{"id":2802,"date":"2015-02-20T17:50:37","date_gmt":"2015-02-20T17:50:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/foxboroarttherapy.com\/?p=2802"},"modified":"2016-02-24T16:26:16","modified_gmt":"2016-02-24T16:26:16","slug":"10-reasons-i-love-being-an-art-therapist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mindfulartstudio.com\/10-reasons-i-love-being-an-art-therapist\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Reasons I Love Being An Art Therapist"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"Art<\/a><\/p>\n

Because I have a somewhat unusual job, I spend a lot of time explaining what art therapy is. In the course of that conversation, I inevitably talk about what I personally LOVE about being an art therapist. This got me thinking that I’ve never shared that with you. Let’s fix that. \u00a0So without delay, here are some of the top reasons I love being an art therapist.<\/p>\n

1. I don’t believe therapy should be a drag. The\u00a0arts\u00a0make therapy playful and adventurous.<\/h3>\n
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My job is to help people grow, and sometimes that means dealing with hard things, but that doesn’t mean that the treatment needs to hurt. There is a lot of laughter and creativity in my office. I like it that way. So do my clients.<\/div>\n
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2.\u00a0Art therapy is both cathartic and containing.<\/h3>\n
Expressing yourself through images “transfers” some of\u00a0your\u00a0feelings into the art piece\u00a0and helps clear you out a bit. The image\u00a0then “holds” some of those feelings for you, whether in a sculpture, painting, drawing, book, or a box.<\/div>\n
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We need all the help we can get when we feel overwhelmed, art therapy can often\u00a0provide\u00a0some immediate relief. See this post on doing art “to get the crazies out.”<\/a><\/div>\n
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3. Art therapy teaches\u00a0coping skills.<\/h3>\n
The skills and techniques people learn in my office can all be used at home. Once you see how you can center and ground yourself by drawing mandalas<\/a>, creating a string painting<\/a>, or collaging in an art journal<\/a>, you can find ways to weave the healing power of art\u00a0into your life.<\/div>\n
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\"Stamps<\/a>

Cutting handmade stamps<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

4.There are some things that words just cannot properly express.<\/h3>\n
If you have experienced\u00a0extreme emotional distress, trauma, or loss, some of your\u00a0experience is “beyond words -” there are images, sounds, smells, and sensations that hang around, sometimes unwanted. We now know that trauma often gets processed and encoded in different ways<\/a>\u00a0than our everyday memories. (For further information on trauma, see this article on PTSD<\/a>, and this one on developmental trauma<\/a>.)<\/div>\n
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It can be very hard to talk your way out of this. Using art is a way to speak the language of the senses, and transform your experience.<\/div>\n
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5.\u00a0Art therapy is a whole-brain approach.<\/h3>\n
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While I am no neuroscientist, I am fascinated by the way our brain operates. As you know, art therapy engages different parts of the brain. \u00a0Why wouldn’t we use all the tools at our disposal? If you’ve been talking about your problems for ages and nothing has changed, why not engage your imagination and creativity and see what happens?<\/p>\n

\"Teal<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

6. Art therapy offers\u00a0a new perspective.<\/h3>\n
Frequently, once my client completes an image, we will stand it upright,\u00a0take a few steps back\u00a0from the art table, and look at the art\u00a0together from a distance. I like several things about this.<\/div>\n
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First, just like in life, the art changes when you see it from different\u00a0vantage points. The client and I both \u00a0notice different things, and that often gives us\u00a0new insights or solutions.<\/div>\n
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Standing together looking at the image also diminishes some of the power differential that exists between the “doctor” and the “patient.” I am an expert on mental health and art therapy, it’s true, but the client is the expert on herself, and we both are adventurers exploring the territory of this image.\u00a0I feel less like client and therapist, and more like two artists looking at an art piece.<\/div>\n
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This is incredibly empowering to the art therapy client. I think that’s really cool, and it’s part of what makes me feel proud to be an art therapist.<\/div>\n
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Finally, I love this technique because especially with strong anxiety or trauma, looking at the piece and becoming curious\u00a0about it is a powerful tool against anxiety and panic. You can’t be “scared out of your wits” while also feeling\u00a0curious.<\/div>\n
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We have a highly evolved frontal lobe in our brain that is designed to largely turn off during emergencies. (Though given our current realities, this also happens when you get really mad at your boss. For a scholarly explanation of the stress response, click here<\/a>, and for the “Wiki” one, click here<\/a>.)<\/div>\n
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\u00a07. I love showing adults that they ARE creative.<\/h3>\n
Teaching people\u00a0to tap into their creativity is a part of my job. How amazing\u00a0is that?<\/div>\n
\"Remain<\/a><\/div>\n
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8. Art is a great language to use with “resistant” teens.<\/h3>\n
Of course I don’t think that most of the teens I see are “resistant;” they might feel\u00a0scared or be in denial, but resistant implies that they are stubbornly doing something to harm themselves.<\/div>\n
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I have yet to meet anyone who is doing anything that doesn’t provide them with some benefit. I think we just aren’t wired that way. I like to help people tune into what is helpful about what they are doing, as well as what’s not, join with them about that, and then start to explore other coping skills that will help more than they hurt.<\/div>\n
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With teenagers who already feel awkward about themselves and their issues, asking them to create a magazine photo collage about their anxiety can seem a lot more fun and natural than\u00a0saying, “So, Emily\u2026 why are you so anxious?\u00a0You’re popular, pretty, you get good grades. Is this conversation making you anxious?\u00a0Is that sweat forming on your brow?”<\/div>\n
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As my teens would say: “Awwwkward!”<\/div>\n
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Of course we verbally process the collage, but it puts the conversation in her terms, not mine. That’s important. There’s the issue of giving power back to the client again. See what I mean? Art therapy rocks.<\/div>\n
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\"I<\/a><\/div>\n
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9.The treatment options are endless in art therapy.<\/h3>\n

I get to be creative without even picking up a paint brush. If my client is feeling stuck, I can dream up 15 different ways to help them experience and explore “stuckness” through art. (Art therapist, Lisa Mitchell, at Inner Canvas<\/a>, is a master at helping ANY therapist tap into their creativity, even in talk therapy. Please check her out!)<\/p>\n

I might say, “Could you make an image of stuckness?” \u00a0Or, “Perhaps you could make something with this tough clay as a way to explore the stuck feeling?” Or, “Let’s\u00a0tangle and knot up a\u00a0ball of yarn and then work through undoing it and see what’s happening with the stuck feeling.”<\/p>\n

All of those options\u00a0would give her\u00a0the physical experience of getting stuck and eventually, getting unstuck, as well as a\u00a0visual image of stuckness. For a bank of ideas that an art therapist might use in her work with clients, visit my Art Therapy Ideas board<\/a> on Pinterest.<\/p>\n

Imagine how much more potent that is than the same client sitting slumped in my office couch, talking in low tones, apathetically giving\u00a0the same old speech about how nothing ever changes for her.<\/p>\n

Finally, art therapy combines beautifully with mindfulness techniques, visualization and meditation<\/a>, and sensory activities. This offers me tons of flexibility and creativity in every session. No matter what we are doing, it’s creative somehow. That’s a huge perk in my job.<\/p>\n

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\"Nest\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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10. Art therapy feels “magical.”<\/h3>\n
There is a little “magic” in art therapy. It doesn’t mean it will suit everyone or cure your every ill, but I find the power of the unconscious to speak to us through images, like it does in our dream life, very powerful. When you have the help of an art therapist\u00a0to explore these images, you may gain insights you never would by just talking.<\/div>\n
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I will never forget the woman who painted a beautiful abstract image with lines of various colors radiating from a circular shape. When she finished, we stood it up on the table and stepped back. To our surprise, we saw\u00a0a woman, looking up to the light.<\/div>\n
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It was astonishing. Powerful. Moving. Whether or not it was “intentional,” she gave\u00a0herself the hope she so needed in that moment through this image. The hope was there, but this was the only way she could\u00a0see it.<\/div>\n
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(We can just talk too!)<\/h3>\n

Of course I have fun with my talk-based clients, but being an art therapist,\u00a0\u00a0I approach even my talk-based sessions in a creative, imaginative way. This makes my job\u00a0so much more fun. To learn more about working with me through your\u00a0anxiety, depression, trauma, creative blocks, and\u00a0personal growth goals, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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What do you love about art therapy?<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
What do you love about art therapy? How has art played a transformative role in your life? Do you crave more\u00a0creativity? Fear\u00a0it? Run from it? Tell us about it in the comments.<\/div>\n
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Related articles across the web<\/h3>\n