Creative Sobriety

Art therapy is the use of artistic methods to treat problems like addiction, mental health, etc. The use of art therapy stems from the belief that creative expression can boost healing and wellness.

Before art therapy became a formal means of addiction therapy, many people leveraged the mental prowess of arts to provide healing and self-expression for themselves.

Art therapy became a recognized program in the 1940s and since then, it has helped many people to handle addiction treatment and other aspects of mental health problems.

Some of the common types of art therapy include:

Painting

This involves creating images with tools like paint, canvas, watercolors, etc. It can either be a free foom approach or one that involves an instructor. The goal is however to allow the individual to express themselves through painting.

Sculpture

Sculpture in art therapy involves allowing the patient to construct or shape their environment. Usually, sculpturing involves using supplies like paper clay, clay, carving tools, and other items depending on the patient’s initiative.

Writing

In art therapy, patients can use writing to release or express themselves in form of written content. They will use some of the writing supplies like paper and pen to write anything related to their emotions or feelings.

Collage

One of the passive yet interesting approaches in art therapy is collage. This involves the manipulation of designed items or pictures. Patients will find this easy to do especially when it is hard for them to begin tasks.

It is important to mention that the goal of art therapy is not to leverage the patient’s skills to produce an artwork. Rather, it is to help them explore the various emotional aspects through art therapy.

Similarly, art therapy is not an art class. An art class helps students to focus on a certain teaching technique, while art therapy helps patients to focus on their inner experiences.

Therefore, art therapy can take place in inpatient offices, community organizations, hospitals, private mental health offices, etc.

Art therapy is an aspect of experiential therapy that involves coloring, drawing, sculpting, etc. These activities are integrated to help clients advance in their journey toward recovery.

During art therapy, clients have the hands-on opportunity to get involved in an activity to make their addiction treatment process easier.

Patients who find it difficult to open up to their therapist would find art therapy helpful because it involves activities that provide a more convenient way to express themselves.

Here are some of the perks that come with art therapy

Supports treatment goals

One of the easiest ways for therapists to help patients get better is through art therapy. During this type of treatment, patients don’t have to be vast in art. All they have to do is follow the instructor’s directives.

Gives more insight into your thoughts and feelings

If patients are finding it difficult to understand how they are feeling and how they process emotions, they can get help from art therapy.

With this form of therapy, patients can have a broad understanding of their thoughts and feelings.

This would help them become more conscious of themselves all through the treatment phase. Additionally, it helps them become more aware, thereby boosting their self-esteem in the long run.

Improves your emotional resilience

Another benefit of art therapy is it boosts your emotional resilience. One of the things patients struggle with when it comes to addiction treatment is having the emotional fortitude to continue with it.

However, art therapy helps to build the patient’s emotional prowess so that they can do better in addiction treatment.

Helps you cope with conflicts

If you’ve been finding it difficult to cope with some distress in the past, art therapy can help you figure them out and handle them the right way with the therapist’s assistance.

The beauty of art therapy is, that all the activities are fun-filled ones. So, they temporarily take your mind off the addiction problem. You don’t need to be artistically talented before you consider art therapy for your addiction treatment needs.