Harriet Hodgson Uses Grief Doodling to Teach Kids About Loss

“Grief Doodling: Bringing Back Your Smiles” by Harriet Hodgson

Most of us have probably doodled a random drawing or few. The margins of a notebook or a scrap piece paper provide a fine canvas for this erratic art. It’s a seemingly mindless activity as our thoughts wander off from any task at hand. But researchers are touting health benefits that doodling or drawing may have on the brain. In fact, these random pictures and patterns may offer some impressive therapeutic value. The concept of grief doodling may be especially beneficial, particularly for children.

Psychologists assessed the cognitive behaviors associated with 9000 doodles submitted to the “Evening Standard” newspaper in 1937 for analysis. The authors deduced that while most drawings were constructed out of boredom or distraction, there was a favorable link to the creative element of the brain. Other studies purport doodling improves memory function. And more recent research asserts that the rhythmic and repetitive hand-eye coordination may increase alpha waves in the brain to facilitate a calming or relaxation response.

Doodling can be a simple and effective tool to ease stress.

Harriet Hodgson, author of “Grief Doodling: Bringing Back Your Smiles,” created the book after scrawling her way through her own grief after the loss of her husband and subsequent others. Hodgson is an early childhood teacher with a master’s degree in art education, who has written hundreds of articles and dozens of books on the topics of grief and art. She considers this most recent work a grief roadmap for elementary, middle school, and high school students. She tells “Post-Bulletin” of Rochester, Minnesota, “It does alleviate grief. It’s very calming. A lot of people think that your mind isn’t working. Your mind is working all the time. Doodling is thinking in action.”

On her website, Hodgson shares a user’s guide for “Grief Doodling”. The book is full of prompts and basic techniques, so readers can create a visual record of their grief journey and feel better after doodling. There is also an audio interview with the author here.

Harriet Hodgson poses with some of her doodle art
Credit: Harriet Hodgson via Facebook

Grief doodling is a simple, easy, and affordable creative outlet for anyone who has experienced a loss of any kind. Although it should be noted that most experts and authors on the subject agree that maximum benefits are best derived when it’s more than mere mindless scribbles. Doodling pictures, patterns, figures, or shapes while setting intention behind them can be psychologically beneficial in a multitude of ways.

There are oodles of doodle handbooks, journals, and guides available for brains all ages.