Art Therapy can be the vehicle which helps you be the most authentic, accepting person you can be. Authentic as in true to the part of you which you seldom enjoy looking at; accepting of yourself and others just as they are. When you open yourself up to using art in therapy and the creative process you open yourself up to exploring your feelings, building your self-esteem, reconciling emotional conflicts, managing behaviors and improving acceptance of the world around you.
No artistic talent needed, only a desire to experience.
The power inherent in the creation of art comes from your ability as an art maker to learn and experience yourself…on a new and deeper level, not on your ability to create “art”. We experience satisfaction when involved in any form of the creative process. From something as simple as rearranging the furniture to weeding the garden, a basic need in all of us is to create a small bit of order out of chaos. The desire to procreate is the ultimate expression of the creative process. Love is our innate desire to create. Nature has made sex enjoyable simply so we’ll engage in it more.
But I don’t know how to draw.
There is a reason most of us draw like 12 year olds. At about this age we begin to give up on the magical thinking which defines the childlike mind. We start to compare our drawings with what we see in books. We become concrete thinkers, driven by the demands of school and society we give up on the myths we were raised with; Santa, the Easter Bunny. Most of us then are exactly where we should be with our artistic skills, at a late elementary level phase. Imagine then how meaningful a creation of yours can be when you are expecting nothing from it. Art Therapy is never about the finished product and always about what you experience while making art.
What are these feelings inside of me?
Many of us can come very close to naming the six primary emotions, yet how many of us pay attention to them long enough to really experience them as they flow through us. Art Therapy has the ability to draw out our basic emotional states and represent them in a physical form for us to process and reflect upon. Unlike spoken words or thoughts, an art creation remains after the experience, unchanged by memory or distraction. Our true authentic self, possibly represented by stick figures, but truly represented.
Art Therapy can point you towards the path that leads to a more authentic you.
Powerful words yes, yet what can be more powerful than a new experience that has the potential to awaken your true inner self? Art making opens us up to that which brings us closer to the dreams and fantasies we enjoyed as children, and can safely help excise the demons of the past by physically placing them outside the body. Ready for the journey into whom you are inside? Then let’s get together and talk about art making as therapy and your inner journey towards a more authentic you. Bob Ryan, LMHC, ATR
