Medical professionals are always on the lookout for new ways to treat their patients. In recent years, many have found that expressive arts therapy can work wonders. Expressive arts therapy is a type of therapy and counseling which primarily uses creative processes and art forms to help people express themselves, grow, heal, and address health issues.
When Is Expressive Arts Therapy Used?
One of expressive arts therapy’s biggest strengths is its versatility. It can be used to help treat a number of health conditions. Conditions that this type of therapy can help include:
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Eating disorders, including anorexia and bulimia
- Stress disorders
- Traumatic brain injuries (TBI)
- Cancer
This is by no means a complete list. Expressive arts therapy can be useful in any situation where a patient needs help expressing or addressing their feelings. This means that it is not only used when treating mental health conditions, but also physical health conditions. For example, creative arts therapy may help someone who is suffering from cancer express how they are feeling and accept their situation.
How It Works
Creative arts therapy works by combining psychology with the creative process, helping people discover and express their feelings in a safe, non-judgmental setting. The creative process used will vary depending on the patient’s preference.
Music Therapy
Music is a very important piece of human culture, and musical therapy utilizes music to help patients. Patients may be asked to create music that expresses their feelings through singing or playing instruments. However, musical therapy can also consist of simply listening to music. Songs may be chosen where the lyrics or melody reflect how the patient is feeling, allowing them to better understand their feelings.
Writing Therapy
Writing therapy takes many forms. It can involve the patient writing stories or poems which metaphorically discuss their feelings and thoughts. Most commonly, writing therapy looks a lot like journaling, where the patient writes in a journal, putting their thoughts and feelings down on paper, allowing them to better understand them. This is usually done daily. Research has suggested that the benefits of writing therapy come from disclosure. That is to say, simply having a judgment-free place to vent can have remarkable effects on health.
Dancing Therapy
Dancing therapy, also called dance movement therapy (DMT), is the use of movement for the purpose of improving health and well-being. While it can be used to address mental health by giving patients a way to express themselves, it is also used by physical therapists to address physical conditions. For example, dance therapy can be extremely beneficial when treating movement disorders such as Parkinson’s disease. While you may assume this is a relatively new form of therapy, dance therapy first emerged in the 1940’s, making it one of the first forms of creative arts therapy to be used.
Performance Therapy
Performance therapy involves performing in front of others. This can be used collaboratively with other creative arts therapies, such as dance or music. Performance therapy gives the patient the opportunity to express themselves when simply talking fails. Performance therapy can also be very useful as a form of exposure therapy for people suffering from anxiety and similar conditions.
Art Therapy
Art therapy can include a number of different art forms including painting, drawing, and sculpture. It allows patients to create a physical representation of their thoughts and feelings. Art therapy can be used to boost self-esteem and treat depression and anxiety. Research has even found that art therapy can improve the psychological state of cancer patients. Additionally, it can be used as a form of physical therapy by helping patients maintain or relearn fine motor skills.
Art Therapy Exercises
Art therapy does not have to mean painting a masterpiece. There are a multitude of art therapy exercises that do not require the patient to have any existing artistic talent. Some examples of these exercises include:
- Collages: This exercise involves the patient creating a collage using clipping from magazines, newspapers, or pictures found online and printed out. A collage could be made out of things that represent the patients goals to help with improving self esteem, or out of pictures representing stressful factors in the patient’s life to help them identify their stress points.
- Creating Patterns: This exercise involves painting or drawing simple, repetitive patterns. This can be useful for clearing the patient’s mind or helping with feelings of anxiety by giving the patient something stress-free to focus on.
- My Safe Place: This exercise consists of painting or drawing a place the patient views as their safe place, a place that makes them feel at ease and protected from the stresses of everyday life. The place they choose to draw can be real, such as their childhood home or a favorite vacation spot. On the other hand, it can be a fictional place, such as a magical castle or imaginary beach. This exercise is particularly helpful for patients suffering from stress or anxiety. The patient can keep the drawing of their safe place and look at it when these negative feelings present themselves.
While these are some great examples, there are no hard rules when it comes to art therapy. These can be altered for patient needs, or a new exercise can be designed for a specific patient.