HOW CAN ART THERAPY HELP YOU?
Why Art Therapy?
Whether you consider yourself to be “creative” or not, creating something can be beneficial and significant for your mental and physical well – being.
Art can help to regulate emotions by allowing you to focus and tune into bodily senses; releasing physical tension through the act of using, touching, and manipulating certain art materials. It can also serve as a great distraction from your mind if your thoughts are overwhelming.
For our learners who experience anxiety, depression, or other emotional and mental challenges, art therapy can be a source of relief and a means of healing. For young people especially communicating creatively may come more easily than expected.
Here are some outlet’s that we actively encourage our children to take part in it. We also have an in house qualified Art Therapist who our learners are able to spend 1:1 time with.
However, if you are reading this and have been seeking an outlet to express your feelings or emotions, then below are some examples to try.
Drawing – Drawing for mental health creates intention, and you can do it with whatever resources you have. You can trace one of your favourite pictures as a starting point, or you can draw using thick felt pens for a more abstract effect. Whatever you chose, do it with purpose and give yourself time to think about the pen to paper.
Colouring – If a blank piece of paper is too much of an overwhelming thought, to begin with, try colouring in. The thought is taken out of the task, but colouring can be calming and therapeutic. Relive yourself from the pressure of drawing an image from scratch and embrace letting the feelings of colour guide you through your emotions.
Clay Work – Moulded, pinched, and carved to your liking to reflect your feelings, clay work is perhaps the most physical therapeutic art technique. Tip: Ask yourself, what shape do my emotions have? And take it from there….
Collaging – Collaging can be comforting and doesn’t take any specialised equipment. All you need is a glue stick, a pair of scissors and old magazines or picture books. Remember to be intentional in your choices, picking images and phrases that speak directly to your state of mind. Or you can use collaging to create vision boards to help envision where you want to be or how you want to feel in the future.
Art Therapy can work for so many people – whether you need to centre yourself or just express yourself, try putting pen to paper or hand to clay and see where it leads you.
