MINDFUL ART

The opportunity to partake in art activities is often one's first exposure to such creativity since childhood. The emotional response to memory stimulus from childhood can be a powerful tool in the therapeutic process.

 

I can't draw or paint. I couldn't do Art Therapy could I?

 

Art Therapy is not about the final product or producing works of art. It is about the process. No experience of art is needed, you can't make a mistake.

 

Why see an Art Therapist?

 

Art Therapists are creative. Why is that important? It is important because you are most likely seeing a therapist because you want change in your life. Change is a highly creative process that can be tricky to germinate and help flourish. Your creative therapist is open-minded, skilled in knowing how to be situated other people’s creative process and they will be able to guide you through the journey 

of change. Creativity rubs off. It is a way of being and knowing. 

 

Our society uses words as the dominant means of expression. Most therapies use words as the primary way to deconstruct and reconstruct personal narratives. When you see an Art Therapist, you could have the opportunity to paint, moldor collage instead of 

talk about yourself and who you are becoming. Art Therapy can offer a new, perhaps not yet experienced way to explore yourself outside of the words that often keep you feeling stuck. Creative expression offers a fresh fluid way of seeing yourself 

and your issues or challenges which can lead you to gaining new insights and sensing new possibilities. 

 

We create the best atmosphere for change when we travel to new places and experience life outside of our comfort or safety zone. When we are stuck in our habitual ways of thinking, moving and experiencing life, change is often harder to realize. 

However, words can be, and are part of the Art Therapy session. Words are important for making meaning, reflecting, 

communicating and connecting; but art therapy offers more than words. People usually come to therapy when they feel tired of repeating patterns, a need to solve an issue or they want change. 

 

Art is about entering imagination, going where we are interested, and moving through struggle. Art can open up the creative cognitive processes, which allows for broad scanning ability, fluidity of thinking, flexibility, insight, synthesizing abilities and divergent thinking. Art Therapists engage with this work because they understand the value of bringing the creative process into the therapy room.

 

What kind of art will I make?

 

It depends on your interests as well as the benefits of certain types of art for your situation. Art therapy can include a wide range of art materials and processes. Your sessions could potentially include activities such as working with clay, painting, making a mask, creating a visual journal and assembling a collage. Most often, the focus will be on the process rather than creating a finished art product.

 

Will the art therapist “interpret” my artwork?

 

Art therapists can use a variety of approaches. It is not customary for a therapist to interpret your art. In a humanistic or transpersonal approach to art therapy, the focus will be on the personal meaning that you find within your own creative work, rather than an arbitrary meaning imposed by the therapist. You are the expert on your own artwork and creative process, and the art therapist’s role is to facilitate explorations of your work rather than to analyze or interpret it.

 

''Imagicide is the killing off of the image through destructive psychological labelling and interpretation of the artwork. This is the therapist explaining the image and what it really means without regard for the artist or the image itself.'' Moon 2004