Session 1: What Do You Look Like?
Creative Healing:
How Art Therapy Can Save the Body and Mind
Many things have been said about art. Over time, thousands of people—writers, musicians, doctors, and academics—have weighed in on the positive effects the medium can have on both the artist and its observer. Elliot Eisner defined it as “the literacy of the heart,” while Jackson Pollock explained its creator as, “the one who is building things…some with a brush—some with a shovel—some choose a pen.” In my opinion, Jean-Luc Godard was the most poignant of all when he stated, “Art attracts us only by what it reveals of our secret self” (qut. in Flannigan, 1). Art dates back thousands of years to prehistoric times when early men and women used it to depict their world and beliefs on the walls of the caves in which they lived. Paintings have been found on walls of rock crevices in France dating back to at least 38,000 B.C.E. (Prehistoric Art). Today, art is used much in the same way—to represent the world and the feelings of its creators. Recently, however, art has been acknowledged as being more than something simply visually pleasing. Studies have long pointed to the healing powers of art. Creative forms of treatment, such as art therapy, have become increasingly popular over the last decades. In an article written by Shirley Riley for the Western Journal of Medicine, art therapy is explained as a situation in which, “The client is asked to make a collage, or make some marks on paper to illustrate the difficulties that have brought them to therapy” (par. 3). The article continues to explain the role of the art therapists themselves by stating, “The art therapist does not interpret the art piece, and the clients are free to share as much of the meaning of their art as they choose” (par. 3).
In an article entitled, “Art’s Healing Powers,” written for the Saturday Evening Post, Iyna Caruso writes, In the early 20th century, medical advancements progressed at such a rapid clip, the human factor became secondary to technology. Modern hospitals were sterile, sleek and stark. Then in the 1940s, the curious new field of art therapy came into its own, advancing the notion that art-making could be used to improve and enhance one’s physical, mental and emotional well-being. Conventional medicine remained skeptical until the results became too compelling to ignore, and that’s only been in the past 20 years, says Dr. Brent Bauer, director of the Complementary and Integrative Medicine Program at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Adjunct treatments like art therapy that were once considered “weird” are now being welcomed…These days, studies are drilling down on the mind-body connection, and the mounting evidence of art’s therapeutic benefits is indisputable. Art helps ailing children gain some control over their helplessness. It reduces pain in cancer patients. It helps Alzheimer’s patients develop a new language of communication and combat memory loss. The Museum of Modern Art in New York hosts a free monthly program for Alzheimer’s patients in which its vast collection of modern masters is used as a platform for mental stimulation. (par. 5-6)
This serves as a testament to the fact that healing through art is now being recognized as a completely legitimate and viable form of recovery. A direct example of this is comes from Eileen McCarthy, a patient at the Hewlett House, which is a cancer support facility in Long Island, New York. In 2005, she was diagnosed with breast cancer for a third time. She was involved in an art class at the facility and had been painting a beach scene. One week, her instructor approached her and asked what was wrong. Eileen said she didn’t know and inquired as to why the teacher believed there was anything wrong at all. The instructor replied that the calm sea she had been painting in earlier weeks had suddenly become stormy. McCarthy stated about the experience, “I didn’t even realize it but it made me grasp how upset I was. It had been all bottled up. I couldn’t get my ocean to calm.” This story shows that art can help express things in the subconscious of the artist before he or she is even aware that issues exist in that place. Elizabeth Cockey, an art therapist at the Levindale Hebrew Geriatric Center in Baltimore, and author of Drawn from Memory states, “Art-making or the act of creating involves every single part of the brain…It stimulates our neurology, and that feels good.” She explains the healing powers of the medium when she continues, “The truth is, art makes you better. It doesn’t happen overnight. And not everybody is going to get better in the same way or in the same time frame. But it will happen” (Caruso 1).
Background
I Argue
that art can be used as a therapeutic tool both to open patients up to emotions and self-realization that they may have trouble expressing using words alone and
heal patients’ bodies.
Session 2: How are you Feeling today?
Session 3: What Happens at Home?
Session 4: What Bothers You?
Session 5: How Does that Make You Feel?
Sub-Section One One of the reasons art can be used as a therapeutic method is because is can help patients explore themselves and convey emotions that they otherwise might not be able to express. An example of this comes from Ruth Abraham, an art therapist who works with Alzheimer’s patients, and the author of When Words Have Lost Their Meaning: Alzheimer’s Patients Communicate Through Art. In an article titled, “Ruth’s Story,” written for The Alzheimer’s Association, Abraham chronicles her mother’s battle with the disease and how art therapy helped her open up and put a lifetime of insecurities behind her. When her mother was diagnosed, Abraham thought it would be easy to aid her mother, because she had spent her career using art therapy to help people cope with Alzheimer’s Disease. It proved to be a much more complicated task because, for the first time, her patient was someone she knew and loved before she was diagnosed. Abraham found it difficult to watch her mother slowly deteriorate and see parts of her disappear. However, art therapy had a very interesting and beautiful effect on the patient. It actually helped her mother work through insecurities she faced her entire life. Abraham first notes, “My mother was a woman with much talent, a love of art, and quite creative. However, she never really fulfilled her potential, always unsure of what she did and mostly devaluing her work and giving up without investing any real effort” (par. 3). After many sessions of art therapy, those self-deprecating thoughts began to vanish. Abraham states,
However, an astonishing thing happened as her dementia progressed. She became less self conscious, less self-critical and much more content with whatever creative work she was involved with. As an art therapist, I spent times with her, encouraging her to draw and paint. I would sit next to her, give her paper and different sorts of crayons and give her ideas of what to draw. I saw that she was easily satisfied with what she drew, even if it was not particularly impressive. “That’s quite lovely,” she would say, which she would never have done in the past. “I think I’d like to do another,” she would continue. It gave her a certain freedom, as though some internal critical voice was put to sleep and she could be who she was without putting herself down. (par. 4)
This story shows the positive effect art therapy can have on the emotions of patients who pursue this form of treatment. Though her mother was not being physically healed of her Alzheimer’s Disease, she was making emotional strides forward that her daughter never though possible before.
In this situation, several parties reap the benefits of art therapy. First, the therapist and daughter, Ruth Abraham, may gain validation for her craft. She is able to see the positive outcome of her line of work in a patient, and watching someone gain confidence and positive energy through art therapy might create a sense of satisfaction. Also, she might be better able to find closure after her mother’s death because she was left with a box of beautiful drawings her parent completed and she was able to watch her mother progress and find herself emotionally before she passed. Moreover, the patient experiences positive outcome from art therapy. Ruth’s mother was able to spend increased amounts of time with her daughter while she was ill, which might have resulted in an increased feeling of being loved and cared about by those closest to her. Also, the patient might find a deeper sense of confidence and meaning in her life. In the years prior to being ill, Ruth’s mother lacked self-esteem and tended to tear herself down. After therapy, she was able to put aside her inhibitions and really be proud of the pieces of art she produced and the progress she made.
Discussion
Session 6: What are Your Relationships Like?
Session 7: How Do You Respond to Heartbreak
Session 8: Describe Your Eating Disorder
Session 9: How Does That Affect You Now?
Sub-Section Two A second reason art is a good method for therapy is because, in many cases, it helps heal patients’ minds and bodies. An example of this comes from personal experience. I have been going to therapy for six years now. As a 15 year old, I was diagnosed with anorexia nervosa. The eating disorder paralyzed my thoughts, social interactions, and body. I tried traditional counseling—individual, family, and cognitive behavioral—and found the results less than stellar. The disease continued to control my life, morphing into binge eating disoder, then some strange mix of symptoms of several different diseases (this is called Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified), then finally bulimia non-purge type. This means that instead of over-eating and then throwing up my food, I would binge and then starve myself days at a time to compensate for the calories I consumed in the feeding frenzy. My sickness had taken over my body. It was all that I thought about it, and constant body scrutiny diabled me from maintaining healthy relationships. In August of 2012, I began using art therapy as a new way to try to cope with a series of family and personal issues with which I had been dealing for many years. As an art student, drawing and creative expression always came naturally to me, so when my mother suggested art therapy to supplement my treatment regimen, I was open to the idea. During the week between sessions, I would take time every day to artistically explore topics that were bothering me emotionally. Sometimes, I would just put on music and start drawing, and the resulting picture or collage shed light on things I was feeling of which I was not consciously aware. I began treatment with not only severe bulimia non-purge type, but extreme anxiety, as well. There were also previously unaddressed issues such as bisexuality and major family tension. After six months of art therapy twice per week, the anxiety and eating disorder were under more control than they had been in the previous six years. Topics which had never been discussed out loud in a therapeutic situation were addressed and strategies were implemented to help cope with stress in those areas. I also was left with a beautiful portfolio of highly emotional art pieces I cherish to this day.
In this example, many groups were positively impacted by art as a therapeutic tool. My close friends and family may have developed a better understanding of my issues through my art pieces and therefore gained sympathy for my situation. Also, they may have felt more in control and less helpless after gaining knowledge of what was going on in my life. It might have allowed them to offer more support. Furthermore, I was personally bettered by art therapy. Drawing allowed me to explore emotions with a counselor that I couldn’t express using words alone. Also, this method allowed me to release tension and anxiety that had been bottled up inside of me. This, in turn, made my mind and body healthier because the toxic thoughts were no longer trapped inside my mind. Finally, therapy helped me gain closeness with my family. There had been a growing rift between us due to my anger and inability to voice my problems, and due to the release, I was able to find common ground with my loved ones.
Discussion
Session 10: On Good Days, How Do You Feel About Your Body?
Session 11: How Do You Positively Work Through Self-Doubt?
Session 12: What Makes You Feel Calm?
A World History of Art. All-Art. Web. 22 Oct. 2013. Abraham, Ruth. “Ruth’s Story.” Alzheimer’s Association. Alzheimer’s Association. Web. 22 Oct. 2013. Caruso, Iyna. “Art’s Healing Powers.” Saturdayeveningpost.com. Saturday Evening Post, 21 Jan, 2009. Web. 22 Oct. 2013. Flanagan, Timothy. “Writing & Creative Arts: The Cutting Edge of Culture.” Wordsmith Collection. Blogspot, 15 Jun. 2013. Web. 22 Oct. 2013. Riley, Shirley. “Art Therapy with Adolescents.” Western Journal of Medicine 175 (2001): 54-57. Print.
Works Cited
Session: 13 How Do You See Yourself At 50?