Art Therapy - How To Approach It?

[ghotiff]

I'm drawn to the idea of art therapy but don't really understand how to go about doing it. I looked thought some older posts on it (thanks @Hashi for the clear instructions on collage). I really like my T and don't want to change her, but I'm wondering if I can do some art therapy at home on my own.

I am drawing a lot of zentangles and I find them relaxing but not something that draws me or my thoughts out. I would like to do more pencil drawing or pencil colouring (less structured). I did a bunch of drawings many months back but I notice that I kept drawing the same type of thing over and over again (natural objects eg grass/trees/plants that were all tangled and intertwined). It may also be relevant that I am not terribly good at drawing, and while I know this is not the point, I do struggle sometimes with judging my drawings.

Does anyone have any advice on what to do, how to go about it, or what I'm trying to achieve. I suppose I'm looking to understand my past more, not really memory work, but understand and connect with how I felt during the abuse as a child...I mean, trying to understand what my abuse 'meant' to me. Not sure if that makes sense. Does anyone know of places to look for more information... google wasn't very helpful for what I was looking for.

 

[BloomInWinter]

When I decided to use my love of art to help, I googled "Art Therapy" and "Art Therapy Images" to find resources. There are many, many wonderful blogs, images, and projects out there.

Of course, it does work best if we have access to a credentialed Art Therapist who can help us interpret our work and give us assignments.

 

[open eyes]

My regular therapist is an art therapist, & I see her weekly- so I can give you some ideas.

The first thing is to stop worrying about making your art perfect. The goal is to get your feelings down onto paper- not to create a masterpiece (which may happen anyways). Sometimes with art there's pressure to show people, so keep it to yourself if that means you can be judgment-free.

Do you know what a mandala is? My art therapist has me do them every night on my own, I use oil pastels. It's sort of a good way to gather your thoughts about your day. I also found ranking my symptoms from 0-10 & noting down the number with each mandala helped me keep on track.

One project I did that helped me a lot was making a collage of images that represented things that made me feel in control, juxtaposed to a things that made me feel out of control.

You could do a body tracing, of your arm or hand or leg, & fill it with colors/images that reflect how you feel on the inside rather than just what shows on your skin.

Another project I did was an outline of a human body that I colored in, one outline showing where I felt there was "bad energy" in my body, & one outline where I felt there was "good energy."

http://www.nursingschools.net/blog/...herapy-exercises-for-your-mind-body-and-soul/

That website has a lot of other ideas.

Good luck!

 

[Hashi]

My first therapist wasn't an art therapist, but I did art at home and took it to talk to her about. It worked really well. The art I was doing at that time wasn't based on art therapy ideas but was from me doing the book "The Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron.

The Artist's Way may not be your cup of tea at all, but it's worth a look to see. It's a 12 week workbook for discovering/recovering creativity. Each week the chapter discusses some themes and then there are exercises at the end for you to choose some to do. Only a few are specifically about using art, some are open (write, draw, dance it - whatever you like) and others are things like making lists or going for a walk.

I'm not sure where I wrote about collage but I expect it was based on the magazine collage exercise in The Artist's Way. That exercise changed everything for me. The Artist's Way is a bit like that. :) Although it's aimed at creativity, it has a lot of spiritual/child self elements to it and I did it (twice) specifically for healing from trauma rather than because I wanted to be more creative. The spiritual perspective might be offputting to some, and I would understand that - for me it was fine.

Other than that, you might want to google art journalling. For me, art journalling has been the next step in the process. Some put more emphasis on the art than the journalling, but maybe if you add the word "therapy" to your google search...?

I don't mind at all if the things that are helpful to you are in a completely different direction from all this. I just love that you're interested in art therapy, and I don't think it matters that your therapist isn't an art therapist. I'm sure she would be glad of anything you brought in to discuss with her.

I can't draw either, by the way. That's why I like collage so much! If it helps, have you tried drawing with your non-dominant hand? That way, you have a perfect excuse for however it turns out, but if you do it fairly slowly you can usually represent what you want to.

The natural objects intertwined that you've been drawing may be worth taking to your therapist to look at....? Just a thought.

 

[NovemberStar]

Grab paint, paper and just paint - all you need to do is pick a colour, even if all you do is paint the entire piece of paper that one colour, it is a start! I painted many many many pages full of black and red, when I was angry, suicidal. I'd paint pretty graphic things when I felt this way, with lots of 'blood' in them. It helped a lot, to express what I was feeling.

I found drawing really helped me - I used crayons and just drew any old thing. I am not an 'artist' at all, but that is not the point.

Other times I have simply looked up pictures online, printed off ones that I liked or felt expressed what I was feeling, and put them into a scrapbook. If I was feeling 'alone' or 'unloved' I simply googled those words under 'pictures' online and found ones that spoke my pain.

Sometimes I'd paint (or draw or colour) just one word, taking up the whole page, or in the tiniest way I could. Once, I painted the word 'SCREAM', in large letters filling up almost the whole page; then I added boxes all around the outside. A that time, I felt like 'a loud scream trapped inside a thousand boxes', and my picture symbolized it perfectly.

 

[ghotiff]

Thanks everyone, I am learning so much and I will post a more considered reply later...but...

Something about the emotion in your post @NovemberStar really struck me. I need to change my approach from nice pencils and small work, to large paper and messy medium. I have always hated paint (I'm sure there is an issue with that) but crayons...they sound good. !

 

[SadChicken]

This is a very useful thread.

 

[Sandstone]

How therapeutic do you think this can be without an art therapist to help understand what lies behind? I've struggled to express or even experience a lot of what I probably feel ( or should be feeling). I've tried using art to express it, but I'm not really sure if I'm communicating anything to myself, so I don't know if has any value.

 

[ghotiff]

Thanks @openeyes that is a lot of information. I have started to go through it and it will keep me busy for a while :)

Do you know what a mandala is?

I didn't really understand this one. I like the idea of an emotional picture that I rank where I am at, but I don't understand how to do it. If you would be comfortable to explain more I would be very interested.

One project I did that helped me a lot was making a collage of images that represented things that made me feel in control, juxtaposed to a things that made me feel out of control

I started one of these....interesting. There are definitely some themes coming though.

@Hashi Thanks. General art books are a good idea and I will look at them at my next library visit. I didn't think of this because when I have previously looked at them I think I was looking at the wrong things eg controlled, small, detailed works.

How therapeutic do you think this can be without an art therapist to help understand what lies behind?

I appreciate that an art therapist would help me gain more understanding from my 'art' but I don't think that is my main goal right now. I think art therapy appeals to me because I am looking for ways to express and explore my emotions that can be done when my family is around me (I rarely get time on my own).

For example journalling and reading things from the internet is quite limited for me as my kids (and sometimes husband) get interested and ask about it, or want to read what I have written. This means that I can only do these things when on my own, or in short interrupted moments. I think art is abstract enough that I do it without explaining it to my family, and I can see how getting more in touch with my current emotions would be good for me.

 

[open eyes]

@ghotiff

A mandala is really open ended, it's basically just any kind of art that's contained in a circle. Usually they have some kind of a repetitive border & a central image. I like them because they're confined within the circle, so they feel controlled.

 

[passerine]

I do a lot of art in my own therapy work, and I am studying to become an Expressive Therapist so this is right up my ally! My therapist is actually a Social Worker by training, but he does incorporate art into our work together. Sometimes I draw as I speak or draw because I cannot speak during our sessions and then we use what I've created to help me find my words. We also work through a book called 'Managing Traumatic Stress Through Art', which has some excellent exercises that I can do on my own, as a supplement to the talk therapy.

My therapist has surprised me with some of his creative ideas, like creating a "comfort box" (a place to keep comforting things to access when distressed) and "containment box" (a place to contain traumatic material to access when appropriate). He also frequently asks me to draw my "safe place" or to draw a ginger bread person and color inside of it to depict where in my body I am holding certain things. We have also done some work with masks, where I make a mask and have a dialogue with it (sort of a combination of art and drama therapy).

I would talk with your therapist about maybe incorporating some art (and also potentially music and movement and play) into your sessions if you think it would be helpful. There are a ton of great art therapy interventions out there that are appropriate for any therapy setting and as a supplements to traditional talk therapy. The most important thing to remember is that art therapy is about the process, not the product! I think particularly with trauma it can be useful because art gives a voice to the things that there might not be any words for.