Art Therapy: Why It Helps With Trauma Healing

It’s surprising how one art therapy course can reshape the way you view introspection and healing. Yet, in my first year of college, I found myself in that same position. As someone who was going through crippling social anxiety and depression at the time, I found myself needing the art therapy course I took.
It started with a singing bowl, a special bowl that creates a calming ringing sound when played. This was always used to help us center ourselves and start a rather meditative art-creating process. In the one hour of the class, we got to first hand try out therapy techniques for ourselves through different art mediums. We were then encouraged to draw what came to mind.
Even without meaning to, my hand found itself drawing my innermost thoughts, desires, and hurts. When it was time to look at what I made and talk about it, I found that what I had created was an abstract version of what I failed to verbalize. Yet, after drawing, and saying what was troubling, it became easier to vocalize and heal from.
When it comes to healing from trauma, there are many methods that can be used, but the goal is essentially the same: to reclaim a connection with the body and teach the mind that they are not in as dangerous of a situation as they instinctually feel they are in. Some methods include yoga, massages, meditation, and sports. In this case, I learned that healing can come from art.
Yes, but to what extent? First-handedly, I experienced that art therapy is capable of helping people with depression or with anxiety like myself, but it is also helpful for other mental illnesses. Studies have shown that veterans with PTSD have benefited from art therapy treatment.
This is primarily because some traumatic memories are stored non-verbally and can be retrieved by recollections of sensory and kinesthetic elements.
Sometimes, it is difficult to express how you feel in words especially if you are still processing it. In some cases, victims of trauma with PTSD will cope by shutting down the areas in their brain that transmit emotions to define their terror. Yet, this is crucial because if you cannot define your trauma, then it is hard to heal from it. Art creates an avenue for patients to open up in a way that cannot be expressed with words. Sometimes, verbalization is difficult, but art creates a way to start with something smaller, like color or line.
In a study done by Melissa Campbell, 11 veterans received 8 sessions of art therapy. All participants showed improvement in their symptoms. By the end of the 8 session course, they were able to focus on themselves before and after the trauma. While they drew, blocked memories resurfaced, or crucial realizations were made about how they could further their healing process.
It’s amazing what Campbell was able to do in 8 sessions. With more art therapy, a person with PTSD may even be able to use art as a healthy outlet to process and cope with the stimulation of the outside world.
Sometimes, it’s easy to believe that the arts don’t have power because they don’t show concrete results like a bandaid over a cut, but it helps to exercise the right side of your brain.
If you have PTSD, or like me, were dealing with depression and anxiety, I would encourage you to enroll in some art therapy classes. Art therapy is a great way to get yourself to reflect especially if, like the veterans, some of your trauma is stored nonverbally. If those are too expensive, turn on a singing bowl sound on youtube, center your mind and begin the process of drawing. When you’re done don’t forget to evaluate your drawing too!

By: Olivia Kim

References:

Campbell, M., Decker, K. P., Kruk, K., & Deaver, S. P. (2016). Art therapy and cognitive processing therapy for combat-related PTSD: A randomized controlled trial. Art therapy : journal of the American Art Therapy Association. Retrieved April 6, 2022, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5764181/#:~:text=Art%20therapy%20provides%20a%20safe,Morgan%20%26%20Johnson%2C%201995).

Van Der Kolk, B. (2014). The body keeps the score: brain, mind and body in the healing of trauma . Penguin Books

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