Unconsciously practicing art therapy

It’s extremely intriguing that I’ve only recently found that I’ve been unconsciously practicing art therapy for the past 12 months.

I realized this when I was preparing a lecture around art therapy and when I was reading about it, I noticed that it is something that I have been practicing since January 2022, almost immediately after I quit my job to focus on my Masters degree.

During that time, I felt a little bit lost (no, completely lost and sad). I was worried about my future. I also had a lot of time to reflect about what my next steps would be. I desperately wanted to channel my thoughts on something. I naturally turned to art. I remember calling Eva’s Nairobi Art, a small art supplies shop along Thika Road. They sell and deliver art materials and equipment. I recall ordering a bunch of pencils, blank notebooks, and fine-liners. I was captivated by drawings inspired from nature for what seemed like months. I regularly sketched once or twice a week and even at times, every day. It was a great time to unwind and focus just on drawing. It was an escape. I filled approximately 4 Art books with drawings in a year; some were exquisite, others were incomplete, and yet others were only passable and not worthy of display.

Now when I look back, being a creative already played a role in why I didn’t realize I was engaging in the art of art therapy. Because I naturally wanted to create, I assumed that drawing was all I was doing. I thought I was picking up a hobby that I had practiced in my early years, and therefore I really didn’t notice that as I made art I was unconsciously performing art therapy.

Definition of Art therapy

Art therapy like any other therapy, includes an array of activities, including incident drawings (i.e., a drawing of an incident that occurred while using substances), drawing/painting emotions, stress painting (i.e., painting during times of anxiety and/or stress in order to relieve feelings of stress), creating an art journal, and creating sculptures. Main assumptions underlying art therapy are that the patient will be able to express him/herself through a non-verbal, imaginative, and creative exercise (Aletraris et al., 2014).

It was an incredibly intuitive, thrilling, and therapeutic sensation for me to spend minutes — and often even an hour — daily drawing in silence. I would give everything I had (channeling my emotions) to a simple task like sketching the petals of a flower, for example, like a rose, Chrysanthemums, or any other flower I chose in my garden. The subject matter wasn’t important at all. The act of sketching, the freedom, the stillness, focusing my mental faculties and the sound of my strokes were what mattered. While time went on, I also started to feel better and lighter as if a weight had been taken off of me.

I felt good.

It was only later on that I transformed some of this art into surface pattern designs and retail them on Contrado, UndaMeta, Spoonflower, Shutterstock and Society6.

Art therapy benefits

I am now more conscious of what I was doing. I am now also more aware of the importance of art therapy. As a result, I think it’s one of the finest strategies to get through many mental health problems, like anxiety, pain, depression, or hopelessness. Furthermore, I’ve come to the conclusion that more needs to be done to educate people about its advantages in this nation. Perhaps, because people with mental health issues are often stigmatized, consequently art therapy isn’t frequently discussed, and therefore, little is known about its overall therapeutic advantages.

Art therapy engages multiple senses. As one creates art, they make use of their hands through touch, minds, hearts, senses of smell, and sight.

It also has both inquisitive and calming qualities.

It engages both hemispheres of the brain, releasing endorphins — feel-good hormones that help people feel better. In my instance, it significantly reduced the tension and sense of powerlessness I was experiencing at the time.

I completely endorse the idea of practicing art therapy to everyone who is willing to try it. Medical research has shown that it has assisted patients in overcoming pain, anger, despair, and even drug and alcohol dependence. According to Aletraris et al (2014), in substance abuse disorder (SUD) cases, art therapy benefits range from decreasing denial (Cox & Price, 1990), reducing opposition to alcoholism treatment (Allen, 1985), providing an outlet for communication (Harms, 1973; Moore, 1983), and lessening shame (Johnson, 1990) have been cited in patients.

The process of art therapy is simple to achieve. One can practice it through DIY or better still, seek professional help from an art therapist. I am aware that Kenya has a number of art therapists, if you can afford to, seek them out for a session as they are well trained to support patients. For DIYers, it could be a simple process of picking a media that appeals to you, look for a comfortable location, free from distractions and try out some therapeutic art-making. In the end, nobody is evaluating the art. What matters most is how you feel after that!

I personally have found art therapy to be effective and helpful. It helped me accept the choices I made and to take action over my career and future. It also helped me to move on. To anyone who has faced or is currently facing a huge difficulty in their lives, I 100 percent recommend it.

There are many social and economic challenges that come with how quickly our society is evolving today. My guess is that the apparent overabundance of artists and creatives in today’s society may actually be a reflection of the rise in mental health related issues that are driving many people, especially young people, to practice self-administered art therapy as a profession. Perhaps, it is an unconscious act of art making as therapy to deal with life’s stress. If so, then art making is a healer.

To conclude, I’d say, Art therapy can be unconsciously self-administered, is reflective, and intuitive, has calming qualities and with time can provide healing effects.

References

Aletraris L., Paino, M., Edmond, M.B., Roman, P. M., Bride, B. E. (2014 December). The use of art and music therapy in substance abuse treatment programs. J Addict Nurs. 2014 Oct; 25(4): 190 — 196. doi: 10.1097/JAN.0000000000000048