You have to express yourself to heal yourself. Have you ever looked at it like that before? Unfortunately, difficult experiences often force us to go inward to a place of silence. It’s one of the reasons why art therapy can be so effective for people dealing with grief and trauma. Let’s talk about art therapy and grief.
How Can Art Therapy Help With Grief?
Art can provide a powerful medium for processing our emotions. When we’re overwhelmed by grief, we may find it difficult to put what we’re feeling into words. We often feel creatively, physically, and emotionally blocked. Art therapy can create a space where we feel free to both identify and express what we’re feeling.
The relationship between art therapy and mental health is actually something that researchers have looked at closely. As part of a wide-ranging 2018 analysis that looked at 27 studies involving people going through bereavement, therapeutic application of visual art modalities was associated with positive changes. Some of the results of studies involved even showed evidence that art therapy helped to alleviate negative symptoms of grief that included distress, functional impairment, depression, and anxiety.
A study published in 2023 found that art therapy can help to relieve psychological distress and enhance quality of life during bereavement. The exciting thing about this study is that it showed that art therapy provided benefits even when it was done virtually.
What to Expect When You Start Art Therapy
You don’t need to be Picasso to benefit from art therapy. Rest assured that nobody wins a ribbon for being a better artist. During art therapy, art is simply your vehicle for exploring and expressing your thoughts and emotions. It’s a way to dig through the fog of loss to put words or visuals to your truest, deepest internal experiences. While drawing therapy is the most common form of art therapy used in mental health practices, clients seeking grief therapy can actually pursue a wide range of mediums. For example, music therapy and writing therapy could fit a person who struggles to express their feelings using painting or drawing.
During an art therapy session, a client is able to spend time exploring the piece of artistic expression they’ve created with the help of a therapist. However, the therapist’s job isn’t to try to critique or interpret the art. You will simply use the art as a tool under the guidance of your therapist. While this portion of therapy often brings up insights that help clients make important logical connections, the process is also part of the healing journey. The creative process provides a wonderful opportunity to manage stress, develop coping skills, and connect with your sense of self.
Giving Art Therapy Counseling a Try
Society doesn’t teach us how to grieve. That’s why so many people are hit so hard when they lose a loved one or undergo extreme life changes. It can truly feel like the foundation has been knocked out from under your feet. There’s no need to wait until grief overwhelms you to seek out coping tools. Art therapy can also be utilized to manage anticipatory grief when you’re dealing with an expected loss that is causing worry, anxiety, or depression.
It’s normal to feel like things are spinning out of control when grief hits. Art therapy can help people struggling with grief to make sense of their feelings, find meaning in what they’re experiencing, and feel empowered to plan a path forward.
Are you interested in exploring art therapy in PA? Bloom Therapy offers in-person and virtual art therapy for grief. In addition to offering one-on-one talk therapy, art therapy, and EMDR at our Berwyn, PA office, we serve clients virtually throughout Pennsylvania, New York, and Connecticut. Reach out today to begin your journey.