People do not need to be able to speak the same language, or speak at all, to be able to communicate through art.
This makes it a powerful vehicle for breaking down barriers and opening a client up to expressing themselves. People think in images before words. In all of us, much of our preverbal thinking was by using images first (children recognise their mother before they can say names. Pets recognise the face of their caregiver even though they have no word for the person). We did not have a choice in this as it is biological developmentally driven thing. We simply can see from birth long before our vocal cords and facial control for speech is primed.
Art is less open to manipulation compared to words. Individuals experiencing mental illness may well have rehearsed (whether conscious or not) a story that repeats over and over. Sometimes to deny true feelings or suppress emotions. Art can cut through this as it comes from a different part of the brain that the patient is not used to using to describe a feeling. The types of marks an individual makes can also give indication to their feelings and experiences.
Art is permanent and so provides an excellent visual and easy to refer to, record of the patients progress through the therapy. The therapist may notice changes in colour choice or subject matter. Especially if combined with another therapy such as CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy), images can reflect the goals in the timeline of the patient’s care. Art is not bound by time, or really, any constraints and so expressing multiple ideas together is possible.
Perhaps most exciting is that art can be used to compile together images that resonate with the future an individual might wish for. For example, freedom from anxiety, depression or trauma. Or, proactively re-wiring their brain to remove limiting beliefs that are holding them back from achieving their dreams. Having a very clear ‘vision’ of what the future looks like. Linguistically, the words we use to describe the future are all connected with vision. Art is primarily a visual communication.
For a person to change themselves, they need to undo their previous programming and create new positive images in their minds of how they want to be. To change, is to get beyond old programming on the line of time of someone’s life. Art and imagery can be used to produce a physical series of reference points for an individual to reaffirm their vision. This vision board become a record of their future before it has happened.
Sculpture can provide a far more tactile experience and may be more useful to people that have visual impairment or learn better through touch. Kinesthetic learners have to do something to understand a concept, while multimodal learners shift between different techniques. Those that learn by doing might benefit for making a 3D object rather than 2D.
Art is a great way for patients to achieve an outwardly focussed (rather then inwardly) state, a bit like task concentration from cognitive behavioural therapy.
Finally, the patient will become creatively aroused during the art making process and this new energy may help them to open up more. Having something they have created at the end of the session provides a positive mental anchor for the positive feelings that took place while making the art. They can refer back to this art and get a little burst of excitement they felt in the session. So the effects of the session are limitless. True creativity allows people to get beyond the analytical mind and that, is where new things can manifest.
#arttherapy #CBT #cognitivebehaviouralarttherapy
