Category: Art Therapy
The Good Therapy Blog
March 27th, 2012 |
Grief arises as a product of a loss that we have experienced. It is associated with losses that may include health, job, relationship, pet, family, and major events. We may not be able to describe the roller coaster of emotions, yet we do know that we are not ourselves. When we feel out of sorts, sensations surface such as low self-esteem, illness, depression, and confusion, which can manifest into thoughts that our feelings are out of our control. As a result, this full body experience may be difficult to process or verbalize. To mend this sorrow, the expressive arts can create a doorway to the... Read More
March 7th, 2012 |
A perception of artists as eccentric, different, and living on the social periphery seems to precede this group outside of therapy and, likely, within the context of treatment as well. There seems to be an unspoken premise that ingenuity is motivated by pain or pathology, or at least some might argue there is a sort of affiliation. Some might assume that this relationship is causal: that trauma causes creativity and thus most artists are contending with some type of affliction. An alternative possibility may be that art is not necessarily motivated by pain; rather the capacity for creative inspiration... Read More
January 18th, 2012 |
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... Read More
October 11th, 2011 |
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.
People grieve in different ways, with different intensity, and for different lengths of time. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross wrote extensively about the five stages of grief, which include: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Grief researchers agree that the stages of grief are not fixed, nor do they happen in a linear... Read More
September 16th, 2011 |
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,... Read More
August 10th, 2011 |
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. Read More
July 13th, 2011 |
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.... Read More
June 12th, 2011 |
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... Read More
May 16th, 2011 |
The following is an abbreviated version of an Art Therapy experiential that I often give to first time clients to help warm them up to how Art Therapy can provide insight into concerns or issues that may not be in the forefront of the mind and thought. This process allows unconscious feelings and memories to bubble up from depths of their being.
If possible, read and implement one instruction at a time. This will give your mind an experience of not knowing what to expect and help your responses to be more spontaneous thereby reducing attempts to influence the outcome. Try to insure that you... Read More
May 11th, 2011 |
A recent study highlights the benefits of art therapy in the treatment of post-traumatic stress for military veterans. The study involved veterans who had symptoms including anxiety, depression, insomnia, nightmares and interpersonal issues. The veterans participated in the therapy twice a week, and were encouraged to convey their emotions of shame, anger... Read More
© Copyright 2011 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Farmington Bureau - All Rights Reserved.
April 13th, 2011 |
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.... Read More
March 11th, 2011 |
Full permission has been given by the client to tell this story on GoodTherapy.org. All identifying information has been changed.
The client ‘Jimmy’ that I described in the previous blog, who created a video project in art psychotherapy, has completed his video. He decided sometime ago that he wanted to upload it to YouTube. His intention was to come out from hiding his story and to possibly help others who are struggling with their own past experiences. His decision was an opportunity to discuss in therapy the possible... Read More
March 4th, 2011 |
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... Read More
February 11th, 2011 |
Full permission has been given by the client to tell this story on GoodTherapy.org. All identifying information has been changed.
Images hold keys that unlock our inner experiences. Images can penetrate built up defenses in the mind that dispel or diminish the importance of feelings and experiences in our lives. During a traumatic event(s), images, sounds, textures, smells, and tastes can become hardwired in the brain to the event. At the time of a trauma, the body internalizes feelings that might otherwise overwhelm normal ego function. Later those trauma experiences can be accessed or... Read More
