http://www.goodtherapy.org/art-therapy-article.html Latest articles Fri, 13 Aug 2010 14:45:14 GMT en-us http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/expressive-arts-therapy-benefits-0118124/ http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/expressive-arts-therapy-benefits-0118124/ Wed, 18 Jan 2012 20:12:51 GMT Expressive Arts Therapy bridges the gap between the conscious and the unconscious. It can bring light to areas of therapy that are blocked, inhibited, and stuck, as well as bringing greater focus to those areas of concern. The primary focus is on the process, which allows the client to discover new insight and meaning that might not be achieved with traditional talk therapy. Appropriate for all ages, it can enhance each person?s emotional, spiritual, cognitive, and physical well-being. While no talent in the use of expressive arts is required, several modalities available to the client within Expressive Arts Therapy magnify and deepen the process. The purpose of this article will explore five common benefits associated with the use of Expressive Arts Therapy with clients. http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/tribute-making-as-therapy/ http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/tribute-making-as-therapy/ Tue, 11 Oct 2011 19:39:55 GMT Making a 'Tribute' to a loved one who has died can be therapeutic. It can provide opportunities to reflect on the person, on your relationship with the person, to memorialize an aspect of their personality, and possibly to help shift focus from loss to celebration. http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/artlish-art-language-communication-911/ http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/artlish-art-language-communication-911/ Fri, 16 Sep 2011 15:29:32 GMT Art is a language. For the sake of this blog, let?s call it ?artlish? (not to be confused or linked with the Artlish Caves Park in British Columbia). ?Artlish?, the language, can externalize experience, perception, hope, fear, rage or a combination of those feelings and others. On opposite ends of a spectrum, art language, or artlish, can be raw or it can be refined. It is influenced by culture, education, repetition and trends. But most often, artlish is spoken privately in the imagination, in dreams and nightmares, in a studio, on a stage, in a welding shop, in an edit suite, on paper, in found objects, on a computer, through a camera, drawn in the sand, through the written word, or through dance. Artlish doesn?t need an audience to be uttered but when it is taken in, a connection is made. http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/art-making-is-not-enough/ http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/art-making-is-not-enough/ Wed, 10 Aug 2011 18:43:10 GMT Art making is not enough. Storytelling is not enough. Writing lyrics/music is not enough. Dancing is not enough to transform emotional pain and suffering into emotional freedom. If art making were enough, we wouldn't be reading about talented artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Amy Winehouse, Kurt Cobain and others who tragically slipped through a fissure in their lives to the other side because they succumbed to their demons. Demons, in this context are disorders listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (IV) of the American Psychiatric Association. http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/shadow-work-emotional-suffering/ http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/shadow-work-emotional-suffering/ Wed, 13 Jul 2011 15:05:34 GMT If you read last month?s blog, Creativity vs Shadow, you will remember a brief mention of Deepak and Gotham Chopra?s book, The Seven Spiritual Laws of Superheroes. In the book Chopra identified shadow as a ?force of the unconscious that can be destructive, divisive and/or self-sabotaging if it remains unconscious?. Shadow is difficult to recognize because left to it?s own devices it remains unconscious. Shadow is a zapping energy that lurks in the area of emotional suffering caused to oneself or to another. The concept can be broadly applied to families, groups, religions, governments, countries, etc. if we consider them bodies of energy. http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/creativity-shadow/ http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/creativity-shadow/ Sun, 12 Jun 2011 14:43:47 GMT I recently ordered Deepak and Gotham Chopra?s book, The Seven Spiritual Laws of Superheroes on my iPad. I haven?t been this excited to read something since I read Carl Jung?s book The Archetypes many years ago. Luckily my iPad can hold both books and more at about 2 lbs. Both books address the archetype of  ?shadow?. Both Chopra and Jung describe shadow as a force of the unconscious that can be destructive, divisive and self-sabotaging when it remains unconscious. Shadow is that part of the human condition, that most mortals attempt to ignore or deny in favor of a self-perception inflated or deflated by ego, neither of which can be sustained without some form of self-destruction. We see this in the lives of adult politicians, entertainers and sports heroes who have been in the media lately for crimes of passion, adultery, and exploitation. The denial and repression of shadow has allowed ego to ?act out? in blatant ways. Because shadow was repressed they thought they would never get caught or that they were somehow above the laws that govern the rest of us. Denial of shadow sets humans up to be destroyed. http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/art-therapy-image-association/ http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/art-therapy-image-association/ Mon, 16 May 2011 18:02:53 GMT http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/veterans-ptsd-art-therapy/ http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/veterans-ptsd-art-therapy/ Wed, 11 May 2011 19:00:02 GMT http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/art-psychotherapy-adults/ http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/art-psychotherapy-adults/ Wed, 13 Apr 2011 20:27:23 GMT Whenever I am asked what I do for a living I start by saying that I am a Psychotherapist, an Art Psychotherapist. The person will often make attempts to qualify my answer by asking??Are you a psychiatrist?? ?No,? I answer. ?I don?t prescribe medication and I am not an MD.? Sometimes they go on in their inquiry ??Are you an Analysist?? ?No.? I reply, ?I am an Art Psychotherapist.? ?Oh,? they invariably say, ?I?ve heard of that. You work with children.? ?No,? I reply. ?All my clients are adults. Mostly young adults, middle aged adults and older adults. I help people with emotional problems like a talk therapist does but I use the creative processes in my work.? ?Oh, your clients are artists? They make paintings and drawings?? The answer I give is that ?Yes, often my clients are artists and they do make paintings and drawings. They may either bring in their artwork into session or they may make a painting/drawing with watercolor, acrylics, inks, and/or pencils in session. They may work quickly in one session or they may work on the same piece over the course of several weeks. Some of my clients consider themselves artists, designers, or writers. Some of them come from the applied arts like: design, fashion, jewelry, theater, and some from the fine arts of painting, drawing, sculpture and/or the electronic arts, such as photography, video and film. Many people who are not in the arts are creative and open to discussing their dreams or creatively expressing themselves. For example, many people in the military have captured images, videos and sounds of their experiences. These can be very powerful to work with in Art Psychotherapy. http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/video-art-therapy-jimmy/ http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/video-art-therapy-jimmy/ Fri, 11 Mar 2011 23:06:45 GMT Full permission has been given by the client to tell this story on GoodTherapy.org. All identifying information has been changed. http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/mental-illness-grief-creativity/ http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/mental-illness-grief-creativity/ Fri, 4 Mar 2011 21:19:11 GMT During my career, I had the privilege of working with adults living with severe and persistent mental illness in an outpatient program at a local behavioral health center.  Although frequently grouped together and labeled as ?crazy? or ?nuts? ? as well as ?dangerous? - in popular parlance, this was hardly a homogeneous population. There were people in their late teens, adults and senior citizens from many different cultural backgrounds, living with varying symptoms and in various stages of the ?disease? process: from newly diagnosed to chronic. Among those I counseled were people with ? according to the DSM-IV-TR, the so-called ?Bible of mental illness? - severe depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, personality disorders, schizophrenia and dissociative identity disorder; some had mixed symptoms of a number of different disorders. Few were employable; many had little if any family support; more than half lived in adult congregate living facilities; most survived on Social Security and Medicaid, and many had done so for years. http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/trauma-images-art-therapy/ http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/trauma-images-art-therapy/ Fri, 11 Feb 2011 17:50:26 GMT http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/art-music-calm-brain-stress/ http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/art-music-calm-brain-stress/ Wed, 12 Jan 2011 20:00:47 GMT http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/art-therapy-creativity-new-york-blizzard/ http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/art-therapy-creativity-new-york-blizzard/ Fri, 7 Jan 2011 17:21:37 GMT http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/inner-imaginal-conversations-jungian-dream-analysis/ http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/inner-imaginal-conversations-jungian-dream-analysis/ Mon, 20 Dec 2010 18:10:08 GMT http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/santa-artist-creative-blocks-art-therapy/ http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/santa-artist-creative-blocks-art-therapy/ Mon, 6 Dec 2010 20:40:07 GMT http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/childhood-sexual-abuse-trauma-art-therapy/ http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/childhood-sexual-abuse-trauma-art-therapy/ Fri, 5 Nov 2010 14:34:41 GMT When November arrives, depression is not far behind. Something about the turn of the season, less daylight, less outdoor activities, the holiday bustle nudging its way back into consciousness can make some people turn inward and find deep dissatisfaction in their lives. Deep dissatisfaction can show up as a persistent weight pulling you down. Sometimes it is hard to get out of bed, to do anything. Most people are able to cope with these feelings by ?pushing through? or ?acting as if? they are feeling alright.  Enrolling in new classes, filling calendars with arts, sports, theater, shopping and exercise routines can help lift depression. ?Crafting? marketed by Martha Stewart has hit the culture in a big way. She was featured on Oprah in October, 2010. Her crafting ideas are well thought out and planned to provide hours of pleasure that some people find in making things. http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/art-therapy-stress-psychotherapy/ http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/art-therapy-stress-psychotherapy/ Wed, 6 Oct 2010 19:50:47 GMT The news media is filled with negative stories depicting despicable people who were put into powerful positions either by election (politicians) or by talent (sports/entertainment). Newspapers often read like cheap tabloids. We?re bombarded by images online of politicians who are bilking taxpayers of billions of dollars and sports/entertainment heroes whose lives are out-of-control. We are lured to click onto seductive headlines by wiggling bodies vying for our attention. Crime on the streets and in neighborhoods is rising at alarming rates. Promises of health care reform have not trickled down into ordinary people?s lives. In fact, insurance companies more than medical professionals are dictating the treatment people choose and with whom they trust their care. Insurance concerns are in a sense representative of the ?lucky ones? who have health care, access to computers to research their treatment plans and a place to call home. Many, many more people these days are living without access. http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/child-therapy-cancer/ http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/child-therapy-cancer/ Mon, 7 Jun 2010 17:17:50 GMT Christa, 35, initially presented to therapy because she wanted a place where her ten year old daughter, Nina, could share her feelings about Christa?s breast cancer. http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/creative-therapy-program-in-nyc-shows-marked-success/ http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/creative-therapy-program-in-nyc-shows-marked-success/ Sun, 6 Dec 2009 07:00:06 GMT A GoodTherapy.org News Summary http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/greater-attention-paid-to-artwork-in-hospitals-to-brighten-clients-experience/ http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/greater-attention-paid-to-artwork-in-hospitals-to-brighten-clients-experience/ Tue, 22 Sep 2009 06:00:58 GMT http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/center-for-disease-control/ http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/center-for-disease-control/ Sun, 14 Sep 2008 05:02:01 GMT A recent study by the Center for Disease Control, published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, is being touted as evidence that some very common treatments for trauma lack empirical evidence of success in helping children and adolescents. The study, which reviewed a small percentage of the available literature, found evidence for the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral treatment, but not for six other kinds of therapy, including what may be the most widely used interventions ? play and art therapy. http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/art-therapy-has-healing-power-art-activities-help-students-prepare-for-hurricane-season/ http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/art-therapy-has-healing-power-art-activities-help-students-prepare-for-hurricane-season/ Tue, 28 Aug 2007 02:00:42 GMT In 1992 after Hurricane Andrew hit south Florida on August 24, 1992 I contributed to an article a list of art activities that children could do at home to help them process their thoughts and feelings after their hurricane experience that year.  The activities are still relevant today, but not only as a way to process a hurricane experience but to prepare for one by taking a more proactive approach. The activities in the original article were listed and categorized under the following headings.