WELL BEING AND QUALITY OF LIFE
Support Activities Developed by:
Michael C. Irving, Ph.D. and Cheryl Irving, B.A., Psychotherapists

USING ART FOR YOUR HEALING

Gather Common Art Materials

A wide variety of painting and drawing materials are available from paint to pastels, colored pencils, markers and crayons. Sculpting for healing can be explored with self-drying clays, plasticine or sculpting wax. Before beginning your healing art exercise, gather together all the art materials and supplies you will need. It is helpful to store your art materials in a few small containers that are easily accessible when emotional material surfaces.

Focusing and Grounding

An art as healing exercise starts by taking time to relax and ground. Being aware of your breath, feet on the floor and legs resting on the chair helps with becoming centred and connected with inner resources. If a person knows other relaxation, grounding or centering techniques, these are OK to use. While centering, the artist can be aware of body sensation and think about key messages that the body is using to help oneself or others to understand.

Much of the inspiration for healing art takes place when a person is responding to felt sensations, peripheral thoughts and intuition. The wisdom of the body can communicate in powerful felt expressions. The voice of the inner mind will show itself in symbols, impressions and urges.

Just Let it Happen

Art activities for healing should be spontaneous. You do not have to worry about the finished work. In letting your unconscious and inner wisdom be the guide your can let go and just let it flow in a natural and spontanious way. There is no right or wrong way, everyone's healing art is individual. Try not to think you have to be an artist to do healing art work.

Let go of expectations of what will fill the space of a work of healing art. You can begin the journey with a simple trust that what will need to be there will come out.

Often as you move along in a piece the orginal idea and intention will completely change or even "come into being. In some ways healing art is about discovery and rebirth into what was not there before.

Likewise do not worry about the immediate meaning or representation in healing art work. Insight, healing and discovery will present themselves with great spontanaiety. The meaning and purpose of the work will evolve and come into being as you create the healing art piece.

As you trust art and follow your urges and instincts art, the unconscious and your inner wisdom will unfold much as you need it to.

Suspend Judgement

Art in progress, and in particular healing art, should not be judged. It is something that is fermenting and unfolding. The normal creative process is fraught with excitement and frustration, when one adds the issues of working with traumatic childhood material to the creative process, the sense of challenges can be even more dramatic.

The creative process is fluid and often takes on a life of its own. The artistic design may happen quickly or may take a long period of time. Either way is OK. Healing art, like therapy, seems to abruptly come together -- often just after a period that is "sheer chaos" and the survivor wonders if anything will ever happen.

It is immortant to be patient with yoursel and with art as you move deeper into the inner confrontation and the creative struggle, Often at the point you just want to quit is when creative catharsis is about to unfold and break into the open. That is the time to trust the material, the images, the process and your own connection to wisdom.

Healing art is an organic process. An image may not be ready to generate felt sense responses until another form or colour is started. The artist keeps connected to the creative flow. The felt sense urge to create, pause, change impulses or return to earlier impulses needs to be followed. When impulses for new images, forms or colours are no longer occurring, the art work is done.

Respect the Emotions in the Art Process

Quite surprisingly people may experience emotions as strongly in artistic activity as they will in therapy.

Sometimes people will cry in creating healing art. It is OK to cry and it is just as OK not to cry. If the survivor has dealt with concerns of abuse, emotions as a process in healing may be familiar and feel safe. It is always important to maintain a feeling of safety while expressing the release of painful feelings whether that is in therapy or while journal writing or making art. If the survivor has not explored abuse issues then they may want to become comfortable with emotions and processing trauma before delving into painful issues through artistic expression.

To manage the intensity that can occur while making art it can be valuable to look at what you have used in the past with strong feelings, such as: techniques for being in the present like looking around the room or reminding oneself of this moment's time, year and location. You might also use breathing and grounding, relaxation, visualization or supportive thoughts or messages to focus or reflect on, nurturing, self care or playful activities before or after the creative immersion.

After a particularly successful healing art session you may be quite tired and need to rest. The art activity may not appear to be an exerting or tasking experience, but much can be brought out and worked through with art and that is hard work even if it is not physically difficult. Sometimes you may need to take it easy for a day or two.

Emotional issues that come up in art making may be trying, but can also be rewarding. Art can provide insight and understanding and art can provide emotional release and repatterning. Art can truly be a rewarding means of assisting the healing journey.

Connecting with the Self

Many people find art returns one to the "self". Observing and interacting with a healing art piece can allow for an observation of the vulnerable or younger self.

The healing art work can facilitate making a significant leap in self-compassion and understanding. Seeing and sympathizing with the younger self who went through the original abuse may undo lifelong feelings of self blame. At this a survivor my look at their art work and feel more real -- that they do exist.

The art work may feel like support and provide a sense friend and not being so alone. The completed art image and messages become a part of the self. It can make tangible what was lost or what never had a chance to be. The art can provide a concrete representation of victory and affirmation.

The work of art may even reveal elements of the self that the abuse did not quell and may present the inner innocence and light that found a way of remaining protected and unharmed. A work of art can be an expression of the inner self and the soul,

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