Learn to Appreciate Your Body Through Art Therapy
Do you struggle to accept yourself just as you are? You are not alone. Negative body image is a major concern in many countries, such as Australia, where I live. For five consecutive years, a survey carried out by Mission Australia reported that young Australians rate body image as one of the three top issues they have. This is concerning. As research shows, if body image issues are left unaddressed for a long period of time, they can lead to depression and other mental illnesses, such as anorexia and bulimia.
So, the question is, how can you begin to lift the veil of illusion and stop telling yourself negative stories about your body? In this story, I suggest that art therapy can help. Generally speaking, art therapy has a range of benefits: for example, it can be relaxing while also helping to integrate negative or traumatic experiences (see Collie et al. 2006, for example). In particular, I take a look at a creative exercise that consists of drawing a realistic self-portrait. I suggest that the experience of drawing yourself just as you are may help you cultivate awareness of your negative self-talk. Meanwhile, this exercise is also great for artists wanting to develop their perceptual skills in order to draw more realistic images.
