To provide education filled with warmth, help students learn to properly regulate their emotions after final exams, and effectively relieve their psychological pressure, the Student Psychological Association of Central China Normal University held the 28th session of the "Mental Motivation · Happy Night School" psychological group counseling activity themed "Shaping Your Emotional Little Monster" in the Flow Space of the One-Stop Student Community Service Center (East 18) on the evening of June 26. The activity was led by Song Jiawen, a peer mentor from the Mental Motivation Team of the Psychological Association, with the participation of 12 students from various majors across the university.
At the beginning of the activity, Song Jiawen invited the participants to sit in a circle and share their psychological feelings after the final exam week. The students took turns to speak, openly talking about their pressure, anxiety and expectations. Afterwards, Song Jiawen introduced a special way to relieve stress – making an emotional little monster that represents their inner feelings. She showed the students the tools and materials needed for making the emotional little monster and briefly explained the key points of the production.
Under Song Jiawen's guidance, the participants first selected colors representing happy moods, laying down two to three large blocks of such colors. They then chose hues that expressed unhappy emotions, gradually filling the drawing board and adding personalized small decorations. Along with soft background music, Song Jiawen guided everyone to transform abstract emotions into tangible artistic forms. The students picked up clay of various colors and, through kneading, shaping, stacking, and other techniques, turned intangible feelings like anxiety, joy, and expectation into unique "emotional little monsters": some used sharp edges and corners to depict pre-exam anxiety, some employed gradient colors to show complex moods, and one student even created an optimistic and cheerful SpongeBob SquarePants shape. The intimate contact between fingertips and clay allowed the students to naturally release accumulated pressure during the shaping process and feel the tranquility brought by creation.
Next came the innovative interactive session, where students exchanged their drawing boards and added elements to each other’s emotional little monsters: some drew stars symbolizing hope on works themed around anxiety; others added colorful patterns to monsters with a sorrowful color palette; still others used sequins to adorn beautiful flowers. This tacit cooperation in anonymous creation not only made each work a carrier of collective wisdom, but also allowed the students to feel the warmth of being understood amid relaxed collaboration, with their stress easing away in the process. When the works were returned to their creators, Song Jiawen guided everyone to sit in a circle and share stories. The students took turns introducing their drawings, explaining the reasons behind their choice of colors and elements, as well as their feelings about the elements added by others. The students whose additions were mentioned also responded actively, elaborating on their ideas. Laughter and resonance intertwined during the sharing; as they spoke and listened, the students found an outlet for their pent-up emotions, and stress quietly dissipated as the stories circulated.
At the end of the event, Song Jiawen led all participants in taking a group photo. Everyone held up their own "emotional little monster" works high, and the camera captured this moment full of creativity and warmth. The students said that through this activity, they not only learned to express emotions through art, but also found a balance in their emotions during creation and sharing, and experienced the peaceful power brought by "focusing on the present". This unique psychological group counseling activity, through the healing power of artistic creation, helped students effectively adjust their mental state after the final exam week, enabling them to embrace the vacation and future challenges with a more positive attitude.
Translator: Ding Songbin
Date: July 26, 2025
