Lately, my sessions have been filled with clients reflecting on the tension that often arises during periods of transition. Some feel proud of their growth, while others feel discouraged by goals left unmet or intentions that quietly fell away as life became overwhelming. Many wonder what to do with this disappointment and whether to carry these unfinished hopes forward.

These conversations echo themes I explored in "Is Your New Year’s Resolution Setting You Up for Failure?" where reflection can easily turn into self-critique. As an art therapist, I guide clients toward practices rooted not in self-judgment but in intentionality, embodiment, and creative self-understanding. Vision boards become a bridge between what was and what may be, offering a compassionate way to imagine what comes next without carrying the emotional weight of the past.

Art making is inherently a narrative process. In the studio or the therapy room, images become a form of storytelling that bypasses the rigidity of language. According to McNiff, art allows us to externalize inner experience and witness ourselves more fully through symbolic form (McNiff, 2004).

Vision boarding builds on this same principle. Whether created with paper and magazines or designed digitally, a vision board takes shape through the intentional selection of images and words that resonate, including those sourced externally or created by your own hand through drawing, writing, or design.

It is not simply a collage of goals but a curated visual story of desire, self-knowledge,

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