This may include dance, but not necessarily. Expressive arts therapy involves a multimodal integration of varied elements of the creative arts therapies into psychotherapy and counseling. Creativity provides you with greater freedom. With art therapy, there are no rules to hold you back.

• Draw yourself as an object, plant, or animal that you want to be.
• I’ve watched the most introverted clients blossom like May flowers during an improv session.
• There is also one training institute in Europe and one in Hong Kong, with new trainings emerging all the time.
• Art brings people together, and whatever you choose to create will bring in new connections who can have whatever role you want them to in your recovery.
• A big part of the 12 Steps is self-reflection which art therapy facilitates.

Welcome to the world of art therapy, my friends. That client was me, and I unwittingly gave my therapist a treasure trove of information to unpack and process over the following few weeks with one simple display of creativity. Poetry writing is a central technique in expressive arts therapy that aims to mobilize artistic language, symbolism, and poesy as the source of creative expression. Clients can be encouraged to write expressively but also share poems written by others that have moved them. In this article, art therapists Gioia Chilton and Rebecca Wilkinson describe how they use mask making while working with people in addiction recovery.

Group Art Project

Through art we can reach people who may have not taken the time to understand the growing issue we have in America around mental health. We can take back the narrative and provide a new way for the public to see how addiction impacts us all. Some of us naturally have more energy than others. Endurance athletes are a prime example; stage performers carry similar characteristics. After addiction has taken hold of a person, the connection between owning personal emotions and then communicating them to others is lost.

The distraction keeps you away from harmful substances while furthering your recovery journey with artistic expression. Art therapy can be a great way to marry the mindfulness practices often taught during SUD treatment with a focus on a healthy outlet for your feelings. For example, if you have the urge to reduce stress by returning to drinking alcohol, this is where art therapy can become involved. At your next opportunity, you could illustrate how you felt when you wanted to drink, as well as any emotions or concerns you had at that moment.

Art Therapy Ideas & Art Therapy Exercises: Your Path to Harmony from Artistro

The former may indicate depression and the latter intermittent rage. How much pressure do they use—are they nearly ripping the paper? Do they take the time to stay within the lines, or do they seem haphazard in their efforts? Chaotic colouring book pages can symbolize a similar internal state. What can you do, though, if you don’t have a therapist or the means to afford one? You can still reap the benefits of this treatment in the comfort of your living room.

• According to most feelings charts, you should be able to pinpoint whether you’re irritated, elated or disappointed.
• Expand the sheet and transform the seen image.
• This project is ideal for individuals who may feel lost, overwhelmed, and even isolated.
• Access to nature in either a garden or park is also preferable (Atkins & Snyder, 2017), as it’s much easier to slow down in nature than in a busy urban setting.
• Knitting keeps your hands busy—it’s impossible to stitch while your fingers are reaching into a bag of chips.

These detailed, science-based exercises will equip you or your clients with tools to find new pathways to reduce suffering and more effectively cope with life stressors. Photo therapy can enhance clients’ appreciation of their environment and what they love art therapy ideas for adults in recovery about their daily life. It can also be used to journal the healing process after trauma or loss. Self-portraiture using a range of materials can be very cathartic, and a series of self-portraits can reflect how a client sees themselves changing over time.

What is Art Therapy? Exploring Its Role in Recovery & Mental Health.

As a reminder to take care of yourself, you can paint and decorate a self-care box in accordance with your tastes. The idea is that it’ll hold scraps of paper on which you’ve written down your favourite ways to treat yourself. The group ends with the opportunity for participants to share what they created and why. For a recent project, participants created greeting cards to represent a non-material gift they would like to give themselves.

The benefits of art therapy are more than just lower stress levels. Art therapy provides a non-verbal way to express pain, anxiety, or other emotional issues. It offers a way to work through tough issues that can’t be put into words or written down. Art therapy can also teach and develop skills needed to improve mental health such as introspection, self-awareness, and coping methods. Although people have benefited from art therapy for a long time, it’s become a more well-known term in the past few years.