ATCB issues the ATR/ATR-BC credentials. [synthesis: general professional knowledge] [uncertain]
  • Simple mandala colouring and drawing as a calming or reflective task can be used by any psychotherapist working within their own competence. The UWE review describes colouring both as self-help and as a tool art psychotherapists use. [source: Holt/UWE review]
  • MARI is proprietary and trademarked. Its use is described as "proprietary unless authorized via their training process". Training is open to counsellors, social workers and psychologists as well as creative arts therapists (van der Vennet & Cassella, pp. 390 to 391). Do not administer or interpret the MARI cards without that training. Training is offered by MARI Creative Resources (owner Michele Takei, per Counseling Today) and through workshops that carry CE credit. [source: van der Vennet & Cassella 2020; Counseling Today 2015; Zeffy MARI training listing]

Materials and safety.

  • Typical kit: white paper with a lightly pencilled circle. Kellogg's MARI format used a 12 × 18 inch sheet with a 10.5 inch circle and Holbein oil pastels (36 or 48 colours). Malchiodi suggests about a 10 inch circle traced from a round plate or drawn with a compass. Black paper is an alternative. Coloured pencils, oil pastels, felt pens or watercolours are also used, plus pencil, eraser and ruler. [source: van der Vennet & Cassella 2020; Malchiodi 2010; Holt/UWE review]
  • Safety: use pastels and paints labelled non-toxic, keep the room ventilated with fixatives or solvents, give out compasses or scissors with care (or pre-draw circles) where self-harm risk is present, and adapt grips and line thickness for tremor or low vision. Adaptation for older adults is suggested in the UWE review but has not been researched. [synthesis; older-adult point: Holt/UWE review]

3. Guiding principles

[source: as tagged; one-line practical meanings are [synthesis] unless cited]

  • The circle is a container, not a rule. Offer the circle as a guide. Clients may work inside, outside or across it, using the circle "as a guide rather than a constraint" (Ljubljana study, p. 100). In practice: say explicitly that going outside the line is allowed.
  • Process over decoding. Malchiodi favours the making itself over reading symbols, and notes there is not enough research to support formula-based Kellogg interpretation. In practice: lead with the client's own experience and meanings. [source: Malchiodi 2010]
  • The client is the first interpreter. Fincher's model brings the client into the interpretation through direct verbal exchange, in contrast with Kellogg's blind reading (Aalborg thesis abstract). In practice: ask before you tell. [source: Aalborg GIM thesis abstract]
  • Offer readings as questions, and time them. In MARI feedback, counsellors put their observations as questions and may hold some back until the therapy is ready (Counseling Today). In practice: "I wonder whether…" rather than "This means…". [source: Counseling Today 2015]
  • Change is seen across a series. Jung's daily notebook and Malchiodi's weeks-to-months practice both treat meaning as emerging over a sequence. In practice: date every mandala, keep the series, and avoid strong conclusions from one image. [source: ARAS; Malchiodi 2010]
  • Match structure to the client. A pre-designed mandala reduced induced anxiety where a blank page did not (Curry & Kasser). Too much structure, such as copying prescribed colours, has not helped (UWE review). In practice: offer structured outlines to anxious or art-shy clients and free circles to those seeking expression, and let them choose colours freely. [source: Curry & Kasser 2005; Holt/UWE review]
  • Not diagnostic. The MARI reliability data are thin and mixed (see 4.8). In practice: never use a mandala as evidence of abuse, diagnosis or risk level. Treat it as material for conversation and record it as such. [source: van der Vennet & Cassella 2020; Krippner & Rhinehart; Malchiodi 2010]
  • Do not assume calm. In a trauma-mandala study, one participant reported increased distress, and the mandala group did not do better than controls drawing everyday objects (Henderson 2007). In practice: check in on state before and after, and keep an exit available. [source: Henderson 2007]
  • Respect the sacred origins. In Tibetan Buddhist and Hindu traditions, mandalas are religious objects and practices with their own teachers and authority. Jungian and Kellogg concepts belong to those Western psychological theories and are not statements of fact. In practice: do not copy or perform ritual mandalas or present them as healing ceremonies, and refer interested clients to the community's own teachers (guide 191). [synthesis]
  • Arts activity versus therapy. A colouring book or group colouring session is arts-for-wellbeing. It becomes therapy when the image is worked with inside a therapeutic relationship and plan. In practice: be clear with clients and referrers which of the two you are offering. [synthesis; Holt/UWE review notes both uses]

4. Intervention inventory

The items below are the procedures described in the sources. Steps are paraphrased, and example wording is illustrative unless quoted.

4.1 Structured mandala colouring (pre-designed outline)

  • Purpose / when: to lower state anxiety and give focused attention. Good as a starting point for anxious or art-shy clients, since a blank page can feel overwhelming. In Curry & Kasser, colouring a mandala outline (or a comparably complex plaid) after a fear-recall writing task lowered anxiety. Free-form colouring on blank paper did not. [source: Curry & Kasser 2005; Holt/UWE review]
  • Steps:
    1. Offer two or three outlines of moderate complexity (concentric or symmetrical) and let the client choose.
    2. Provide colours: Curry & Kasser used six pencils (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple). Let the client choose all colours. Prescribed colours have not helped (UWE review).
    3. Invite them to colour in their own way and to keep attention on their own page.
    4. Allow about 20 minutes (20 to 30 in the literature).
    5. Ask for a brief rating or description of their state before and after (e.g. 0 to 10). [synthesis]
  • Example language (illustrative): "There's no right way to do this. Pick whatever colours you like and just notice what it's like to fill the shapes. We'll stop in about twenty minutes."
  • Watch for: perfectionism or frustration about "staying in the lines", and boredom with designs that are too simple or too complex. Adjust the complexity. [synthesis, consistent with UWE review on challenge–skill balance] Signs it is working: slower breathing, sustained engagement, and a lower self-rating afterwards. Benefits shown in studies are short-term, and how long they last is unknown. [source: Holt/UWE review]

4.2 Free mandala drawing in a pre-drawn circle

  • Purpose / when: self-expression and a snapshot of the current state. It is the core format in Jung, Kellogg, Malchiodi and Fincher, and the basis for MARI. [source: Malchiodi 2010; van der Vennet & Cassella 2020; Counseling Today 2015]
  • Steps:
    1. Prepare the paper with a lightly pencilled circle. Kellogg's format: a 12 × 18 inch sheet with a 10.5 inch circle. Malchiodi: about 10 inches, traced from a plate or drawn with a compass.
    2. Lay out oil pastels (Kellogg) or coloured pencils.
    3. Optionally play soft instrumental music (Malchiodi), or take a brief breathing pause first (Ljubljana workshop).
    4. Give an open prompt. In MARI practice the drawing instruction is reported as "Surprise yourself" (Counseling Today). Say that drawing outside or across the circle is allowed.
    5. Allow about 20 minutes.
    6. Move to reflection (4.4).
    • Variations (Malchiodi): black paper so the colours stand out; different paper sizes.
  • Example language (illustrative): "Here's a circle to use as a starting point. Begin wherever you like, in the centre or at the edge, and let the colours and shapes come without planning. You can go outside the line if you want."
  • Watch for: freezing at the blank circle. If so, offer a structured outline (4.1) or suggest starting by just choosing a colour. Also watch for harsh self-criticism of the drawing's skill. Signs it is working: absorption, spontaneous comments, and the client's curiosity about what appeared. [synthesis]

4.3 Mandala journal (dated series over time)

  • Purpose / when: to track inner change over weeks or months. Modelled on Jung's morning notebook mandalas, which he read as showing "the state of the self" day by day, and on Malchiodi's advice to make mandalas over weeks or months and watch content and style shift. [source: ARAS; Malchiodi 2010]
  • Steps:
    1. Agree a rhythm: daily, weekly, or one per session.
    2. Use the same paper and circle size so the images are comparable. [synthesis]
    3. Date each mandala and add a title or a few words in a separate notebook. The Ljubljana workshop paired drawing with journaling.
    4. Bring the series to sessions periodically.
    5. At review points, lay the series out chronologically and ask the client what has changed: colours, centre, density, use of space beyond the circle. [synthesis]
  • Example language (illustrative): "Let's put the last six side by side. What do you notice changing, and what stays the same?"
  • Watch for: the journal turning into a chore or self-surveillance, in which case lower the frequency; and over-reading of a single "dark" mandala. Signs it is working: the client links images to life events and notices their own patterns. [synthesis]

4.4 Post-drawing reflection: rotate, title, client-led meaning

  • Purpose / when: to bring meaning into words after 4.2, 4.3 or 4.6, with the client leading. Fincher's model involves the client in interpretation through direct dialogue (Aalborg thesis abstract). The Ljubljana workshop had participants rotate the finished work and then journal. [source: Aalborg GIM thesis abstract; Ljubljana study p. 100]
  • Steps:
    1. Have the client hold the mandala at arm's length or pin it up.
    2. Invite them to rotate it and choose which way up it belongs.
    3. Ask for a title.
    4. Ask open, descriptive questions: what draws the eye, what the centre and the edge are like, how the colours feel.
    5. Link only tentatively to the client's current life.
    6. Optionally write a few lines in the journal.
    • Steps 1, 3, 4 and 5 are [synthesis]. Step 2 and the journaling are from the source.
  • Example language (illustrative): "Turn it around until it feels the right way up. If it had a title, what would it be?" "What's happening at the centre? And out at the edge?"
  • Watch for: therapist projection. Keep your own associations as questions. Signs it is working: the client offers personal meanings without prompting. [synthesis]

4.5 Mandala with music, and the post-GIM mandala

  • Purpose / when: to deepen absorption (music while drawing) or to integrate imagery after a music-imagery session. Malchiodi suggests soft instrumental music for a relaxed, meditative mood. In Guided Imagery and Music, the client draws a mandala after the music journey. This practice comes from Helen Bonny's collaboration with Joan Kellogg at the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center in the 1970s. [source: Malchiodi 2010; Aalborg GIM thesis abstract]
  • Steps (music while drawing):
    1. Choose calm, wordless music at a low volume.
    2. Agree beforehand that the client can stop the music.
    3. Proceed as in 4.2.
    • [synthesis for steps 1 and 2]
  • Steps (GIM): use only if you are trained in the Bonny Method. Training is overseen by the Association for Music and Imagery. The mandala follows the music-imagery phase and comes before the verbal discussion. [uncertain: drawing instructions and materials]
  • Example language (illustrative): "I'll put on some quiet music. Let it keep you company while you draw, and tell me if you'd rather have silence."
  • Watch for: music that evokes memories or grief unexpectedly. Check in and stop if needed. [synthesis]

4.6 Trauma-material mandala (symbolic disclosure)

  • Purpose / when: non-verbal, symbolic disclosure of a traumatic experience, for clients who express themselves better visually than in writing. It is based on the Henderson, Rosen & Mascaro trauma-mandala procedure. Henderson's 2007 replication thesis describes it as follows. Participants drew a large circle covering the page and filled it with symbols, patterns and colours representing feelings and emotions about their trauma, with no words ("DO NOT WRITE ANY WORDS", p. 34). There were three sessions on consecutive days, about 20 minutes each, in groups of 5 to 10. [source: Henderson 2007]
  • Important: in the replication, the mandala group did no better than controls who drew everyday objects. At one month, controls had lower PTSD-symptom scores, and one participant reported more distress. Use this only inside trauma-informed therapy with a stabilisation phase completed. It is not a standalone exposure treatment. [source: Henderson 2007; clinical framing: synthesis]
  • Steps (clinical adaptation) [synthesis, built on the published structure]:
    1. Screen first: current safety, dissociation, self-harm risk, and whether the client chose this focus.
    2. Agree a stop signal and a grounding plan (e.g. 4.7).
    3. Have the client draw or trace the circle.
    4. Invite symbols, colours and patterns for the feelings connected with the event, with no words or literal scenes needed.
    5. Time-limit it to about 20 minutes.
    6. Close with a distress rating and grounding.
    7. Discuss the symbolism only as far as the client wishes. In the study, symbolism was discussed at the follow-up debrief.
    8. Repeat across a few sessions only if distress is settling.
  • Example language (illustrative): "You don't need to draw what happened. Just use colours and shapes inside the circle for what you feel about it. If it gets too much, tell me, and we'll stop and come back to the room."
  • Watch for: rising distress, dissociation (staring, slowed or frozen marks), or avoidance by switching to a different event each time, which Henderson flagged as a possible confound. Signs it is working: distress rises and then settles within the session, and the client describes some sense of order or distance. [synthesis]

4.7 Colouring as grounding after difficult material

  • Purpose / when: to regulate and come back to the present after an emotionally intense part of a session. The UWE review proposes colouring for this use and for clients not confident making art. [source: Holt/UWE review]
  • Steps:
    1. Keep simple outlines and pencils ready.
    2. In the last 10 to 15 minutes, offer a short colouring period. Single 10-minute sessions showed no effect in one study, so allow longer if possible.
    3. Add present-moment cues, such as naming the colours used.
    4. Re-rate the client's state before they leave.
    • [synthesis for steps 1, 3 and 4]
  • Example language (illustrative): "Before you head out, let's take some time to colour and let things settle. Just notice the colour you're using and the movement of your hand."
  • Watch for: colouring used to avoid processing that is needed, and distress that does not come down (then use your standard grounding and safety planning). [synthesis]

4.8 MARI Card Test (Mandala Assessment Research Instrument): trained clinicians only

  • Purpose / when: a projective, stage-based picture of the client's current "psycho-spiritual" state (Dallas Art Therapy training listing) and of the interplay of conscious and unconscious forces (Krippner & Rhinehart, p. 156). Used at intake and repeated to track change. It is proprietary, and use requires MARI training. [source: van der Vennet & Cassella 2020; Krippner & Rhinehart; Counseling Today 2015]
  • Materials:
    • 39 transparent design cards: three per stage across 13 stages.
    • Colour cards: reported as 40 (van der Vennet & Cassella), 45 (Counseling Today), or 38 paper plus gold and silver foil (Krippner & Rhinehart). [uncertain: the counts differ by edition]
    • The Great Round chart and a scoring sheet.
    • The card designs and the scoring sheet are licensed and are not reproduced here.
  • Administration as published:
    1. The client draws a free mandala first (4.2).
    2. The client looks at all the design cards and chooses the six they are most drawn to, then one they dislike. Cards are shown in random order and never at their correct stage.
    3. The client pairs each chosen design with a colour card placed behind it.
    4. In the Counseling Today version, the client silently completes a phrase of the form "help or guidance for ___" with an issue they need not disclose, then picks two symbols for that help.
    5. In the van der Vennet & Cassella description, the client adds a colour card to "improve" the disliked card.
    6. The counsellor records the selections on the scoring sheet.
    • [source: Counseling Today 2015; van der Vennet & Cassella 2020; Krippner & Rhinehart pp. 160 to 161]
  • Example language (illustrative): "Look through these and let yourself be drawn to the ones you like, rather than choosing logically. You'll never need to tell me the issue you're thinking about." (The point about not disclosing the issue follows Counseling Today.)
  • Watch for: clients selecting "correct" answers. Remind them that there are none. Note that "Designs 2 and 6 were indistinguishable" on one analysis form (van der Vennet & Cassella, p. 408).
  • Validity limits as reported:
    • Interrater agreement was high (0.997) on standard training mandalas but low (0.267 to 0.297) on 85 real-world mandalas, with only 34% consensus on archetypal pattern (van der Vennet & Cassella, pp. 397 and 408).
    • Krippner & Rhinehart state "Only a paucity of reliability and validity data exist" (p. 156).
    • Malchiodi judges formula-based interpretation insufficiently researched.
    • Do not use MARI results for diagnosis, forensic purposes, or decisions about abuse or risk.

4.9 MARI feedback on the Great Round and the colour-change step

  • Purpose / when: to give the client a structured reflective picture after 4.8. Trained MARI users only.
  • Steps (as published):
    1. The counsellor explains the Great Round.
    2. The counsellor places each chosen symbol-and-colour pair at its true stage, starting with the six liked pairs and usually with the most positive aspects.
    3. The counsellor considers what each stage may mean, and whether the symbol suggests difficulty or resolution.
    4. Colour is treated as adding emotional, physical, cognitive or spiritual nuance. Kellogg: "Actual use of a particular color or its absence may point to problem areas" (1984, quoted by van der Vennet & Cassella, p. 392).
    5. Observations are offered as questions. For example, a dark red symbol at the Struggle stage might prompt a question about old hurt.
    6. Some readings may be held back until therapy is ready.
    7. Change step: the client chooses a new colour and places it on top of the old one, "like a sandwich", to the extent they feel comfortable.
    8. The mandala and scoring sheet can be copied or given to the client to compare later.
    • [source: Counseling Today 2015]
  • Example language (illustrative): "This one sits at the stage often linked with struggle and confronting opposites. Does anything about conflict or old hurt feel alive for you right now?" "If you could change the colour behind this card, which would you choose?"
  • Watch for: the client taking stage placements as fixed facts about themselves. Frame them as prompts for reflection. Do not make the anecdotal claims that some MARI literature reports, which Counseling Today notes lack support. Signs it is working: the client engages with the questions and connects them to their own concerns. [synthesis; caution per Counseling Today]

4.10 Reading a drawn mandala with Kellogg's Great Round (trained clinicians)

  • Purpose / when: a developmental framework for reflecting on a drawn mandala or a series. It is Kellogg's theory, not established fact.
  • The 13 stages (original / revised name; meaning paraphrased from van der Vennet & Cassella, Tables 1 to 2):
    • 0 Clear light / Core: transpersonal source.
    • 1 Void / Entry: deep unconscious, trust and safety.
    • 2 Bliss: receptive, untapped potential.
    • 3 Labyrinth–spiral / Energy–path: focused movement of energy.
    • 4 Beginning(s): symbiotic, narcissistic space.
    • 5 Target: defence and boundary-setting.
    • 6 Dragon fight / Struggle: ambivalence, separation, shadow.
    • 7 Squaring the circle / Independence: union of opposites, commitment.
    • 8 Functioning ego / Identity: autonomy.
    • 9 Crystallization / Group alignment: socialisation, completion.
    • 10 Gates of death / Endings: loss, return inward.
    • 11 Fragmentation / Disintegration: chaos, ego disintegration.
    • 12 Transcendent ecstasy / Transformation: change in consciousness.
  • The Round reads clockwise with Stage 0 at the centre. Stages above an imaginary horizon are read as more conscious and those below as more unconscious. Sources differ on exactly which stages fall where. [source: van der Vennet & Cassella p. 391; Counseling Today; Krippner & Rhinehart p. 156] [uncertain]
  • Steps: after the client's own reflection (4.4), a trained clinician may note which stage a mandala's dominant forms resemble, and offer this tentatively as a question. Do not lead with it. [synthesis]
  • Watch for: labelling a client as "in Fragmentation". Use stage language only if the client finds it meaningful. [synthesis]

4.11 Group mandala-making

  • Purpose / when: groups, workshops and arts-for-wellbeing settings. Fincher's revised Creating Mandalas adds a chapter on making mandalas with a group, which is not drawn on here. [uncertain]
  • Steps [synthesis, general art-therapy group practice, not from Fincher]:
    1. Open with a short breathing pause.
    2. Each member makes an individual mandala (4.1 or 4.2) for about 20 minutes.
    3. Share in pairs or the whole group, voluntarily.
    4. Respond to each other's work with descriptive, not interpretive, comments.
    5. Close with a round of one word each.
  • Example language (illustrative): "When you look at someone else's mandala, tell them what you see, not what you think it means."
  • Watch for: comparing skill, peer interpretation, and pressure to share. [synthesis]

5. Handling problems

The sources say little about problem management. Except where a source is tagged, the guidance below is [synthesis].

  • Blank-circle freeze or "I can't draw":
    • Switch to a structured outline (4.1). In Curry & Kasser, free-form participants looked to the experimenter for direction and paused. [source: Curry & Kasser 2005]
    • Or start with one action: choose a colour, or mark the centre.
    • Say plainly that skill is irrelevant.
  • Perfectionism and self-criticism:
    • Use pastels or larger paper to loosen control, set a time limit, and allow going outside the circle.
    • Name the critic gently: "What is the voice saying about this one?" (illustrative)
  • Stuck or repetitive mandalas:
    • Treat sameness as information and ask about it.
    • Vary one parameter: black paper, size, materials, or music (Malchiodi variations).
    • Review the series (4.3) to see whether "sameness" hides small shifts.
  • Overwhelm, flashbacks or dissociation during drawing (especially in 4.6):
    • Stop the task and turn the paper over or move it away.
    • Ground the client with orientation to the room, feet on the floor, and naming colours aloud.
    • Re-rate distress, and do not resume trauma content in that session.
    • Re-screen before trying again, and return to stabilisation if overwhelm recurs.
    • Do not use trauma mandalas as unsupervised homework. Henderson recorded increased distress in at least one participant. [source: Henderson 2007]
  • Resistance to interpretation, or a rupture after a reading:
    • Acknowledge it directly: "I went too far there. Your sense of it matters more than mine." (illustrative)
    • Return to client-led meaning (4.4) and keep any readings as questions. Counseling Today notes that MARI counsellors may hold back what they see. [source: Counseling Today 2015]
  • The client treats the mandala or MARI as an oracle:
    • Explain that these are reflective tools with limited research support (see 4.8). Bring decisions back to ordinary reasoning in therapy. [source for limits: van der Vennet & Cassella 2020; Malchiodi 2010]
  • Non-adherence to home mandala journal or colouring:
    • Reduce the frequency, and agree a minimal version, e.g. one small circle a week.
    • Explore what gets in the way.
    • Don't frame missed practice as failure. The optimal frequency is unknown. [source: Holt/UWE review]
  • Colouring used as avoidance:
    • If calm colouring routinely replaces needed processing, name the pattern collaboratively and limit colouring to closing the session.
  • Pressure to interpret images as evidence of abuse, diagnosis or risk (from parents, schools, courts or colleagues):
    • Decline. No validated manual supports that use of mandalas or MARI, and the reported interrater agreement on real-world mandalas was low. [source: van der Vennet & Cassella 2020; Krippner & Rhinehart]
    • Record what the client said and did, not your inferred meanings.
    • Act on safeguarding concerns that arise from disclosures and behaviour, following your local procedures, not from imagery alone.
  • Children and young people:
    • Get parental or carer consent and the child's own assent, and explain what happens to the artwork and who sees it.
    • Use thicker crayons or pastels and smaller circles, and keep sessions shorter for younger children.
    • Mandala colouring has been used with school children and adolescents for test anxiety. [source: Holt/UWE review]
    • Safeguarding and mandatory-reporting duties apply as in any therapy.
    • Store and dispose of artwork confidentially.
  • Older adults or clients with motor or visual limits:
    • Use larger outlines, bold lines and chunky grips. These adaptations are suggested but not researched. [source: Holt/UWE review]
  • Religious or cultural concerns:
    • Some clients may see mandalas as religious objects, or may be uneasy using a Buddhist or Hindu sacred form. Offer neutral circular or geometric designs, and say that the clinical exercise is not a religious practice.
    • For clients who want the traditional practice, refer to the community's recognised teachers (see guide 191). Do not lead sand-mandala or ritual practices yourself.
  • Spiritual or energy claims:
    • Some popular mandala material claims sacred-geometry "healing" or trauma release. Do not present these as fact, or as treatment for physical illness.
    • Jungian and Kellogg concepts are each tradition's own theory.
  • Self-harm risk:
    • Pre-draw circles rather than handing out compasses, and count scissors and blades back in.
    • If an image or a comment raises concern, carry out a standard risk assessment. Content alone is not a risk indicator.
  • Going beyond competence:
    • If a client's work moves into deep trauma processing or extended symbolic work, consult or refer to an HCPC-registered art psychotherapist (UK) or an ATR-BC art therapist (US). [uncertain: credential details]
    • Use MARI only after its training. [source: van der Vennet & Cassella 2020]

Sources

Sources

Further reading (not drawn on directly; cited through the sources above)

  • Jung, C. G. (1961). Memories, Dreams, Reflections.
  • Jung, C. G. Collected Works vol. 9i (Concerning Mandala Symbolism) and related volumes, as quoted by ARAS and van der Vennet & Cassella.
  • Kellogg, J. (1978/1984). Mandala: Path of Beauty.
  • Fincher, S. F. Creating Mandalas: For Insight, Healing, and Self-Expression (revised edition, Shambhala).
  • Henderson, P., Rosen, D., & Mascaro, N. (2007). Empirical study on the healing nature of mandalas. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts. [procedure taken from the Henderson thesis]
  • van der Vennet, R., & Serice, S. (2012). Can coloring mandalas reduce anxiety? A replication study. Art Therapy. [uncertain]

Not verified: the professional-credential details (HCPC/BAAT, AATA/ATCB, AMI) come from general professional knowledge.

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