Annually, approximately 5 million Americans are diagnosed with severe and long lasting mental illness that affects their thoughts, feelings, work and relationships. For this reason, it is important to explore alternative therapeutic tools. Currently, mandalas are used by therapists to enhance and supplement western medicine. Mandalas are often used with psychiatric patients. However, mandalas can be used with children and adults with mental and physical disabilities and for individuals seeking to grow personally (Polt, 2005). Research has shown that creating and coloring a mandala reduces anxiety.
The mandala is one of the oldest and most universal symbols (Polt, 2005). The mandala originated from the Buddhist religion. Mandalas can be drawn, painted or modeled in sand sculptures. In Sanskirt (Indian language), mandala means circle. The mandala represents wholeness and spiritual power (Mandalas, 2004). The mandala is utilized to represent the self, unity, harmony, transformation and integration (C.G. Jung, 2007). The majority of mandalas are circular and geometric in shape (Carlin, 2006). The two main uses of the mandala include: (1) a focus for mediation and prayer (2) creation of your own mandala for self-exploration (About the Mandala, 2002). The mandala also allows an individual to concentrate on the sacred (Carlin, 2006). Mandalas are believed to encourage psychological integration and healing when an individual creates a mandala (Henderson, Mascro, Rosen, & Skillern, 2007). While mandalas originated from Buddhism, every religion and culture uses mandalas in some form (Polt, 2005).
Carl Jung was responsible for making the mandala well-known in western cultures. In fact, Jung used mandalas in his own life and with clients. According to Jung, a mandala is the symbol of an archetypal self that directs and challenges an individual to reach their full potential (Polt, 2005). An archetypal image is defined as an image “imprinted” into the human mind, or a part of the collective unconscious (Carlin, 2006). The collective unconscious is defined as a part of the unconscious that is shared by people of all races and cultures.
The inside circles of a mandala represent the spiritual center and the outside circles represent the physical body. Reintegration of the inner and outer self is important or social well-being (Cairns, 1962). In other words, a balance between the inner self and the outside world is important (Coward, 1996).
Jung discovered that mandalas occurred spontaneously in artistic works, visions and dreams of individuals across diverse cultures. According to Jung, an image of a mandala happens when an individual experiences dissociation or disorientation. A circular image allows the individual to focus on a central point (Dellios, 1996). It is an unconscious way leading to self-healing. Jung saw the mandala as “vessels” in which we project ourselves onto (About the Mandala, 2002). Jung contended that there is a healing and relaxing effect for those who create mandalas. Creation of mandalas promotes psychological integration and allows the individual to find personal meaning in life.
There are several reasons to create a mandala. First, creating a mandala has a calming and relaxing effect. Second, mandalas have regenerative and healing powers. The meditative process of creating a mandala helps focus the mind and heal the body. Research has shown that the mind can effect whether treatment is successful. Third, creating a mandala provides a sense of unity between the self and others (Cornell, 2006).
For this reason, mandala drawing is an ideal therapeutic tool for clients who have experienced trauma. The mandala helps to integrate all of the emotions associated with the trauma and provide some order. Art psychotherapists often utilize mandalas as a therapeutic tool for healing, conflict resolution, self-awareness and self-expression. By creating a mandala drawing, this allows the individual to symbolically convey and
resolve the trauma. It is easier to express the pain and emotions through art therapy compared to traditional talk therapy (Henderson et al., 2007).
In one study, the researchers found that individuals who drew within a circle experienced more positive emotions compared to those who drew within a square. This study provides some support that mandalas have a relaxing and healing effect (Henderson et al., 2007).
Henderson et al. (2007) examined the physical and psychological advantages of drawing a mandala among clients who have experienced trauma. The main purpose of this study was to evaluate the healing power of mandalas. The researchers argued that the mandala drawing promotes organization and integration of emotions and experiences and provides personal meaning.
The researchers hypothesized that participants placed in the mandala-drawing group would show statistically significant increases in physical and psychological health compared to the control group. Individuals who were assigned to the mandala-drawing group were instructed to draw a circle and fill in the circle with symbols, designs, patterns and colors that represented their emotions or feelings associated with the trauma they experienced. In addition, they were instructed not to use any words. In the control condition, participants were instructed to draw any shape and use a lot of details. At the end of the study, participants in the mandala condition were told to write a description of the symbolic meaning of their mandalas (Henderson et al., 2007).
The results demonstrated that symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) improved in the mandala condition.
However, there are several weaknesses in this study. A major weakness of this study was that there were only a small number of participants (36 participants) and the majority of participants were male (28 males). Furthermore, this study focused on college students with PTSD (Henderson et al., 2007). Furthermore, research has shown that coloring therapy is effective in reducing anxiety. Coloring therapy is a combination of meditation and art therapy. When individuals color complex geometric shapes, it allows the individual to stop focusing on
negative thoughts and emotions. The geometric shape of mandalas help bring an individual into a meditative state. Research has suggested that non-verbal therapy (art therapy) is ideal for anxiety because art therapy avoids the self-consciousness of traditional talk therapy (Curry & Kasser, 2005).
Coloring mandalas results in a reduction in anxiety because it allows the mind to escape from thoughts. Coloring is relaxing under times of anxiety and enhances an individual’s immune system and ability to heal. Mandalas serve as a way to organize the inner self in way that counterbalances a lack of order and confusion of specific psychological states. Coloring mandalas teaches an individual patience. A pre-drawn mandala is an ideal therapeutic tool because there is no perfect way to color a mandala. For this reason, coloring a mandala is non-threatening for those who are not artistic (Polt, 2005).
Polt (2005) examined the usefulness of coloring mandalas in reducing depression and anxiety. Depression, anxiety, energy and concentration levels were assessed before and after coloring a mandala. The results demonstrated that coloring mandalas did reduce levels of depression and anxiety. Coloring mandalas also led to an increase in energy and concentration levels.
Curry and Kasser (2005) examined the effectiveness of coloring mandalas in decreasing anxiety. The researchers measured levels of anxiety before and after participants’ colored mandalas. In order to investigate whether mandalas had a unique effect in decreasing anxiety, the researchers had one group color a complex plaid geometric pattern. The participants were placed in one of three conditions. The three conditions included free-form, plaid-form and mandala drawing. In the control condition (free-form), the participants were instructed to color on a blank sheet of paper. The researchers hypothesized participants in the mandala drawing group
would experience the largest decrease in levels of anxiety if mandalas had a unique effect. If coloring a pre-structured drawing is the cause of achieving a meditative state,both the plaid and mandala group will have an equal decrease in levels of anxiety. Individuals in the free-form group should show no decrease in levels of anxiety. The results demonstrated that there was an equal decrease in anxiety for individuals in the mandala drawing and plaid-form condition. For this reason, the researchers believed that it might be the relaxing effect of art therapy in general that reduced anxiety levels. The control group experienced no decrease in anxiety (Curry & Kasser, 2005).
In addition, Joan Kellogg discovered that the mandala can be used as a therapeutic tool for self-discovery. She argued that the mandala symbolizes who the individual is at the present moment in time. The mandala represents an individual’s inner self and processes (Marhall, 2003). Jung also realized that there is a connection between the symbols an individual selects and what is occurring in an individual’s current life (The
MARI Process, 2006). From her experiences with mandalas, she developed a projective test known as the Mandala Assessment Research Instrument (MARI ) Card Test. In order to understand shapes and patterns in a mandala design, she created a process based on color, movement, symbol and form. The Great Round Mandala, a theoretical model developed by Kellogg, plans out stages of psychological development (Polt, 2005).
The MARI Card Test consists of several steps. First, the individual draws and colors a mandala. This helps to activate the right side of the brain. Second, the individual selects 6 out of 39 symbols they like and 1 symbol they do not like. Third, the individual selects a color that they feel matches the symbol. There are 45 color cards. Fourth, the pairs of symbol and color are set down on a circular field that consists of 13 sequential developmental stages. This is known as the Great Round. There are three symbols at each stage. The 13 developmental stages include entry, bliss, energy/path, beginning, target, struggle, independence, identity, group assignment, endings, disintegration and transformation and the core. Fifth, the individual thinks of a current problem in their life and then selects two additional symbol/color cards. These are the guidance cards used to
help the individual resolve their problem (The Mari Process, 2006).
Future research should focus on children, adolescents and older adults because the majority of studies were conducted using college students. Since children are often ashamed and afraid to talk about the abuse they have experienced, mandala drawings would be easier and less threatening to children compared to talking about the abuse. It is easier for children to express emotions associated with trauma non-verbally. In
addition, the majority of research is limited to case studies and clinical observations. There are only a couple of empirical studies conducted on the healing power of mandalas (Henderson et al., 2007). There also is a limited amount of studies conducted on the effectiveness of the MARI Card Test.
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