Starting Your Artful Journey
Expressing Your Inner World Through the Arts
Expressing your inner world through the arts helps you access and process your connection to your self, others, and the world around you.
This is not a new phenomenon. People have been making art for thousands of years to help make sense of human nature, their inner world, others around them, and even their existence.
Let’s explore how we can be more present, creative, and how to enjoy the journey of creativity!
It’s Your Journey
If you haven’t reviewed the Scribble Drawing activity, please do that before reading on. I like the idea that everything has a starting point — and the journey after that starting point is the goal.
Too many times the focus is on the end goal and we forget about the experiences we have while we’re trying to reach that goal.
Forgetting to enjoy the process will only make the time spent while trying to reach your goal very stressful.
Before I go into all the awesome benefits of creating I want to define for everyone what that actually is.
We’re creating all the time, but we don’t realize it because maybe we didn’t produce a product or understand the intrinsic benefits of creating.
Creativity
Creativity is the ability to approach an object or situation from an alternative perspective (i.e., music, dance, drama, poetry, image making, etc).
Now add this definition to being a therapist. All therapists can be creative. But wait! What if you’re not an art therapist, expressive arts therapist, music therapist, drama therapist, etc?
You are okay….adding creativity into your practice cannot make an expressive arts therapist. That takes years of training, practice, and supervision.
But you can be creative and add creativity into your practice OR for your own self-care and well-being.
Getting Started
For years, my counseling students have asked me how to add creativity into their practice. This just simply isn’t taught in traditional counseling programs.
Additionally, my clients have also asked me how they can be more creative and overcome the fear of “not being an artist” or that what they create isn’t good enough.
Everyone can create.
I soon found out (through my supervision of new counselors) how often counselors add the creative arts into their practice. Sometimes done well….sometimes not so well.
The following will provide a little guidance and background into getting started.
Here are some key take-aways about art-based experiences (whether you are a counselor or you’re doing art for your own self care):
- Can be done independently or with a variety of populations to address psychological and emotional needs.
- The art making process creates a safe, structured, and non-judgmental environment that elicits the creation and communication of one’s world through pictorial images.
- Self-expression through art can help with the emotional health, well-being, and growth of the artist as it fosters self-expression, enhances coping skills, manages stress, and strengthens one’s sense of self.
There is a lot of research that backs this information up!
Expressive Arts Modalities
The expressive arts in counseling helps us to connect, process, and understand experiences, memories, and emotions. Expressive arts modalies includes:
- Art (paint, draw, sculpt)
- Dance or movement (yoga)
- Music
- Poetry/Journaling
- Drama
- Photography
- Guided Imagery
- Nature-based practices
- New Trends — Virtual Reality
Benefits
Now that we have a good idea of what creativity is and some of the different modalities, let’s discuss the creative process. The therapeutic process of creation is founded in the thought that artistic self-expression helps people. period. Art making can help address individuals and groups:
- Resolve Conflicts
- Develop interpersonal skills
- Manage behavior
- Reduce stress
- Increase self-esteem
- Enhance self-awareness
- Achieve insight
The expressive process helps people decrease:
- Stress
- Helplessness
- Hopelessness
- Anxiety
- Anger/Aggression
- Being “stuck”
Being Intentional
Sounds good huh? So how do we practice this? Being creative for ourselves is very different than adding creative interventions into our practice with others.
The latter must be intentional…
Why are we doing what we’re doing?
What is the end goal?
Why this intervention?
Using creative interventions is a powerful tool with many benefits including:
- Helps capture and maintain interest and motivation in the counseling experience.
- Allows for an accepting, respectful, and safe environment
- Helps gain mastery through senses
- Allows the processing of the traumatic experience to be contained and not become overwhelming
- Inspires creative problem solving
- Promotes feeling identification
- Makes the unconscious conscious
- Supports emotional and behavioral self-regulation
- Promotes arousal reduction
- Appears less threatening or intimidating with special populations (Gladding, 2011).
Visual Arts: Materials
Before you go run out and start adding the creative arts into practice you must be aware of how materials can effect the process.
Choice of material is important!
Depending on who is doing the activity the material used should be well thought out.
Think about your goal and choose material that would help you meet tht goal. If I want to to increase attentiveness and control, crayons or colored pencils just might be a good choice.
- Structured/controlled Materials include crayons, colored pencils, oil pastels, magazine cut outs, markers, and paper
- Less structured/controlled include paint, water based clay, paper mache, chalk, and glitter
Concluding Thoughts
Expressing your inner world through the arts helps you to access and process your connection to your self, others, and the world around you.
I have a passion for the creative arts and I’ve seen all the awesome benefits of adding the creative arts into my own life and my counseling practice.
Explore how you can be more present and creative in your life.
Remember to enjoy the journey!
How do you use the arts for self-care? Or do you use the arts in your practice? Comment below and share! Please follow to learn more!
References:
Gladding, S. T. (2011). Using creativity and the creative arts in counseling: An international approach. Turkish Psychological Counseling and Guidance Journal, 4(35), 1–7.
Naumburg, M. (1966). Dynamically oriented art therapy: Its principles and practices, illustrated with three case studies. Grune & Stratton.
Sutherland, J., Waldman, G., & Collins, C. (2010). Art therapy connection: Encouraging troubled youth to stay in school and succeed. Art Therapy, 27(2), 69–74.
