Our environment can transform our stressful lives significantly. Feng Shui is an art form that follows a specific arrangement in an environment so that it has a positive effect on the people inside a space. For most of us, our environment is generally nurturing and positive. Still, for some, it can be traumatic. Art is often the healing balm that soothes these harsh realities and provides long-term benefits. Humans evolved artistic expression as an imaginative tool for adapting to changing conditions and solving problems. Art-making is an integral part of human functioning and helps humans survive.
Professional art therapy began in the mid-20th century as a restorative practice that allowed people to express themselves in nonverbal ways, such as drawing and painting. Art-making accesses the somatic elements of the brain, enabling us to express emotions that cannot be verbalized initially. Art-making creates containment, safety, encouragement, validation, and an opportunity to narrate the traumatic experience so that the trauma is organized in the brain and the individual’s somatic experience of the trauma is reduced.
The approach aims to help people address emotional issues by using a creative outlet, such as drawing, painting, dance, or music. Art therapists work with people of all ages.
The American Art Therapy Association says the benefits of art therapy include:
- improved cognitive and sensory-motor functions
- development of self-esteem and self-awareness
- emotional resilience
- enhanced social skills,
- reduction and resolution of conflicts and distress.
Having a talent for the creative arts isn’t necessary for getting something out of art therapy. The goal isn’t creating aesthetically pleasing artwork. It’s about expressing yourself and your story with imagery, movement, or another creative expression. The goal is to set up an environment where you may unlock and express memories or feelings that help you process trauma, anxiety, depression, or another mental health condition when the words aren’t easily flowing.
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