Art Therapy (Week Eight/Nine)

    Art can be used as a therapeutic method of helping bring forth dialogue between the client and therapist. It works as a container for emotions, it brings forward and creates distance to confront and work through thoughts and experiences. While also allowing the client to find emotional clarification through interpreting their own art with guidance from their therapist. One of our readings for class describes this practice as; "Art psychotherapy seeks to create a safe, uncontaminated space and to enable the client to speak in a language they 'don't understand': to have new thoughts and experiences. The shift in modalities from orally retelling a distressing history to creatively exploring an untainted and alternative present often allows for stuck perspectives to be re-visioned or reframed and for new perceptions to appear." (Learmonth and Huckvale, 2008) To better understand the capacity that art therapy can have for a person/client we did a few different activities.     The first exercise was a scribble drawing where we started out by scribbling random shapes and lines on a sheet of paper for a few minutes. Then we took a moment to look at the scribble, looking for any identifiable shapes, figures, or objects. The shapes were then emphasized and articulated by coloring in the shapes/details. Afterward, we took the time to reflect on what the image may mean to each of us, I struggled with it at first, mainly because I was in a state of numbness, where I was sort of not feeling anything/ ignoring my emotions. Once I truly tried to focus I was able to interpret that my image was depicting the weight of my stress weighing on me and it felt like I metaphorically had the world in my hands. Through this exercise and the next two, continued to struggle with interpreting my emotions, but by the end of class, I came to this understanding of why art therapy can be so effective. Not only does it help you understand yourself in a new way, but it also helps you to express yourself when you cannot or do not know the words to help others understand. I also found that art is more empathetic than a person, as it will never judge you(consciously or unconsciously) like a person might. For me, I found that there was a moment from earlier that week that had been triggered by an old trauma. I thought I was fine and had moved past it. But it seems that I am still stuck on it, I was just repressing it. Now that I know this, I am putting a bit more attention into it, and making a point to work through it while allowing myself to feel the emotions from it, rather than pushing it away. It truly is magnificent that art can bring out things from one's unconscious, all you have to do is take the time to look.  Overall this class' subject was incredibly interesting and is influencing me both personally and academically. It has heightened my curiosity about how I can embrace the practice of art therapy in the future as a therapist and as a student conducting research.