(Disclaimer: I am not a mental-health professional. This is just what I did to help me on my mental-health journey.)
Art can be beneficial in many ways – from self-exploration to enrichment. However, art can and has been used as therapy by many individuals and therapists. There are even art therapists and organizations that focus solely on using art as a mental health treatment to help people with their emotions and thoughts. According to Library of Medicine (NIH), “Art therapy uses integrative techniques to captivate the soul, body and mind in ways that verbal expression alone doesn’t appear to.” (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9472646/)
In this article, I will briefly highlight my own experience using art as therapy and how you, too, can benefit from this.
Many of us who are artists are well acquainted with the benefits art has had on our emotional and mental health. As someone who has had my fair share of mental and emotional challenges, art has proven to be very effective in my treatment and healing process. Although art has not been something that has made any of my mental health challenges go away, it has helped me to cope and helped to fuel my desire to live fully.
At the beginning of what I will call my long haul of depression, I was introduced to drawing while under supervision. It was one of my fonder memories during my depression, considering the circumstances. But what I do remember was the joy and wonder it brought me while in a place that was far from joyful. It also stretched my imagination so that I focused not on what was in front of me, but on the beauty that was coming from within me.
That was the beginning of my artistic journey. One that would be an integral part of my healing process and that would take me on a path of finding my joy and fulfillment again.
Here’s how you can use art as therapy:
Just begin.
Start small or start of large. As someone who had never put a pencil to paper before my episode, I started drawing little shapes with colored pencils. It didn’t look like anything special, but guess what? I enjoyed it!
If you are already an artist, paint, draw or write for the joy of it. Explore and let your imagination run wild. What this did for me was it helped me to see what I was capable of and brought me fulfillment of seeing a creation brought forth from my own spirit.
Join a group.
For a spoken-word artist, there is nothing I think we like more than sharing our words. I encourage you to share your art. Share it with family or find a community of artists who love art as much as you do. The community was very important to me as an artist because it helped to fan the flame if you will. Being with peers encourages you to keep doing art. Although I’ve never received art therapy from a clinician, I still think I was fortunate to receive the benefits of sharing my art and story with ears that listened. At the end of the day, I believe what many of us want is simply to be heard.
Create from the heart.
Self-expression is essential in your quest as you use your art as a means for a type of “therapy.” Although I am not a mental health professional, I am an artist and what I learned from being an artist and seeing my transformation, was that putting my emotions on paper did help me to release. Bottling up our emotions can be detrimental to our health. That’s why when you can creatively express your emotions – it helps you mentally. When I was depressed and did not create, but held everything in, it only ruminated. And that rumination only made things worse. So, let your guard down and create from the heart.
Let your creation be your therapist.
Of course, this is by no means suggesting that we allow our mental health to be neglected by not seeking medical attention if we need it. Nor is it minimizing the seriousness of depression (trust me, I would know). However, by creating, you are teaching yourself something about yourself. Maybe you are showing yourself an emotion that has been hidden in you, or a story you had not thought of from your past.
For those of you who would like practical things to do, here you go!
1. Draw an emotion you are feeling at the moment
2. Take a story from your past and create a poem, using vivid imagery from the story
3. Write and then speak your poem into a recording, then listen to it back. Or better yet, attend an open mic!
4. Go to a poetry workshop or take an art class
5. Try self-portraiture and try to capture your emotions