A Mini Presentation on "Flow"

Firstly, a short snippet introduction:

Breathe; A Video

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Flow Definitions

"How-Experience is a pleasant state of absorption of a person during an optimally challenging activity.  During FLOW, the acting person shows undivided attention to a limited stimulus field, while time experience is typically distorted and self-referential thoughts are faded out of mind (Csikszentmhialyi, 1975).  This experiential state occurs when skills of a person and demands the activity are in balance, and both above average (Czsikszentmihalyi & Levfevre, 1989; Rheinberg, 2008)."

 

“However, by definition flow is a demanding and challenging state (e.g., Csikszentmihalyi, Abuhamdeh, & Nakamura, 2005), suggesting that people need personal, energetic resources in order to experience this pleasurable state of mind (Sonnentag & Nussbeck, 2014)”.

"Flow is a metaphorical term to illustrate the feeling of an optimal state of mind that individuals similarly report when they are acting with focused and intent involvement (Kawabata, Mallett, 2011)".

     Love    

Work                             Play

After reading "The Power of Play" I felt that flow could be applied in definition as a synchronicity of "work, play, & love" that brings the active participant into a state of personal presence, peace, & serenity through challenge and achievement; although presence is elusive of time.

WORK=physical and/or mental
PLAY=Activity of Attraction
LOVE=Feelings of pleasure/enjoyment/heightened euphoria



 Flow can be achieved in many forms and the activity may be different to separate individuals.



Children are constantly and naturally engaged in a state or processes of FLOW from birth and through the healthy developmental stages (although this can be impacted by conditions). 

Of course I have to show off my own kids flow...

>>>> 9 "Dimensions" <<<<

of flow as defined by Csikszentmihalyi:

• Challenge-Skill Balance
• Action Awareness
• Clear Goals
• Unambiguous Feedback
• Concentration on the Task at Hand
• Sense of Control
• Loss of Self-Consciousness
• Transformation of time

        

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(Reflection on students and the use of art in my classoom)

  Client's that seek or are pushed into the therapy process, might arguably have lost touch with experiencing the process or state of "flow" and/or have had fewer opportunities for accessing that experience (i.e., stress dominates life).

****The Therapist has a responsibility to develop flow within the context of their own lives and practice.  This is necessary to be fully open and healthy for successful Client support.*****

Applications in Therapy:

•    “Enter the Client’s World” to discover potential passions or delights (how can we get the client re-connected?)
•    Use language to open narratives that might hint towards flow experiences to guide suggested small actions for client.
•      Apply activities in therapy sessions & “homework” for the Client to experiment with opportunities towards flow discovery

An example might be (during session) to produce the triangle and have them jot down lists of "work, play, & pleasure/love"; see where things might meet up.  

Examples of possible flow enacting activities (subject to personal attraction):

Art: doodle book, painting, photographing, etc.

Gardening, digging in dirt or clay

Yoga

Hiking, even a small mountain

Swimming; jump in a cold lake

Reading (for pleasure)

Baking

Music making

knitting

extreme sports; skydiving, skateboarding, surfing, etc.

journaling (i.e., tell Client to start with a 6 word memoir)

 Car tinkering

Fishing

Building (models, projects, etc.)

 Some further studies/research that have been initiated around the topic of flow:

Does Flow Experience Lead to Risk (Schüler, Nakamura, 2013)?
Flow as process versus state?
Conditions that need to be present prior to experience.

Work/play/love
Activity/fun/pleasurable emotion
Goal/interest/gratitude

Fly Fishing flow

Resources:


Ted Talk; Mihaly Czikszentmihalyi