Japanese Doll Making with Yekseny | Art Therapy

For our Art Therapy, we invited community members into a gentle space of reflection, creativity, and cultural appreciation. Yekseny Guerreo facilitated the workshop and began with a check‑in, asking everyone to share their sunny spot, rainbow, and rainy moment from the week.

This grounding ritual helped us reconnect with ourselves and each other before moving into the creative process. After revisiting our group norms, we shifted into the history of Kokeshi dolls. Originating in the Edo Period of Japan, these wooden dolls were crafted by Kijishi, and a group of Japanese artisans skilled in lathe work whose decorative styles were unique to each maker. Traditionally used as children’s toys, Kokeshi dolls also carry symbolic meaning like wishes for good luck, hopes for a bountiful harvest, and appreciation for craftsmanship and culture. With this history in mind, we invited participants to create their own Kokeshi-inspired dolls rooted in personal intention. Everyone took a few minutes to reflect on what they hope or wish for in their lives right now, letting those thoughts guide their color choices, facial expressions, and symbolic designs. Some dolls leaned traditional, others resembled loved ones, and some became small self‑portraits.

Community members went over what they were wishing for, where they planned to keep their doll, and of course, the names they chose for their creations. We closed the session with space for final questions and a brief preview of our next activity. Everyone left carrying a hand‑painted doll, a small and bright reminder of intention, optimism, and the power of creating something with care.

Doll Making Workshop

In our recent Doll Making Workshop, Yekseny Guerrero, MA, ATR-P explained the tradition and the history of the worry dolls. These worry dolls originated from Guatemala and Mexico, and it was a way to help anxious children and to help with their worries. Yekseny shared a story about a princess who would make her own worry dolls when she had fears. She would tell her worry dolls her fears and worries and would place them under her pillow; mindfully get those worries out of your body right before heading to sleep. After the story, each participant had post-it notes to write down their own worries.

Throughout the workshop, each person was making their own very worry doll, each being unique from another. Near the end, Yekseny started another conversation by asking questions like what colors were chosen, how tight the wrapping was during the process of making the doll, what direction the wrap was going, and the name of each doll. All these questions made everyone think more about the process of it all.

By the end of the workshop, the room was filled with laughter, scraps of fabric, and the new worry dolls that were made. This workshop was a celebration of creativity, culture, and connections - and now you have your own worry doll to hold and speak to and remind you that your worries don’t have to stay tucked inside.

This program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council.