Arts can have a healing, cathartic effect on us as people. Even if you’re not an artist, you have likely found yourself moved by seeing an artwork, reading a book, watching a movie, or listening to a song. Sometimes art allows us to express ourselves in ways we might not otherwise be comfortable with, or allows us to understand something about ourselves. It can help us to feel less alone.
So it makes sense that arts can be used as a form of therapy. While therapy with visual art may be the most common, there are actually therapies that can be used with all kinds of creative arts. In this blog, we’ll talk about common types of creative art therapies and why they work.
What Is Creative Arts Therapy?
Creative arts therapy — or expressive therapy, as they’re often known within the world of mental healthcare — is the use of creative and expressive arts to help patients, process their emotions and heal. Arts may be used within a larger therapy program, such as having journaling or freewriting in the midst of talk therapy. You might also have a therapy that largely centers the use of creative arts.
Expressive therapy can be used to treat anything from anxiety and depression to trauma or psychosis. It is used for both children and adults.
Why Does Creative Arts Therapy Work?
Sometimes it can be difficult to put your feelings into words. Patients who use expressive therapy find that the art allows them to process their feelings or trauma through other means, giving them a new way of understanding those feelings. Even with arts like writing that involve words, many patients find power in turning those feelings into art. Art also offers a safe, controlled space in which they can cathartically process or re-experience trauma or anxiety on their own terms.
Creative arts have been used therapeutically in some form for millennia, but studies about their efficacy are still recent. Many of these forms of therapy are still in trials. However, early research has shown that therapies using creative or expressive methods were effective in reducing symptoms of PTSD.1 They have been used on patients who are artists outside of therapy, as well as those who aren’t. The point of creative arts therapy is not the quality of the artwork, but rather, the expression of the artist.
5 Types of Creative Arts Therapies
So what types of creative arts therapies are there? There are nearly as many types of creative arts therapies as there are creative arts. Some of these include:
Music Therapy
Music therapy is one form of creative arts therapies in which the patient does not have to be a creator at all. It involves music interventions in order to help soothe or process emotions. Music can have a calming effect on the patient, or it can help them explore emotions that might be difficult otherwise.
Typically, in music therapy, the therapist will play music for you to listen to. Afterwards, you might discuss your emotions over the course of the song, your interpretation of the song, or what the lyrics mean to you. Music may also be used as a soothing background or a way to help guide your breathing through a mindfulness exercise.
Dance Movement Therapy
Your body is interconnected with your mental health. When your mental health is low, your body often feels taut or heavy. Similarly, when your body feels poorly, your mental health is likely to suffer. Dance movement therapy hones in on that interconnectedness. It involves the use of dance and movement to express your emotions and observe the impact on your body. If you prefer to express things in a practical, more physical sense, dance movement therapy might be for you.
Poetry Therapy
Writing poetry can often be a cathartic exercise. There is a stereotype of teenagers writing heavily emotional poetry as an outlet, but that stereotype is based in some fact. Poetry allows you to express your emotions through metaphors and imagery, through different styles of writing. It can help you to process as you write and it can help to soothe those emotions. Poetry can be used in therapy, as well. Your therapist may ask you to write a poem about a particular event in your life or a feeling and to discuss how you feel after writing the poem.
Art Therapy
Art therapy is therapy that involves visual art, especially painting or drawing. You might view visual art and discuss how you feel, or you might be given a prompt by your therapist and asked to create a piece of art. After creating the artwork, you can discuss your inspiration, your thought process, and your feelings while and after creating the work of art. Art therapy is often used for both juveniles and adults.
Drama Therapy
In drama therapy, you and your therapist will use different theatrical techniques to work through your feelings, practice interpersonal relationship skills, and create change. You might roleplay a conversation with your therapist or by using dramatic projection onto an object that you could play off of. You could look at your trauma or current problem from a storytelling perspective in order to work on problem solving and processing. You could also act out key moments or mime them.
In some instances, therapists might even use tabletop roleplaying games, such as the popular Dungeons & Dragons. This game allows you to create a character and act out a high fantasy adventure. Players often talk about the ways that they can relate their characters to themselves and process their emotions through that character. This is a skill that can be used between you and your therapist, as well.
Are creative arts therapies something that might interest you? Our skilled and compassionate clinicians are here to help. Contact Rivia Mind today to learn more or to schedule a free 15-minute phone consultation.
Resources:
- The Rise of Expressive Therapies – Lesley University
