What Do I Actually Need From People?
An Art Therapy Workshop for Chronic Illness
What happens when someone asks “What can I do for you?” If you go blank, it’s not because your needs are blank, it’s likely because you’ve never had the words for what would actually help.
Or what happens if they never even ask? It can be really hard to initiate that conversation.
About This Workshop
And because of that, you might’ve gotten really good at not needing anything.
You tell your sister about the good week and leave out the bad one. A friend offers to bring dinner and you tell her you're covered. Your partner asks what you need and you say nothing, because the honest answer is long and complicated and you are already so tired. Someone at work says let me know if you need anything, and you both know how that ends.
These are more so survival strategies than inherent character strengths. And they're exhausting.
Not asking isn't just about being independent. It's about the person who learned that a specific request invites a debate. You’ve probably been offered the wrong help so many times that asking feels like more work than going without. Or you don’t want to be the friend who always needs something or who said the true thing out loud once and watched someone step back. So you became the one who honestly doesn't know what you need anymore, because you stopped checking in with yourself a long time ago.
You learned all of this for good reasons.
It protected you from invalidation, disappointment, and having to manage someone else's feelings about your body in addition to your own. But somewhere along the way, the people closest to you stopped knowing how to show up, and you stopped being able to tell them.
Here's what makes this so hard: needs are specific. "Support" isn't a need. "I need you to stop sending me articles" is. "I need you to text before you come over" is. "I need you to believe me the first time I say it" is. A general ache can't be met by anyone, including you.
And there's another part to this too, which is what the people close to you need from you. They don’t need a wellness performance (even if they act like they do).
In this workshop, you won't talk your way to it. You'll create it. Karen Lill will guide you through a five step art exercise to explore who makes up your support system and how the "support" part actually happens.
You do not need to be able to draw. Art speaks when words cannot, and a stick figure, a word, or an image you found online all count.
What if you could see the whole map in front of you before you ever had to say any of it out loud?
Workshop Details
Join art therapist Karen Lill, MA, LPC, ATR, ACS and Destiny Davis, LPC, CRC for a live, hands on conversation about the relationships chronic illness reshapes, and a practical way to name what you need inside them. Karen has lived with chronic illness for over ten years, and many of her clients and colleagues do too. She's not explaining this from the outside.
📌 Cost: $27 or pay-what-you-can
📌Location: Live Zoom Webinar
What We'll Cover:
✨ Why Art Instead of Talking: Explore what art therapy actually is and why creativity reaches things that talking around them doesn't. No ability or disability required, and no artistic skill needed.
✨ Building Your Relationship Map: Follow Karen through a five step exercise, live and on screen. Each step will be provided with time to create, or time to sit with your thoughts if art really isn't your thing.
✨ What Does Support Look Like?: Answer it in specific language instead of general language. This is usually where the thing you've been circling for months finally lands.
✨ Taking It With You Walk away with a page you made and can make again. Bodies change, relationships change, and this is a twenty minute exercise you can return to any time something feels off and you can't name it.
This Workshop Is For You If:
You're the person who says "I'm fine" before you've even checked
You're tired of the distance between "let me know if you need anything" and anyone actually knowing
You're wondering why a relationship feels thinner lately and can't point to when it happened
You want to figure out what you need before you have to say it to someone's face
You need permission to want specific things from the people who love you
You're curious what your relationships look like on paper instead of in your head
You're convinced you're not creative and are willing to be proven wrong
What's Included:
About the Presenter
Karen Lill, MA, LPC, ATR, ACS (she/her/hers) is an art therapist, counselor, and the Clinical Director at Modern Path, as well as a mental health consultant at Ally Primary Care. She has worked with individuals, families, and groups for ten years, and she has lived with chronic illness for over ten of her own. Many of her clients and colleagues are chronically ill as well.
Karen's work centers people living with chronic illness, gender and sexual minorities, trauma survivors, and the gaming, cosplay, drag, and burlesque communities.
Her therapy style is eclectic, which means she pulls from whichever theories and interventions fit the person in front of her rather than the other way around. As she puts it: come as you are and leave as you want to be.
Learn more about Karen's work at Modern Path.
Live interactive workshop with Karen Lill, MA, LPC, ATR, ACS, & Destiny Davis, LPC, CRC, and host of The Chronic Illness Therapists Podcast
Access to the replay
Community discussion during the workshop, with space to share your piece if you'd like to
Cost: $27 USD
Or Pay-What-You-Can
Use code WORKSHOP75 for 75% off
WORKSHOP50 for 50% off
WORKSHOPFREE for 100% off
Email admin@thechronicillnesstherapist.com if you have any issues!
Accessibility Notes:
Live captions provided
Workshop recordings include transcripts
The exercise can be done on paper or entirely on a computer, whichever works for your body that day
FAQs
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Karen Lill, MA, LPC, ATR, ACS is a Licensed Professional Counselor, Registered Art Therapist, and Approved Clinical Supervisor specializing in art therapy for people living with chronic illness, gender and sexual minorities, and trauma survivors. She is the Clinical Director at Modern Path.
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No, this workshop is not therapy or a prescription of any kind. While Karen and Destiny are both licensed and certified professionals, this educational webinar is designed to give you a reflective art exercise for thinking about your close relationships and what you need from them. It offers general information to support your wellbeing, but it is not a substitute for personalized mental health treatment or medical care. If you're seeking therapy or individual support, we're happy to connect you with referral resources.
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Nothing you need to go buy :) A piece of paper and anything you can write or draw with, so pens, pencils, markers, or crayons. Magazines you're willing to cut up are a bonus, not a requirement. If paper isn't going to work for you that day, a blank document and images you find online will do the same job. Canva is great for this.
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The workshop runs from 45 to 90 minutes, depending on how the discussion portion goes. We encourage you to take as many breaks as you need or to listen while doing another task. We honor your need to step away when needed.
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While this workshop was designed with chronic illness in mind, the exercise applies to anyone who struggles to name what they need from the people closest to them, who wants to look at their relationships from an angle other than talking about them, or who is seeking more honest connection with the people in their life.
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Yes. Your registration includes access to the recording.
Questions?
We're here to help make this experience accessible and valuable for you. Contact us at admin@thechronicillnesstherapist.com with any questions or accommodation requests.
Your sustainable path to managing your health is one step at a time.
A note about recordings: While the live session offers the best opportunity for interaction and community support, we understand that health can be unpredictable. Your registration includes lifetime access to the recording.