Wow Jones from what you say it sounds like you really could use art therapy specifically to focus on your creativity. Seeing as how most therapy is talk therapy, bypassing the cognitive rational parts of mind by not verbalizing but expressing things in other media may well be the best route to get to the spontaneously creative part of you.

I have actually ‘done’ art therapy (or rather, had a T for a few months whose method was specifically art therapy). She was a lovely woman very kind and caring just unfortunate for her (and me!) that what I was going through at the time no therapy or therapist could help with - medication was the only thing that got me through then so my experience of art therapy per se is from the point of view of not having had any benefit from it.

Having said that in retrospect I can see how it’s such a wonderful way to get to bits of yourself that would either never surface through straight verbalizing or would take forever and a day to come out - and also, it’s a good way to bypass the rationally thinking mind because you can’t always anticipate what’s going to come out.

Some of the stuff we did included making puppets (and role playing with them), playing in a sand pit (lol I hated that, hated the feel of dry sand and getting it under my fingernails), choosing pictures/paintings that resonated and talking about what they inspired, drawing pictures (such as Jill mentioned in her tree, house, person thread) and talking about what the pictures represented (yeah just realized there’s still a lot of talking but it’s different...), using dolls and animals and concrete objects to represent things (not just people but ideas), using a lot of symbols - for instance at end of session visualizing a bucket or bin and dumping all the bad feelings in it and putting the lid on it until next session - all sorts of things - art therapy can come up with all these wonderfully different ways of getting to things that just talking about them doesn’t always achieve.

I wish I could have been more involved in it at the time, it would have been nice to say HOW it worked - so I will be really interested to hear your thoughts on it once you start.

Anyway I’m so pleased you are looking forward to it and have now a chance to bring the issue of your creativity to therapy directly rather than as a byproduct of resolving other issues - that strikes me as hugely important and that what you’ve been needing from therapy is someone who does relate to your creative self as a fundamental aspect of who you are, I do hope this T will be that person.

LL

Hi Jones,

Oh I just LOVE the sound of this new T and can't wait to hear more! I've never done art therapy but the time I've spent learning guitar has been extremely "therapeutic" in that it really turns the noise of my left brain way way down and allows me to play in that sorely underused right brain. I think ShrinkLady calls it a "right brain break" and that's just what it feels like. I almost feel "balanced" when I do this...it feels the the two halves of me are connected. So I really hope you will share with us what you are trying as you go along, and what you are finding out from it!

SG

Cool! I'm a new art therapist myself! loving the work (also i'm in my own personal therapy)

Dude! I remember reading some of your old posts! How cool! You're like a celebrity to me... I love to meet you! Wow! I've been reading this thread but can't think of a dang thing to contribute...as an art therapist, I bet you can!

BB

quote:

From my very limited understanding/knowledge, art therapy is about expressing yourself visually/artistically DURING therapy, isn't it?
I imagine it would involve very loose, fluid sorts of images...representations, expression via colour, shape and weight/quality of stroke etc. It'd be amazing to work with someone that knows how to milk such work out of you and how to search it and interpret it. Even suggest, contribute...can you imagine a conversation on an easel...you know, like a visual to and fro of ideas and expression?

Hey Monte! Ooh, you make all that sound lovely... I'm not actually a vis artist, though I used to do some - just have this stupid disconnect with my 'other' creative practice - all this need to express, need to produce, and some great chasm in between. I just want SOME way to connect them - via vis art if that works, or my primary practice itself.

I love that your T is coming to the party on this... I keep thinking he leaves these 'blank' spaces in his responses to you, maybe to let you hear what your head does in an absence.... Does that make sense? Those stupid bungholes that squashed your talent - all I can say is GRRR, and how absolutely admirable it is that your talent and willingness to create SURVIVED that.

LL - it's interesting that you had positive experiences with this too - I've actually wondered if it would be a good method for you, because it would allow you to actually get in and work with those feelings on an expressive, rather than an analytical level. I don't suppose it's something either of these new Ts has experience with, is it? Wonder if you could ask if these kinds of techniques could be worked in...?

SG - totally get you on the therapeutic nature of the right-brain stuff - actually my T-finishing reckoned my work in this area helped me process more stuff than I knew. I wish we could have a place for uploads of stuff like you playing guitar and Monte's artwork - how cool would that be?! I always imagine you would play guitar like Melissa Etheridge or Bonnie Raitt - but maybe that's cos of your pic.

Hey, The Dude! Welcome back - I've read some old posts of yours too - LOVE to hear that you are actually an art therapist now, and would be keen to hear about the training and what's that like, if you feel like sharing.

((BB)) hug for your li'l feathery presence. You can just tweet us a little song.

J

Gee! glad to see i've been missed been a crazy 1 1/2yrs. - finally graduated in January - working part-time with developmentally delayed adults (have 6 possible private clients through this - I said 'possible') it's an amazing experience... if i may say so, check out my website!
www.ridgemeadowsarttherapy.com

sorry, Shrinklady, if that's a no no

more later
- dudate

Hi "Dude"
So good to hear from you!!! Congratulations on getting your degree. I have no idea how you managed it while raising kids too. You must be amazing at it. I'm looking forward to checking out your website.

AG

Jones -
I did art therapy when I was in an intensive treatment out of state in april and I found it to be an amazingly helpful experience. I’ve always been creative - but when it came to art and my emotions, art was mostly just a way to distract myself and occupy my brain and sometimes nervous hands.

But when I did the art therapy, I learned how to use art to not only to distract, but also to express, and even learn stuff about my emotions that was really helpful.

I now do art on my own to express - and I bring it in to T and we talk about it. It helps a lot actually. There have been a couple of times when I was feeling some intense stuff and by bringing out the paint or pastels, I was able to express and let out some of what I was feeling before I turned to bad ways of coping or trying to manage the emotions. Not only was the process of doing the art helpful - but bringing it in and talking with my therapist was helpful. She actually calls the art therapist (who is out of state) and gets ideas of things to suggest for me to try.

Just talking about it is great too - it’s helped me talk about things I haven’t been able to talk about before or show my counselor things going on inside that I couldn’t express in just words alone. She says she has a new understanding of what things are like for me - and she’s not even an art therapist!

I think it can be a really helpful thing sometimes. Some people in the intensive program who did art therapy really hated it - even some people who were really creative really didn't like it or findit very useful. But then sometimes others who didn't do art at all or consider themselves creative at all found themselves loving it and getting a lot out of it.

Before I tried it with the art therapist, I tried to do art in an expressive way and brought it in to my old therapist (also a non-art therapist - just a ‘regular’ one…) and um, it went over badly… I then felt awful. But when I went to the program out of state and there was an art therapist and art therapy - well, I just let go and dove in. I'm so glad I did. She said I was an art therapists dream. I think she was just exited I was exited about it. She even sent me back home with a box of art supplies!

For me, it just seems to really helps with where I am at. Even though I can’t find an art therapist here at home that I can afford, my ‘regular’ T (for lack of better words) that I see now is very supportive of it and it helps!

My art in general has shifted a bit. Right now I'm a lot more abstract at times. Sometimes I get really into filling up pages, leaving no white space behind, and bright colors and big spaces... And then sometimes my art is more patterned, and settled and yet a lot more expressive than I have ever been. I'm kinda having more fun with it.

If you do art therapy with this new T, I hope it’s a good experience for you. It sounds like it could be a great match! (Art or not, I hope you have great experince with this new T!) Let us know how it goes!

Well, I had my first art therapy session last night and it was lovely. I let her know that I wanted to use my 'other' creative practice (outside sessions) as part of what we do and she said she was happy to do that. We chatted about that and the notes a little bit and then (to my surprise) we just got started on the art. I sat at the table and she sat near me and just watched while I played with some clay. Not in an assessing kind of a way, just present, as a 'witness' she said. She got that I was feeling a bit overwhelmed with the transfer and other stuff, and didn't press me on anything. We just talked a bit, and I found it was easier to sit in silence and easier to talk while working with my hands.

The whole thing was - not exactly relaxing, it was still a first session and I was really wound up, but she was great. The chat was more like just getting to know each other a little bit, rather than therapy per se.

When I met her for 5 minutes last week I had this really intense dream about the art therapy that night, and last night I had another one. I had made a creature with my clay. When I got home I worked with that image for a while, and then I dreamed about another creature, a bit similar but really amazing and vivid. I have lots of difficult stuff going on right now but this morning I still felt really energetic and excited. I feel like just having her there sitting with me on this kind of answers a need I've had for a really long time.

Hi Jones,

I am so so happy to hear how well your first session went. This new T sounds fantastic, and I'm so happy that you feel like you're on the right track with her and with the art therapy in general. This is fantastic, Jones!

Jones

This sounds like the beginning of a beautiful connection...I like the sound of this T! And I loved hearing how your clay creature is evolving through your dreams, and the feeling of energy and excitement that is stirring within you. Congratulations on such a promising first session! I very much look forward to hearing more about your work with this T.

SG

Jones, I am very happy, to hear that your first session was a good one.and I like that she didn't make you wait to start getting into some creative outlet, but let you at it right away!
Looking forward to hearing more...

BB

Hi there!

My current T is an art therapist. I think it's great. It also seems like she's a bit more nurturing and serene rather than critical and analytical like my old T was.

I hope it goes well for you.

I split up my sessions a bit; doing art on one then all talk on the next, and so on. It helped me to break it up like that because there were days my emotions completely blocked my creativity and I just sat the staring at the blank page.

Then there were times where I'd be at home and feel the impulse to draw something. Also, when I found I couldn't draw during an art session, I tried writing poems instead. That helped a lot and gave us a different dimension to talk about.

I love my Art T. I think art therapy has been good for me to express what does not always come naturally with words. Plus, I've actually gotten (slightly) better at drawing.

I look forward to hearing more about your experiences.

Hi Forlorn & welcome! Cool to hear you are doing some art therapy too. I've had two sessions now and one was art and the other was just talking. It will be interesting to see how it plays out. Picking up some drawing skills would be a bonus!

J