How can art therapy help me?

Picture it: You’ve tried traditional talk therapy and feel like you’ve hit a wall with your therapy. Your therapist may be focusing too much on asking “how does that make you feel” when you have never really struggled with identifying your emotions. Perhaps using words to express yourself is difficult and you want to explore other creative therapeutic options. By word of mouth, a quick google search, or by chance, maybe you’ve seen or heard about those adult coloring books at Barnes and Noble or on Amazon marketed to help you relax. Or maybe you’ve heard that art therapy is where you “paint your feelings” and do arts and crafts. Curious, you do more research and find resources like the American Art Therapy Association (AATA), the Art Therapy Credentials Board (ATCB), Psychology Today, and other related blogs and articles and find that art therapy is much more than a coloring book or painting one’s feelings. These are just a few of the myriad of ways to introduce yourself to the profession of art therapy.

Art therapy is it’s own distinct mental health profession and is facilitated by someone who has had proper training in art therapy, to include a master’s degree in art therapy or related field and in the U.S. holds a credential from the ATCB or license in art therapy from the state. Art therapy combines psychotherapy, art making, and the creative process and can be used on its own or as an ancillary option to support treatment goals.

So how can art therapy help you?

It all starts with a blank canvas.

Regev and Cohen-Yatziv (2018) conducted a literature review on the effectiveness of art therapy with adult clients and results were promising. While the field of art therapy is broad and is not a standardized, “one size fits all" treatment, the review highlighted art therapy can benefit populations affected by trauma, depression, cancer, other medical conditions, aging, and daily life challenges. Referencing AATA:

“Art therapy is used to improve cognitive and sensorimotor functions, foster self-esteem and self-awareness, cultivate emotional resilience, promote insight, enhance social skills, reduce and resolve conflicts and distress, and advance societal and ecological change.”

Art therapy can reduce trauma and anxiety symptoms.

Schouten et al. (2015) reviewed the literature on art therapy and trauma in adults and found that individuals experienced a greater reduction in trauma symptoms using art therapy in combination with psychotherapy compared to psychotherapy alone. If you have struggled with symptoms of trauma or anxiety and have exhausted yourself trying to avoid distressing thoughts, flashbacks, or social situations, art therapy can help safely introduce exposure techniques to help decrease the sense of overwhelm and tension in the body. You may enter a state of flow (Csikszentmihalyi, 1996), where you become fully immersed in creating art, providing relief and a sense of safety from psychological distress.

Art therapy can improve self-awareness and self-esteem.

If you feel like you don’t have control over yourself, your emotions, or your life, art therapy can help increase your awareness of what is going on within yourself via the artwork you create in session. If you frequently judge yourself or suffer from low self-esteem, self-expression through making art can help change your perspective on how you view yourself and the world and create new ways of thinking (Buchalter, 2015). Art therapy is innately strengths-based, and can have you leaving session feeling like you accomplished something.

What are you waiting for?

The possibilities are endless with art therapy. Like traditional talk therapy, art therapy may not work for everyone, but taking a chance to try something novel and creative can have many unforeseen benefits. If you are interested in trying art therapy and you are located in the state of Virginia, please reach out via the contact us page or book a free 15-minute phone consultation here. If you are located elsewhere in the U.S. please view the “find an art therapist” tool on either the AATA or ATCB websites.

References:

Buchalter, S. I. (2015). Raising self-esteem in adults: An eclectic approach with art therapy, CBT and DBT based techniques. Philadelphia: Jessica Kingsley.

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1996). Creativity: Flow and the psychology of discovery and invention. New York: HarperCollins.

Regev D, Cohen-Yatziv L. (2018). Effectiveness of Art Therapy With Adult Clients in 2018-What Progress Has Been Made? Front Psychol, 9,1531. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01531. PMID: 30210388; PMCID: PMC6124538.

Schouten, K. A., de Niet, G. J., Knipscheer, J. W., Kleber, R. J., & Hutschemaekers, G. J. M. (2015). The Effectiveness of Art Therapy in the Treatment of Traumatized Adults: A Systematic Review on Art Therapy and Trauma. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 16(2), 220-228. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838014555032