The Onion: Drowning Inside and Can’t Make It Stop

An art therapy path for those whose emotions are too much, and everything feels out of control

Not everyone who comes to art therapy is ready to process themselves.
Some arrive at a point where they simply can’t hold it together anymore.

You might feel like you’re about to explode—or that you already have.
You don’t know how to stop, where to begin, or who could possibly understand any of it.

We’re not here to force you to talk, or to push you to be strong, to fix yourself, or to “do something.”

We’re here to sit with you and gently witness how your inner onion —
layer by layer — has been leaking energy, emotion, and even your sense of being.

Layer One: Reactive Outbursts and Loss of Control

Inner Problem Manifestation — Existence

This layer isn’t a mask — it’s an overflow.
You cry uncontrollably, rage without warning, feel your heart race and mind spin.
You think you’re “just too emotional,” but what’s really happening is system overload.

This is not because you’re “too sensitive.”
This is your body saying: Enough.

Art therapy doesn’t try to silence your reactions.
It helps you slow the pace and carve out small, breathable spaces
within the chaos of too much, too fast, too loud.

Layer Two: Overwound Nerves and Disconnected Safety

Problem Localization — Life Stabilization

You may not even remember what happened —
but your body does. It remembers what wasn’t safe.
You scan, brace, prepare, constantly ready for what might go wrong.

And over time, you’ve forgotten what it means to relax,
to trust, or to simply be.

This layer isn’t about digging into trauma —
it’s about slowly grounding again,
re-teaching your nervous system that here, now, is not back then.

Not “get ready to run,”
but “I’m allowed to stay.”

Layer Three: Burned-In Beliefs and Broken Inner Language

Meaning Transformation — Ecological Awareness

“I can’t fall apart.”
“There’s something wrong with me.”
“I’m being dramatic, right?”

These aren’t always things others said to you.
Sometimes, they’re the scripts you’ve learned to repeat to yourself.

We won’t try to rewrite those lines overnight.
Instead, through art-making, we’ll trace how you talk to yourself,
convince yourself to shut up, hold it in, carry on, don’t bother anyone.

Art therapy isn’t about “drawing solutions.”
It’s about reconnecting your feelings to your voice,
and finding the space where expression can start — and be safe.

Layer Four: Creative Paralysis and Exhausted Momentum

Action Planning — Living Aliveness

You’re not lazy. You’re not unmotivated.
You’re just stuck in that double bind of “I don’t know how to begin”
and “I’m scared that beginning will only lead back to failure.”

Here, we don’t push you to “get it together.”
We invite you to try micro-movements of creativity —
ripping paper, smudging colours, kneading clay,
or simply watching watercolours spread.

These small acts awaken a part of you that still wants to move,
that still believes there’s more than this numb loop.

Layer Five: Returning to the Core Energy Within

Integration & Closure — Vital Emergence

The centre of an onion is not hollow.
It holds your core life energy — still alive, still untouched:
sensitivity, connection, presence, possibility.

This layer isn’t about offering answers.
It’s about helping you recognize what’s still intact inside,
what has never been broken.

You don’t need to become a “better” version of yourself.
You just need to stop bleeding out trying to be someone you’re not.

Closing: You’re Not Broken — You Just Haven’t Felt Safe Enough to Exist

You’re not a problem to be fixed. You’re just out of control.
You’re someone who’s still breathing inside the chaos.

Art therapy helps you return to yourself.