The Power of Your Other Hand: Unlock Creativity and Inner Wisdom Through the Right Side of Your Brain

By Lucia Capacchione

Brain researchers have in recent years have discovered the vast, untapped potential of the brain's little-used, right hemisphere. Art therapist Lucia Capacchione discovered that our nondominant hand is a direct channel to that potential. Her research and fieldwork with people using their "other hand" provides the raw material for this classic, first published in 1988.

In workshops and private sessions, Lucia has worked with thousands of people, employing these techniques to help them become more creative, expressive, and intuitive in their day-to-day lives and also experience improved health and greater fulfillment in their relationships.

Lucia will show you how to:

• Channel the deep inner wisdom of your True Self
• Change negative attitudes about yourself
• Unlock creativity
• Uncover hidden artistic abilities
• Heal your relationships

Through various drawing and writing exercises, Lucia Capacchione hopes you will discover the power that lies hidden in your other hand. The techniques will help you explore and understand your thoughts and feelings on a completely different level and reconnect with a sense of playfulness you may have left behind in childhood.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Red Wheel
• Release date: May 1, 2019
• ISBN: 9781633411333

Lucia Capacchione

Lucia Capacchione is the bestselling author of The Creative Journal: The Art of Finding Yourself, Recovery of Your Inner Child, and many other Creative Journal Method books for recovery, healing, and life planning. Her work and professional training program have found an international audience, and her books have been translated into multiple languages.

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Praise for The Power of Your Other Hand

"Both drawing and writing encourage a fundamental need that we have for self-expression. Writing has the added benefit of translating experience into language—which can help a person resolve trauma more quickly. Lucia Capacchione's work is pioneering! I highly recommend The Power of Your Other Hand."

Professor James W. Pennebaker, author of Writing

to Heal and Opening Up by Writing it Down

"A practical, playful, insightful, and delightful way to get in touch with the Inner Self. It is remarkable that one's own intuitive wisdom and creativity can be tapped so easily in a process that is readily available to us."

Joan Borysenko, PhD, Harvard Medical School,

author of Minding the Body, Mending the Mind

The process of healing is the product, and Capacchione's work guides us in the process, presenting tools for change. I recommend it to all.

Bernard S. Siegel, MD, author of Love, Medicine and

Miracles

Lucia Capacchione's workshop was a powerful tool on my healing journey. This book shares her insights and gives you the opportunity to heal your relationship with your inner child. Go for it!

Louise L. Hay, author of You Can Heal Your Life

A powerfully creative and creatively powerful book.

Norman Cousins, author of Anatomy of An Illness

"The Power of Your Other Hand is a classic manual for self-discovery. It is a must-read not just for art therapists. It offers an applicable tool for deep psychological insight and spiritual wisdom. Lucia Capacchione's inspiring and caring style assures that she walks every step with the reader along the way."

Cornelia Elbrecht, author of Trauma Healing at the

Clay Field and Healing Trauma with Guided Drawing

This work provides us with the road map to become more creative and insightful in our lives. Lucia offers the path to the right hemisphere of our brains and to the bounty to be found therein.

William A. Donius, New York Times bestselling

author of Thought Revolution: How to Unlock Your

Inner Genius

This edition first published in 2019 by Conari Press, an imprint of

Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC

With offices at:

65 Parker Street, Suite 7

Newburyport, MA 01950

www.redwheelweiser.com

Copyright © 2001, 2019 by Lucia Capacchione

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC. Reviewers may quote brief passages. Previously published in 2001 by New Page Books, ISBN 978-1-56414-558-1.

ISBN: 978-1-57324-747-4

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available upon request.

Cover design by Kathryn Sky-Peck

Interior by Stacy Farkas

Printed in the United States of America

TS

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

www.redwheelweiser.com/newsletter

Dedicated

with

love and gratitude

to

my teachers:

GURUMAYI CHIDVILASANANDA

Meditation Master

TOBE REISEL

Art Therapist

CORITA KENT

Artist

THANKS

to the contributors:

Mona Brookes

Molly Deane Clarke

Dorothy Gilles

Tom D. Gumas, M.D.

Elizabeth Johnson

Pamela Karle

Erin King-West

Kadi Kurgpold

Sylvia Miller

Jeanne Paige

Aleta Pearce Francis

Brad Stoller

to all the students and clients

who helped field test the material in this book

to all those who gave encouragement along the way;

to my daughter Aleta Pearce Francis

and

my editors, Nancy Shaw and Jim Strohecker

for their love and invaluable support;

to Bob Brenner

who encouraged me to write this book

and who held my hand during the most difficult early phases;

to my publisher, Ron Fry,

for his support and enthusiasm.

CONTENTS

PREFACE

AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER ONE:

IN MY OWN HANDS

CHAPTER TWO:

THE UPPER HAND AND THE OTHER HAND

CHAPTER THREE:

LETTING THE RIGHT HAND KNOW . . .

CHAPTER FOUR:

HAND IN HAND

CHAPTER FIVE:

FINDING THE ARTIST WITHIN

CHAPTER SIX

FINDING THE HEALER WITHIN

CHAPTER SEVEN

RECOVERY OF THE INNER CHILD

CHAPTER EIGHT

REACHING OUT

CHAPTER NINE

THE HAND OF GOD WITHIN

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

BIBLIOGRAPHY

LIST OF PERMISSIONS

PREFACE

When the first edition of The Power of Your Other Hand was released in 1988, modern imaging-based brain research was well underway. Roger Sperry of the California Institute of Technology (Cal Tech) had already won the 1981 Nobel Prize in science for his work on the specialized functions of the two hemispheres of the brain. However, not much had been written about the brain/hand connection and the specialized functions of our two hands. Yes, there were some books about left-handedness, but they posed more questions than they answered.

As an artist, art therapist and teacher, I decided to investigate the differences between our two hands. Like the hemispheres of the brain, they look alike but they don't act the same. This became my area of study for decades to come.

I didn't have to go far to do anecdotal research on the topic. At lectures, workshops, book signings, and media interviews, people poured out their stories: What it was like being left-handed in a right-handed world; how some had been forced to be right handed (and the abuse and neurological damage they endured). I also heard deeply moving stories about the impact drawing and writing with the non-dominant hand was having on people, regardless of their natural handedness. I was, quite frankly, blown away by their stories. They were reporting a depth of physical and emotional healing that I had never expected when I wrote this book. They were also tapping into levels of creativity and inner wisdom they never dreamt they had.

Artists who were blocked and needed to loosen up talked about how liberating it was to work with their non-dominant hand. The power of this technique was confirmed by none other than Herbert (Herbie) Ryman, the art director of Disney classics like Fantasia and Dumbo. I was a consultant at Walt Disney Imagineering when Herbie was working there. After he read the book, we met for lunch and he told me about discovering this technique years before and using it to loosen up young Disney animation artists fresh out of school. According to Herbie, the young artists thought they knew it all. They thought they were big shots now that they worked for Disney. But their work was glib and stiff, and he couldn't animate the characters they were creating. In his new-employee workshops they yelled and screamed about how awkward and slow it was to draw with their non-dominant hand. He finally had to bring Walt in to tell them to follow his instructions. When they went back to drawing with their dominant hands, their art work was totally transformed.

Readers who could get past their Inner Critic long enough to try the drawing activities in Chapters Four and Five uncovered their Inner Artist who had been buried in childhood. The same was true for the hidden Inner Poet. Readers sent me poetry and prose that moved me deeply, describing experiences of inner transformation and healing through written dialogues with both hands. They were discovering innate sources of creativity and wisdom that surprised and delighted them.

At the same time all of these reports were coming in from readers, James Pennebaker was becoming known for his pioneering work in the field of therapeutic writing. Author of Opening Up by Writing It Down and Writing to Heal, Pennebaker brought scientific legitimacy to what we clinical practitioners had experienced with clients and students: writing has the power to heal. In control group studies Pennebaker discovered that writing about trauma had health benefits. Pre- and post-blood tests showed improvement in immune system function. Furthermore, those who wrote about trauma had fewer doctor visits following the experiment, compared to the control group who wrote about any topic of their choice.

Pennebaker's research matched my own observations working with cancer support groups, persons with AIDS/HIV, and clients with post-traumatic stress disorder. Dr. Pennebaker and I met after the publication of this book. He encouraged me to continue researching the healing powers of drawing and writing with the non-dominant hand and recommends these techniques to his clients.

Through more scientific research, the power of Expressive Arts therapies for healing trauma has been thoroughly documented. The work of Linda Chapman, art therapist and author of Neurobiologically Informed Trauma Therapy with Children and Adolescents, is an excellent application of current research. The work of Bessel van der Kolk, Allan N. Schore, and Daniel J. Siegel reflect the growing awareness that was just dawning in the 1980s: art heals.

There was no way to know where The Power of Your Other Hand would lead. However, as soon as I began teaching from the book it became clear that it was the foundation for a whole body of work to come. It has indeed served as a road map pointing in many directions from a central core. As people discovered creativity and wisdom through their Inner Child, Inner Healer, Creative Self, or Wise Guide, case histories and success stories poured in. Each chapter in this book became a book in itself, illustrated with the success stories I received. Chapter Seven, Recovery of the Inner Child, became my bestselling book, Recovery of Your Inner Child (1990). Chapter Six, Finding the Healer Within, grew into several books on health and healing, most recently the draw-it-yourself coloring books, Drawing Your Stress Away and Hello, This is Your Body Talking. Activities in other chapters in The Power of Your Other Hand formed the basis of books like Visioning and The Art of Emotional Healing.

The technique of writing dialogues between both hands is a common thread that runs throughout all of my books. This surprisingly simple but powerful practice has been used by therapists, teachers, social workers, addiction counselors, spiritual advisors, and life coaches. It's been used successfully in the treatment of cancer, AIDS/HIV, post-traumatic stress disorder, and scores of other physical and psychological conditions. It has even been applied in animal communication.

Readers have reported that this technique has helped them slow down, relax, gain insights, and find a playfulness that had been left behind in childhood. They have expressed deep gratitude for finding a way to deal effectively with their Inner Critic. Asserting themselves with their Inner Bully enabled them to let go of perfectionism and to love and accept themselves as they are. They have heard messages from their Wise Selves guiding them to take positive action and have discovered a creative side of themselves that seems limitless. They speak of the adventure of tapping into a world of inner knowing and expressiveness they never realized existed. Now it's your turn to embark on this inward journey. May it be as transformative for you as it has been for the thousands of others who have traveled this path.

Lucia Capacchione, PhD, ATR

AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION

I'd always considered myself a right-handed person. Like most people, I believed I couldn't write with the other hand. I tried it once, when I was about 10 or 11, and found that my left hand preferred to write in mirror fashion from right to left.

That's curious, I thought, and promptly dismissed my left hand for being so backward. Over the years, I gave it other auxiliary tasks to perform. It played a supporting role on the piano, held the paper while I wrote stories or drew pictures, and so on.

I didn't write again with my left hand until 20 years later. I was struggling with a life-threatening illness that, I learned later, was a collagen disease. Collagen is the connective tissue in the body; the glue, so to speak. I had literally come unglued.

At the medical clinic I was run through a series of tests and given various medications in what appeared to be a hit-or-miss fashion. A lab test mix-up, a false diagnosis, and an incorrect prescription and medication led to many side effects. For weeks I struggled with this debilitating illness, which baffled the doctors and terrified me.

In desperation over the ineffectual attempts of a string of medical specialists to cure me, I turned inward. I began keeping a personal journal of my feelings and thoughts about the illness, the doctors, my life, and myself. I stopped taking medication and started concentrating on journal-keeping. It was the only thing that gave me relief. It also helped me develop enough insight and courage to enter psychotherapy for the first time.

My therapist, a young woman named Bond, used an eclectic blend of Transactional Analysis, Gestalt Therapy, and Neo-Reichian breathing and body exercises. Using dramatic role-play techniques from Gestalt Therapy, she had me move around the room and act out the different parts of my personality. She introduced me to concepts and terms from Transactional Analysis: the Inner Parent, the Inner Child, and the Adult. She explained that they all lived side by side within me.

The Inner Parent consisted of inner voices that could be critical or nurturing. In order to help me face the Critical Parent and render it less powerful, Bond directed me to act it out. I actually became that character who chattered away in my head, nagging at my self-esteem and sabotaging me. Adopting uptight body language and a cranky tone of voice, I said things such as: You'll never amount to anything or You're lazy. Get to work or Look how stupid you are. You made a mistake. When will you ever learn? Bond also let me give voice to the Nurturing Parent, the part of me that is tender and compassionate. And she helped me turn this mothering ability inward upon myself. I'll never forget the therapy session in which I cradled an imaginary baby in my arms and realized the baby was me: my Inner Child. As I did this, I remembered a picture I had drawn during the most difficult days of my illness. I had named it, Giving Birth to Myself.

Bond also encouraged me to reach down deep into old feelings that I had squashed in childhood. She helped me understand that feelings come from my little Inner Child, who was still alive in me although very wounded. She had been forced to numb certain feelings early on because I got punished or ridiculed for expressing them. Feelings such as anger, sadness, and fear were considered bad. If I had bad feelings I was made to feel like a bad person. My Inner Child first appeared as a feisty little kid. She was in a rage, yelling and screaming at the doctors who had been so cold, uncaring, and inept. I found myself stomping all over the room like a 2-year-old. I pretended the doctors were in an overstuffed chair Bond had in her office, and I beat them up with a tennis