Big picture: ‘The Hands through Time’ exercise

Students take a pen (held in the hand they don’t naturally write with), think back to their earliest childhood memory, and trace a small child’s hand (ideally to the accompaniment of familiar children’s songs). As their earlier self, they make various choices over the fingers: favourite colour, closest friend, a fear, best film or book, and what they want to be when they’re older. Returning the pencil to the familiar writing hand, they repeat the exercise, this time tracing round their adult hand and answering the same questions. Students may then reflect on where that child is today.

Dr Cohen, whose hand features here with that of his own son, says: ‘The exercise is rooted in psychosocial development and creative arts therapies. Students typically reflect on the ways their personalities have changed, leading to the exploration of philosophical questions… does a stable sense of self exist or are we simply a shifting matrix of likes/dislikes, hopes and fears? Is the self a measurable, psychological entity or simply a persistent illusion?’

The next step is to develop and extend the practice to examine other key aspects of the lifespan – identifying significant moments, transitional phases and rites of passage. Dr Cohen says: ‘I hope that these would enhance psychology teaching and also become useful assessment tools in more Transpersonal and Creative Arts Therapies.'