“Creating artwork allows your mind to be in a safe place while it contemplates the tougher issues you are dealing with. One can use the tools of brush, paint, pastels, crayons etc to expose and even for a short time color those issues in a different light.”
When you were younger and first learning to navigate the world, the adults in your life most likely repeated an instruction to you: “Use your words, use your words.” They wanted to encourage you to communicate your thoughts through your words, to use your voice, and to advocate for yourself through the spoken language. However, in the years that have passed since learning to articulate a sentence, you may have realized that your voice can often fail you when you need it most - you just can’t “use your words” to explain your emotional experience. Your reality may represent a wide range of emotions that cannot be verbalized. Do you ever feel your body shaking with anxious energy and it feels unexplainable? Or a pit in your stomach that you just can’t shake? Maybe you’ve shed confused tears during a joyous moment that found you speechless. Art Therapy can help you explain the unexplainable.
The process of using materials to explore your emotional experience, though additionally art materials are also therapeutic by nature. This is why it feels soothing to press our hands against smooth clay or feel a watercolor brush slide along a page. When these sensations are aligned with breath and MINDFULNESS TECHNIQUES they promote soothing and relaxation.
Everyone! Creativity is innate to the human experience, and the Art Therapy process simply offers you a tool to connect to your unique voice. If you are reading this and thinking “I can’t draw”, it is necessary to know that Art Therapy is not Art training. Instead, it focuses on the process, not the product. Also, Art Therapy is not limited to drawing and painting. Art Therapists are trained to adapt materials to guide you - some materials include fiber arts, embroidery, phototherapy, collaging, sculpting, designing, journaling, Eco-Art Therapy (using found objects from nature), jewelry making, fashion, digital art, film. All that's needed to take an Art Therapy class is an open mind. Give it a try and see what becomes possible when you allow yourself to relinquish control of outcome.Expressive art therapists are certified and licensed after receiving a masters degree and clinical training hours.
Art Therapy in New Jersey, Connecticut, and New York is open to all age groups and adapted to all life circumstances. Here are some specific areas expressive art therapy can be useful include:
Your art therapist will help you identify goals that are a priority for you to address and work towards. She will prepare you for the process and help put you at ease.
Using an art directive and an array of available materials, your therapist will guide you with supportive interventions and art-making techniques.
At the conclusion of each session your art therapist will help you assess how your feeling and connect emotions and meaning to your work.
Trauma
Anxiety
Depression
Grief
Life Transitions
Identity Issues
Substance use
Emotional Regulation
The Facts: According to a 2016 study published in the Journal of the American Art Therapy Association, less than one hour of creative activity can help in reducing stress levels and have a positive effect on your mental and physical health, regardless of artistic talent or experience. In studies of adults who experienced trauma symptoms, art therapy was found to significantly reduce the intensity and frequency of these symptoms, as well as decrease levels of depression.
