Art therapy isn’t a very well-known therapeutic practice, but it is an effective method to express intense emotion non-verbally, according to registered art therapists

By: Olivia Wiens

Do you ever find yourself drawing or writing when you’re particularly stressed or anxious? Do you turn to singing, dancing or painting in order to calm your mind? If you see yourself in these questions, you might want to look into art therapy.

While it’s not the most well-known therapeutic practice, art therapy helps many individuals with self-exploration, trauma healing and mental health improvement.

Art therapy is using any art form to express emotions and, in turn, develop a deeper understanding of the issues surrounding those emotions, all with the help of an art therapist. According to Dr. Helene Burt, the executive director for the Toronto Art Therapy Institute (TATI), art therapy is one of the best methods to work through trauma. 

“Things like trauma are experienced in parts of the brain that rule feelings and imagery,” says Burt. “In order to access trauma more effectively and safely, it’s important to use a non-verbal therapy first. That helps to process the trauma and move it forward into the frontal lobe, which rules language and reasoning.”

Burt notes that once individuals express their feelings non-verbally through various art forms, including painting, dancing and writing, it is much easier to understand those feelings and put them into words.

Using non-verbal forms of therapy also relieves the pressure of sounding articulate. “Being able to let go of getting the right word or naming it accurately and moving into a more abstract, symbolic creative space gives (people) more freedom to get curious about the things they feel,” said Amy Lister, an art therapy student with TATI.

While it helps individuals work through trauma, art therapy can also reveal issues that the individual might not be conscious of. “The artwork might indicate something that people aren’t necessarily aware of yet, so it could be a more direct source to unconscious material,” Burt added.

Additionally, creating a physical object to express themselves allows the artist to see their feelings in a whole new light. 

“People have the opportunity of putting a lot of feeling and expression into, for example, a painting or a sculpture, and then they can sit back and take a look at it and externalize the issues that they’re working on and be able to look at them from a bit of a distance,” said Burt. “I think that helps people see more clearly what might be at the root of a presenting issue.”

Dr. Christine Lummis, a registered Canadian art therapist and team lead for the Winnipeg Holistic Expressive Arts Therapy Institute (WHEAT), says that expressing emotions through art gives the individual a sense of empowerment. “They start to feel seen and heard, which is often what people want in the world,” she said.

Lummis also notes that the decision-making process involved in creating art directly relates to the issues that an individual is currently facing. “The ability to creatively problem-solve aligns with the ability to problem-solve within one’s own life,” said Lummis.

It’s also important to discern art therapy from simply using art as a mindful practice.

In contrast with using art in a non-therapeutic environment, art therapy is specific to working with a trained art therapist on issues such as trauma or mental health in either a one-on-one or group setting. It is the practice of using art to reveal and heal personal issues.

“You would be held in a space where you’re being witnessed, where you’re being held in the centre, where your experience is being held in the centre,” said Lister.

The art therapist is needed to help hold the emotional space and guide the individual through their emotions, according to Lummis.

However, that doesn’t mean that art can’t be used in everyday life to relieve stress.

“It’s not that what we do on our own isn’t valuable,” said Lister. “However, we cannot provide for ourselves what we can receive in a session with an art therapist.”

Burt compares using art outside a professional therapeutic setting to meditating. “It can help [people] deal with stress, with being able to focus better and improve their mental health from that perspective.”

Lummis encourages people to use art both inside and outside of a therapeutic setting. “It’s relaxing. The pleasure reward system can get activated, so it can be very calming and relaxing to do that in a mindful way.”

So whether you’re the next Van Gogh or you can barely draw a stick figure, art therapy can benefit you. As Burt puts it: “The focus isn’t so much on the end product, it’s more on the process.”