Be patient (easier said than done, I know!)...it's very early. I am closed up in my little shell for months. I stay there indefinitely if I feel pushed. I think it's great your therapist had colored pencils for you. You don't have to understand or be able to describe all of your feelings right away. As I see it, the fact that you could make use of the colored pencils and do five sessions is probably progress...you are working on things like grounding. That should come first, especially with a new therapist. This process takes me a very long time, much more than five sessions. And when I get into difficult things, I have to go back to grounding. It can feel like I'm not making progress, but processing trauma and recovery is about a whole lot more than telling your story or describing feelings accurately 100% of the time.
Don't disregard the important and transferable skills of grounding, staying in your body, sticking with appointments, keeping yourself within a safe zone, and slowly building a connection with your therapist. We also need to work on self regulation...MEGA IMPORTANT in trauma recover and it's great that you don't have a therapist who overlooks that...and it sounds like you are recognizing that drawing is helpful, which is awesome!
Art work and doing something with my hands helps me too. I had a therapist question my fidgeting once in what felt like an insulting way. It's awesome if your therapist is letting you be yourself and feel safe.
