Andrea Geipel
COLORING AND WORKBOOK
"Making Migraine Visible" is an artistic-medical coloring and activity book for people with migraines.
It combines creative design, reflection and understandable medical information into an easily accessible tool for everyday life with chronic pain.
The book straddles the line between art, science communication, and self-help. It is neither a traditional coloring book nor a medical guide, but rather an open format that supports those affected by migraine in making their condition visible and reflecting on their own experiences.
The exercises range from simple doodles during mild attacks to visual pain scales and reflection and learning formats on neurobiology, triggers, and self-care. The focus is not on performance or "correct" drawing, but on perception, expression, and making individual experiences visible.
The result is a book that combines medical knowledge with artistic practice and opens up new possibilities for talking about migraine – with oneself, with relatives or in a medical context.
LOOK INSIDE THE BOOK
It combines creative design, reflection and understandable medical information into an easily accessible tool for everyday life with chronic pain.
The book straddles the line between art, science communication, and self-help. It is neither a traditional coloring book nor a medical guide, but rather an open format that supports those affected by migraine in making their condition visible and reflecting on their own experiences.
The exercises range from simple doodles during mild attacks to visual pain scales and reflection and learning formats on neurobiology, triggers, and self-care. The focus is not on performance or "correct" drawing, but on perception, expression, and making individual experiences visible.
The result is a book that combines medical knowledge with artistic practice and opens up new possibilities for talking about migraine – with oneself, with relatives or in a medical context.
LOOK INSIDE THE BOOK
01
Unsichtbare Erkrankungen und subjektives Körperwissen
Wie lassen sich Erfahrungen von Schmerz, Erschöpfung, Einschränkung, Unsicherheit oder Kontrollverlust künstlerisch erfassen?
Mich interessiert insbesondere, was sichtbar wird, wenn Menschen ihre Krankheit nicht anhand medizinischer Kategorien, sondern anhand ihrer eigenen Wahrnehmung und ihres Alltags beschreiben.
Dabei untersuche ich auch, wie künstlerische Darstellungen bestehende Vorstellungen von Krankheit verändern können: weg von der sichtbaren körperlichen Abweichung und hin zu Erfahrungen, die von außen nicht unmittelbar erkennbar sind.
02
Kunst und Gesundheitskommunikation
Wie verändert sich Kommunikation über Gesundheit, wenn Kunst nicht nur zur Illustration wissenschaftlicher Inhalte eingesetzt wird, sondern selbst zum Ausgangspunkt der Kommunikation wird?
Dabei interessiert mich besonders die Rolle von Emotionen, Ambiguität und persönlicher Beteiligung.
Eine künstlerische Arbeit kann Wissen nicht nur vermitteln. Sie kann Irritation erzeugen, Empathie ermöglichen, Fragen offenlassen oder Menschen dazu bringen, die eigene Perspektive zu hinterfragen.
Ich möchte untersuchen, welche dieser Prozesse dazu beitragen können, komplexe oder stigmatisierte Gesundheitsthemen anders wahrzunehmen und zu diskutieren.
03
Partizipation und Research Creation
Meine Forschung entsteht nicht ausschließlich über die Betrachtung fertiger Kunstwerke. Die künstlerische Produktion selbst ist Teil des Forschungsprozesses.
In partizipativen Projekten werden Betroffene, Wissenschaftler:innen, medizinisches Fachpersonal oder andere gesellschaftliche Gruppen zu Mitwirkenden.
Mich interessiert:
Was verändert sich, wenn Menschen nicht nur über ein Thema sprechen, sondern gemeinsam etwas herstellen?
Dabei verstehe ich Partizipation nicht als reine Beteiligung an einem fertigen Kunstprojekt. Die Beteiligten können vielmehr selbst Wissen, Perspektiven und Fragestellungen in den Forschungsprozess einbringen.
04
Emotionen und Wissenschaftskommunikation
Ein weiteres Forschungsfeld meiner Arbeit entwickelt sich aus der Frage, welche Rolle Emotionen bei der Rezeption wissenschaftlicher und medizinischer Informationen spielen.
Wie entstehen emotionale Reaktionen auf wissenschaftliche Themen?
Wie verändern sich diese Reaktionen über längere Zeiträume?
Und welche Rolle spielen dabei unterschiedliche kommunikative und künstlerische Formate?
Hier sehe ich eine besondere Verbindung zwischen Artistic Research und empirischer Forschung: Künstlerische Prozesse können neue Fragen und Erfahrungsräume eröffnen, während empirische Methoden helfen können, Veränderungen in Wahrnehmung, Emotion und Kommunikation systematisch zu untersuchen.
LOOK INSIDE THE BOOK
Creative activities can influence pain perception through various mechanisms:
-
Distraction and attention diversion: When the brain is busy tracing lines, choosing colors, or repeating patterns, less processing capacity is available for conscious pain perception. This doesn't mean the pain disappears, but it sometimes recedes into the background.
-
Regulating stress and emotions: Art can help give a visible form to feelings of powerlessness, anger, or being overwhelmed, and thus make them easier to process. Many people report that the inner pressure decreases when the invisible finally takes on a visual form.
-
Visualization and learning: Drawing your own pain can help you communicate better with doctors – especially when words fail you. At the same time, coloring in, for example, the processes that lead to pain helps you better understand your own nervous system, internalize its mechanisms, and sustainably link them to your own behavior.
Some exercises in this book are based on principles of biofeedback , which is also used in the treatment of migraine.
Biofeedback involves consciously perceiving and selectively influencing bodily signals (e.g., temperature, muscle tension, heart rate) in order to calm the nervous system – for example, through relaxation exercises that can change vascular or muscle tone.
For example, coloring in blood vessels, brain structures, or pain lines can help with the following:
-
a more conscious awareness of one's own body ("How does this feel right now?"),
-
the linking of inner feelings with outer images,
-
Practicing stillness and breathing while slowly and evenly coloring certain "body motifs".
This does not replace medical treatment, but can act like a small, self-directed practice space – a visual notebook for one's own mind, in which both knowledge and feeling have a place.
LOOK INSIDE THE BOOK
Creative activities can influence pain perception through various mechanisms:
-
Distraction and attention diversion: When the brain is busy tracing lines, choosing colors, or repeating patterns, less processing capacity is available for conscious pain perception. This doesn't mean the pain disappears, but it sometimes recedes into the background.
-
Regulating stress and emotions: Art can help give a visible form to feelings of powerlessness, anger, or being overwhelmed, and thus make them easier to process. Many people report that the inner pressure decreases when the invisible finally takes on a visual form.
-
Visualization and learning: Drawing your own pain can help you communicate better with doctors – especially when words fail you. At the same time, coloring in, for example, the processes that lead to pain helps you better understand your own nervous system, internalize its mechanisms, and sustainably link them to your own behavior.
Some exercises in this book are based on principles of biofeedback , which is also used in the treatment of migraine.
Biofeedback involves consciously perceiving and selectively influencing bodily signals (e.g., temperature, muscle tension, heart rate) in order to calm the nervous system – for example, through relaxation exercises that can change vascular or muscle tone.
For example, coloring in blood vessels, brain structures, or pain lines can help with the following:
-
a more conscious awareness of one's own body ("How does this feel right now?"),
-
the linking of inner feelings with outer images,
-
Practicing stillness and breathing while slowly and evenly coloring certain "body motifs".
This does not replace medical treatment, but can act like a small, self-directed practice space – a visual notebook for one's own mind, in which both knowledge and feeling have a place.
LOOK INSIDE THE BOOK
Working title:
Making migraines visible - coloring · reflecting · understanding
A coloring and activity book for people with migraines
Author: Dr. Andrea Geipel
With a foreword by Prof. Dr. Dagny Holle-Lee
Brief description:
“Making Migraines Visible” is an artistic-medical coloring and activity book for people with migraine. It combines creative design, reflection, and easily understandable medical information into a low-threshold tool for everyday life with chronic pain.
This book is neither a traditional coloring book nor a medical guide, but rather a hybrid format combining art, science communication, and self-help. It supports those affected by migraine in visualizing their experience, better understanding themselves, and expressing their experiences – including within a medical context.
Why this book now?
Migraine affects approximately 15% of the population and is one of the most common neurological disorders worldwide. Despite new therapeutic developments, many sufferers continue to experience stigmatization, a lack of understanding, and significant distress in their daily lives. At the same time, there is a growing desire for accessible health information, empowerment, and new approaches beyond traditional self-help literature. Creative, hands-on formats are gaining importance, particularly for those with chronic conditions—both for emotional relief and for improving communication with medical professionals. "Making Migraine Visible" addresses this need and translates medical knowledge into images, forms, and creative strategies.
Scope & Features:
-
approx. 120–150 pages
-
Format approx. 22 × 20 cm
-
Work-friendly binding (e.g. spiral or lay-flat binding)
-
sturdy paper (approx. 120 g/m²)
-
Optional extras: removable postcards
Working title:
Making migraines visible - coloring · reflecting · understanding
A coloring and activity book for people with migraines
Author: Dr. Andrea Geipel
With a foreword by Prof. Dr. Dagny Holle-Lee
Brief description:
“Making Migraines Visible” is an artistic-medical coloring and activity book for people with migraine. It combines creative design, reflection, and easily understandable medical information into a low-threshold tool for everyday life with chronic pain.
This book is neither a traditional coloring book nor a medical guide, but rather a hybrid format combining art, science communication, and self-help. It supports those affected by migraine in visualizing their experience, better understanding themselves, and expressing their experiences – including within a medical context.
Why this book now?
Migraine affects approximately 15% of the population and is one of the most common neurological disorders worldwide. Despite new therapeutic developments, many sufferers continue to experience stigmatization, a lack of understanding, and significant distress in their daily lives. At the same time, there is a growing desire for accessible health information, empowerment, and new approaches beyond traditional self-help literature. Creative, hands-on formats are gaining importance, particularly for those with chronic conditions—both for emotional relief and for improving communication with medical professionals. "Making Migraine Visible" addresses this need and translates medical knowledge into images, forms, and creative strategies.
Scope & Features:
-
approx. 120–150 pages
-
Format approx. 22 × 20 cm
-
Work-friendly binding (e.g. spiral or lay-flat binding)
-
sturdy paper (approx. 120 g/m²)
-
Optional extras: removable postcards
Working title:
Making migraines visible - coloring · reflecting · understanding
A coloring and activity book for people with migraines
Author: Dr. Andrea Geipel
With a foreword by Prof. Dr. Dagny Holle-Lee
Brief description:
“Making Migraines Visible” is an artistic-medical coloring and activity book for people with migraine. It combines creative design, reflection, and easily understandable medical information into a low-threshold tool for everyday life with chronic pain.
This book is neither a traditional coloring book nor a medical guide, but rather a hybrid format combining art, science communication, and self-help. It supports those affected by migraine in visualizing their experience, better understanding themselves, and expressing their experiences – including within a medical context.
Why this book now?
Migraine affects approximately 15% of the population and is one of the most common neurological disorders worldwide. Despite new therapeutic developments, many sufferers continue to experience stigmatization, a lack of understanding, and significant distress in their daily lives. At the same time, there is a growing desire for accessible health information, empowerment, and new approaches beyond traditional self-help literature. Creative, hands-on formats are gaining importance, particularly for those with chronic conditions—both for emotional relief and for improving communication with medical professionals. "Making Migraine Visible" addresses this need and translates medical knowledge into images, forms, and creative strategies.
Scope & Features:
-
approx. 120–150 pages
-
Format approx. 22 × 20 cm
-
Work-friendly binding (e.g. spiral or lay-flat binding)
-
sturdy paper (approx. 120 g/m²)
-
Optional extras: removable postcards
LOOK INSIDE THE BOOK
Working title:
Making migraines visible - coloring · reflecting · understanding
A coloring and activity book for people with migraines
Author: Dr. Andrea Geipel
With a foreword by Prof. Dr. Dagny Holle-Lee
Brief description:
“Making Migraines Visible” is an artistic-medical coloring and activity book for people with migraine. It combines creative design, reflection, and easily understandable medical information into a low-threshold tool for everyday life with chronic pain.
This book is neither a traditional coloring book nor a medical guide, but rather a hybrid format combining art, science communication, and self-help. It supports those affected by migraine in visualizing their experience, better understanding themselves, and expressing their experiences – including within a medical context.
Why this book now?
Migraine affects approximately 15% of the population and is one of the most common neurological disorders worldwide. Despite new therapeutic developments, many sufferers continue to experience stigmatization, a lack of understanding, and significant distress in their daily lives. At the same time, there is a growing desire for accessible health information, empowerment, and new approaches beyond traditional self-help literature. Creative, hands-on formats are gaining importance, particularly for those with chronic conditions—both for emotional relief and for improving communication with medical professionals. "Making Migraine Visible" addresses this need and translates medical knowledge into images, forms, and creative strategies.
Scope & Features:
-
approx. 120–150 pages
-
Format approx. 22 × 20 cm
-
Work-friendly binding (e.g. spiral or lay-flat binding)
-
sturdy paper (approx. 120 g/m²)
-
Optional extras: removable postcards