We experience a series of events in our lives, and some have a lasting impact on us to the point of impairing our daily lives. Unfortunately, many individuals don’t have access to the right tools, such as art therapy techniques, to manage healthily, which often results in negative consequences. Therefore, it is imperative to consult with professionals who can incorporate methods like art therapy techniques to address these emotions before exacerbating them.
What is Trauma?
Trauma is an upsetting or shocking event that can negatively affect an individual’s mental and physical health in the short-term or long-term sense. This is mainly due to factors that include but are not limited to accidents, violence, abuse or loss, making the affected feel helpless.
Trauma changes the way a person deals with the highs and lows of life and their interpersonal relationships. This can cause mental health conditions like anxiety, depression, or post-traumatic-stress disorder (PTSD). People’s responses to trauma are unique; recovery takes time, support and sometimes therapy to restore normalcy and security.
Art Therapy to Overcome Trauma
Art therapy is an effective form of psychotherapy that uses various creative art forms, such as drawing, writing, painting or dancing to help individuals explore their emotions and address psychological conditions like trauma, anxiety, depression, PTSD and bipolar disorder. For those who struggle to express their concerns with words, incorporating different art therapy techniques allows them to communicate and process their feelings more effectively. Art therapy should always be conducted by trained professionals to ensure it meets the individual’s needs.
Types of Art Therapy
Numerous types of art therapy exist, each providing a special means of expressing and navigating feelings. Since trauma manifests differently in each person, it is essential to explore different art therapy techniques and select the one which aligns with your unique needs.
Painting
Painting allows individuals to express their feelings and thoughts using colours, textures, and brushstrokes. This method provides a sense of freedom, letting emotions flow onto the canvas. Your therapist may suggest themes or questions to guide your painting, but the goal isn’t to create beautiful images. The simple shapes and colours can effectively convey what’s hard to express in words.
Drawing
Individuals are able to depict their inner lives using only a pencil or even a crayon. In whatever form, whether it is abstract geometric shapes and figures or complicated diagrams and images, even simple drawings can assist people in articulating such feelings as anxiety, sadness, or joy. It is one of the most basic and effective ways to unfreeze ideas and feelings that are behind the words.
Sculpture
While sculpture brings an element of touch into art therapy, individuals can manipulate the material according to their inner feelings and ideas. The experience of creating something out of clay, wood or metal is explained as an effective way to access the person’s emotional level. Making something tangible is a very earthbound activity, and the process comes with a sense of power and fulfilment.
Collage
Collage-making entails the assembling of blended images, textures and colours that collectively portray one’s feelings. This approach enables people to make meaning out of their experiences by developing new ways of viewing their internal emotions based on the relationship between various components. It’s a great way to express and illustrate your complex thoughts and feelings in a non-linear and creative manner.
Dance
Dance therapy is used to help emotional expression through the movements of the body. The significance of letting the body go with the flow of music or even following a set of movements is that one can easily discharge stress or any other feeling. It is an interoceptive activity that makes people tune back to their bodies and experience a sensation of freedom and catharsis.
Drama
Drama therapy entails role play, narration and acting to address the challenges or feelings of a client. Changing the position in a game also allows a person to communicate their feelings that may be hardly expressed in any other way. It offers a secure setting for processing feelings and experiences, which frequently results in profound understanding and healing.
Expressive
This therapy allows people to express and improve their feelings about themselves by engaging in painting, music, dancing, and other forms of art. Especially for a person going through withdrawal from a substance use disorder, it affords a safe way of processing complex emotions. Based on psychodynamic theory it integrates past experiences into the present and reveals the ways of decision making towards a healthier self.
Music
Music therapy works with the concepts of rhythm, melody and sound that have profound appeal to people. Whether it is making music, listening to songs, or dancing to rhythms, this form of therapy assists people in coming to terms with their feelings. Music can touch our souls, reassure us and give us a sense of belonging.
Writing
Writing therapy entails the freedom to express feelings or emotions in a diary, poetry or story. It is an introspective activity through which one can try to understand what one is feeling. It is also empowering, as well as therapeutic, as it can help one to work through feelings of anger, loss, or confusion that they would otherwise not necessarily be able to express because of the social consequences.
Photography
Photography is unique in that it gives people an opportunity to view life and themselves from a different perspective. In such a way, photography captures emotions that may be difficult to name or convey verbally. Photography as therapy makes people pay attention to positive things and contributes to people’s well-being.
Textiles
Wool is a fabric which can be woven in threads or yarn and using this individual can engage in creating something with their hands and introspect about their feelings at the same time. Regardless of the methods, knitting, weaving, or sewing can help to release some of the emotions through repetitive motions and feel of the fabric. This form of therapy is highly practical and can create a feeling of home-like security.
Digital
Digital art therapy can be defined as art forms in which new-age technology, including tablets or computerized applications, are applied in drawing pictures and making or generating designs. It opens up a new and more fluid way for people to convey and share themselves for those who might feel more at ease using digital media.