The Power of Art Therapy in Difficult Times
At the time of this writing, as we rush headlong into the holidays, we find ourselves confronting the Omicron variant, the latest chapter in the global crisis saga that is COVID-19. After surviving two years of uncertainty, financial instability, loss of social connection, and re-entry into our personal and work lives, we are all in one way or another, needing to dig deeper for the resilience necessary to cope.
While we as a global community have been living through this unprecedented extended crisis, each individual person continues to do their best to get on with the business of life. Even on a good day, this can be hard to manage! For people who live with any kind of pre-existing illness—whether physical or emotional—it takes that much more energy and effort to adjust to the new normal, never mind returning to in-person work and social events. It gets harder and harder to deal with the stress of our jobs, especially if our workplace is affected by toxic stress or understaffing.
And now, like clockwork, the shortening of the days and looming winter holidays may seem like the last straw of our coping skills. This is especially true if we have any sort of complicated relationships with our family members. Whether your family is affected by adoption issues, emotionally immature parents, grief, ideological conflict, or relatives who don’t know the meaning of boundaries, you might be feeling like you could use a little extra support right about now. And, since you’ve found your way here, you might be wondering—could art therapy help me?
In my two decades of practicing art therapy, I’ve been privileged and humbled to witness many people healed and transformed by the power of art in the following ways:
Developing more compassion and understanding for themselves and others
Overcoming blocks that keep them from enjoying intimacy in their relationships with friends and loved ones
Becoming more resilient to cope with both physical and emotional pain
Developing new neural pathways that transform the way their minds work and connect to their bodies
Changing the unconscious messages they tell themselves
Marshalling the courage to take positive action in their lives
Transmuting fear, anger, grief and sadness into belonging, kindness, and strength
Connecting spiritually through catharsis, flow, experiences of awe and shared humanity
I’m feeling particularly inspired to write about the power and benefits of art therapy at the moment. This past month, I was fortunate to virtually attend the global symposium, The Future is Unwritten—Arts in Healing, sponsored by The World Health Organization and hosted by The Metropolitan Museum of Art. It was the culmination of a yearlong program of research and exploration which assembled experts from academia, science, health care, government, and the arts to explore the role of arts in healing. Here is a handful of the international thought leaders who spoke about the importance of creative arts therapy:
Patrick Kennedy, American politician and mental health advocate, proudly shared that his long term recovery from addiction was aided by the creative arts. Art therapy provided for him that spiritual connection, such as 12-step groups have always known is essential to recovery, which rounded out the traditional cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) he received.
Susan Magsamen, Chair and Executive Director of the International Arts + Mind Lab at Johns Hopkins University, stated her belief that artists have always been at the intersection of healing and spirituality, and that science is just now catching up with them through research initiatives, which have been for many years quantifying the benefits of integrating arts in medicine.
Renee Fleming, world renowned soprano, attested to the profound importance of the mind-body connection, which both enhances and is enhanced by the practice of the arts. She proposed that art therapy be available much more broadly in the United States by making it available in kiosks at big box stores.
Ernesto Ottone, Assistant Director-General for Culture, UNESCO stated that culture is equally as effective as any other intervention for health, but severely underutilized. In the past two years, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought into focus for us all the power and benefits of the arts. It has also unfortunately intensified the physical and mental health concerns of artists and culture professionals around the world. He stressed the importance of prioritizing resilience as we go forward into the new normal, and more effectively employing people in arts and culture in a new vision for health.
Sunil Iyengar, Director, Office of Research and Analysis, National Endowment for the Arts, spoke about the NEA’s support for research on creative arts therapies for military veterans suffering from PTSD, which shows a significant reduction in their symptoms.
Emmeline Edwards, Director, Division of Extramural Research, National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, stated that the question is no longer if the arts can heal, but now we must research exactly in what ways are they most effective, in what context and for whom.
Christopher Bailey, Arts and Health Program Lead, World Health Organization summarized the history of the arts in health in this context: 70,000 years ago religious ceremony, performance, and healing were all the same thing. Humans have always known intuitively that creative expression is a way to heal, find peace and meaning, forge deep connections with each other, reflect upon our shared hopes and fears, celebrate that which brings us joy and fulfillment—that which gives us life.
We live in exciting times when science is starting to catch up to this intuitive understanding. It was such a joy to spend a day listening to international thought leaders, arts and culture professionals, and creative arts therapy practitioners focus their formidable resources and influence on celebrating the full scope and breadth of health benefits that come from practicing the arts in a therapeutic setting. I was very moved by the many expert testimonials, research findings, and examples of work presented by creative arts therapists who help people from around the world with various issues.
TRAUMA
Story cloths with survivors of sexual trauma in India.
One of the art therapy programs featured in the symposium led participants in sewing pictorial cloths—sort of like mini quilts—that depict significant moments in their lives through the use of soft, comforting fabrics and rhythmically soothing stitches. I have used this project myself in my work with people who were survivors of trauma of various kinds and different degrees ranging from relatively minor to very severe. The process provides a safe space for people to move from struggling to understand a traumatic event, through processing the emotions, and finally being able to share their story with others in a coherent and resolved way.
Performing Shakespeare’s The Tempest with residents of a Syrian refugee camp.
When a team of Drama therapists first arrived at the camp, the residents had been living in a communal setting that, despite providing for their practical needs and physical safety, was unfamiliar and unwelcoming. They had been self-isolating due to the trauma of war and being displaced from their homes. Through the process of staging and performing this iconic play, the residents were able to find meaningful social connection that was so strong it broke through cloud of sustained fear and uncertainty that had hung over their camp. It invigorated them, empowered them with a unified sense of purpose and a means to reflect on their shared experience.
A creative writing program engaging young children in trauma-informed emotional learning in schools.
This program was shown to help mitigate toxic stress—the single greatest cause of youth disengagement—that comes from living within unstable homes, the child protection system or forensic involvement.
I have worked with many adults who were either adopted or grew up in the foster care system, or lost a parent when they were children. Significant losses, displacements, unstable homes, and unresolved grief from childhood can lead to difficulties with relationships, functioning at work, addiction, and overwhelming sadness or anxiety as an adult. Because when we’re little we don’t have anything to compare it to, we often believe our lives to be the average experience, to be happy and “normal”. It’s only when we grow up that we learn that our families were different from others, and that our adversities had a lasting impact on our ability to cope with the everyday challenges of life. Because these adverse experiences happened when we were kids, we may not remember them fully, or understand how they affected us. This is why art therapy can be especially useful—it helps us to come to terms with things our conscious minds can’t recall, but which is remembered in the body and the brain’s visual centers.
The Plastic Brain
Several practitioners presented their work that helped patients with a variety of neurological problems.
Music therapists in Melbourne reported reducing symptoms of dementia and depression in elder care settings by helping them remain connected to others as well as to themselves. Another group of music therapists presented a new electronic device that delivers music therapy to people recovering from neurological injuries such as stroke, which helped them regain their ability to walk. This technology is currently awaiting FDA approval. Should it be approved, it will become the world’s first prescription music therapy program.
Art therapists at New York University documented work with patients diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
These patients showed marked improvements through their artwork, which demonstrated increased mental cohesion, groundedness, robustness of thought and execution of tasks, and greater sense of purpose. I have used art therapy with people who have dementia and found that creativity worked with the plasticity of the brain—its ability to form new neural connections where old ones had been lost. Art therapy was able to improve their mood, bridge their connection to other people, and often opened channels of communication that they were no longer able to have verbally.
Loneliness and Isolation
“Loneliness does not come from having no people around you, but from being unable to communicate the things that seem important to you.”
—Carl Jung
One of the most poignant themes of the symposium was the power of creative arts therapy to reach people who were, for various reasons, isolated and feeling lonely. This is easy for many people to relate to in these days of pandemic quarantine. We can all imagine what it’s like for people who have been suffering with loneliness their whole lives because of illness and its stigma, being part of a marginalized group, or even just as a function of modern life. Sometimes it seems as if the way we live today is designed to separate us from others. Small differences can have a big impact. Folks whose life experiences are even slightly different from the perceived norm can often feel out of step and misunderstood in a world that is so often virtual, distanced, and superficial.
As part of the United Kingdom’s initiative on loneliness, participants in a group therapy program found that their depression lifted when they engaged in art therapy.
These clients reported that, before the introduction of art therapy, they had been experiencing fatigue from talking about the same issues over and over. Art gave them an opportunity to get what they needed from therapy without the labor of finding the right words. Again and again in my work, I’ve encountered clients who have difficulty verbalizing their problems when they are flooded with emotions in the moment. This is especially true for people who’ve been feeling isolated, low-energy, or sad for a long while. So often, words are inadequate to meaningfully convey complex emotions, or memories that are simply too difficult to utter.
Addiction
A drama therapy program delivered evidence that audience members changed their attitudes about addiction after watching plays featuring characters that represented different racial groups struggling with substance use.
The plays were shown to increase the likelihood that audience members would take positive social action, and express compassion for people who are addicted, or who had a different racial identity from themselves. The plays even inspired the government of Rhode Island to adopt harm reduction initiatives to increase the survival rate of people with substance use issues.
People who struggle with addictions—whether it’s to chemicals or to other things such as gambling or love—need therapy that is based on the scientific understanding of addiction as a disease of the brain. Evidence-based tools like CBT are important, but spiritual connection is also critical—such as the awe, the dopamine response that we get from creativity. Art making is an experience that’s not only aesthetic but also physical and chemical. To be moved by creative expression is to employ the unconscious mind in the work of healing the brain. It’s tempting to say that art therapy strips away the barriers that keep us from being authentic in the moment. But I think it’s more accurate to say that we make those barriers irrelevant; we simply create a space where it’s safe to let go of inhibitions and find more effective and direct ways to connect. Sobriety is defined as not just abstinence from drugs or alcohol, but also opening to the full experience of life. This is key because we are coming to understand that the root causes of emotional problems like anxiety, depression, C-PTSD, and addiction are disconnection, isolation, and marginalization.
For many years, I worked with individuals who struggled with severe trauma, mental health diagnoses, were in recovery from substance use, and were currently/previously unhoused.
These issues, painful and destabilizing as they are, were unfortunately compounded by the social stigma surrounding them. My clients arrived in therapy with every reason to feel alienated from society, and no reason to trust and feel comfortable being themselves. I established a therapeutic space that came to be known for deep communication that transcended language—a distinct advantage in a setting whose population reflects the rich diversity of languages in New York City. It was a space that was comforting and homey, where people could relax and feel inspired to open up and be their authentic selves, secure in the knowledge that they would be truly seen and duly heard through their art.
What people find doing art therapy with me is deep understanding and the tools to convey what is most important to them.
My clients start therapy weighed down by their traumatic experiences—whether they were single, catastrophic events or more common incidents—buried in difficult emotions, isolated by their memories, feeling uniquely flawed, shamed, and reluctant to reveal themselves. Over time in treatment, they blossom into the relationship, they feel lighter and freer, moved to open up about their deepest feelings and most intimate selves. They come to understand that their pain is the same pain that all people experience, that it’s normal to feel what they feel. More importantly, they realize that those feelings are manageable, and that it’s possible to open themselves up to happiness, fulfillment and joy. When clients graduate from therapy, they are positively glowing with a sense of belonging, the desire to express themselves, and belief in their intrinsic value as human beings.
People across all spectrums of neurodiversity, socio-economic background, age, ability, gender/sexual identity, and culture of origin are able to access the benefits of art therapy.
The creative process provides a container for us to join together in coping with the fear and uncertainty of life, the disconnectedness, marginalization, and isolation that comes with having difficult life experiences. Through shared introspection, validating our experience of awe, being moved by artistic expression and sharing our personal stories, we are more capable of intimacy, embracing the full experience of life, compassion for ourselves and others, and taking positive action in our lives. We experience catharsis, new neural pathways forming, dopamine rush, deep listening and deep observation, integration of the mind and body, a sense of purpose, an outlet for expression, critical thinking, and understanding others’ perspectives. We have a chance to honor, mourn, see crises through the lens of kindness, and build resilience.
If any of these things sound like what you need right now, you might be interested in further exploring the possibilities of art therapy with me. I offer a free 15-minute phone consultation. There is no obligation if you find you’re not ready to start, and I’d be happy to answer all your questions.
“I found I could say things with colors and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way—things I had no words for.”
—Georgia O’Keefe