Rebecca: Path Fuse
therapy spotlight
ART THERAPY Creating Lasting Change
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by Tavi Meketon
ocal Tucson Art Therapist, Rebecca Wilkinson, MA, ATR-BD, LCPAT shares her passion about the world of art therapy, a highly in-demand modality that is helping many who currently cope with obstacles that prevent them from living their best lives. Long before electronic and handheld devices, we doodled and sketched, played in the sand box, made chalk designs on the sidewalk and (everyone’s favorite) colored in coloring books. We had ways to calm ourselves and create something from our internal thoughts and imagination, release negative feelings, as well as generate positive ones. There is a mind/body connection that is illuminated through the process of making art which allows space for reflection and exploration. The ability to express oneself in order to enhance our life can make us happier, address sadness or negative emotions and help us to reach these goals in a healthy and often more effective way. Communication and healing through art has been around for millennia. Some artists will reflect on early times when imagery was used to communicate in almost every civilization. Cognitive psychology research shows us that images can strengthen communications in several different ways—capturing attention, 18
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evoking emotions and easily conveying large amounts of information in a short period of time. How can art and imagery help people change their way of thinking and positively address issues that previously have been unsuccessful? Those who are interested in improving their clarity and general well-being will often seek out new and creative ways to improve their mental and physical health through art therapy. “Art gives us ways to connect and bridge when we are feeling isolated and often times struggling with expression,” says Wilkinson. Art therapy is a mental health profession that uses active artmaking, the creative process, applied psychological theory and human experience within a psychotherapeutic relationship. Art therapists are mental health clinicians with master’s-level degrees or higher, trained in art and therapy. They serve diverse clients, from children experiencing behavioral challenges; victims of violence or trauma, including military service members and survivors of mass shootings; older adults struggling with dementia; and anyone that needs help coping with life’s challenges. Wilkinson was drawn to art therapy as an artist who was also curious about how the brain works. Those who study art therapy acknowledge the powerful and positive relationship between neuroscience or the activity of the brain and the art of expression. “In the end, it is a metaphor to engage with the internal experience,” describes Wilkinson. “Art is a way to access the other realm.” How can therapy address some of the most prevalent public and mental health issues we are currently experiencing as a population? Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic has created unprecedented chaos and stress in the lives of nearly all Americans across the country. A recent NHIS study has found that between 2019 and 2021, the percentage of adults polled expressed some level of depression had increased from 11 to 41 percent over the two years. An Art Therapy Association poll indicated that “nearly all art therapists (92 percent) surveyed reported that their clients were experiencing anxiety due to isolation during the Coronavirus pandemic, and two in three
Rebecca Wilkinson
