Healing Through Art Therapy – Lab 064

About This Lab

Did you know that art is inherently therapeutic? If you listened to Beyoncé’s Lemonade album, then of course you did. But, not only is art therapeutic but art can be part of therapy, and psychotherapists and art therapists use it to express and unlock things things that go beyond the verbal.

There’s a lot of malarkey marketed to improve mental health. But let’s talk about something useful, art therapy.

• What’s happening to our brains when we engaged with art?

• Who does art therapy help?

• Does the type of art have different effects?

• What is art therapy? Well, first let’s talk therapeutic arts.

  • It’s a continuum and inherently therapeutic

    • ex: a cellist playing in a cancer unit can be therapeutic

    • colorful art in schools can help students

• Now art therapy

  • art therapists use art materials AND talk therapy materials

  • there’s a triangular relationship btwn therapist, client, and the art

• Pandemic got us dysregulated AKA messed up

• Nothing is isolated for a physiological or anatomical functions in a brain. Artistic activity is correlated with whole brain engagement

  • this rests on the idea of neuroplasticity

    • the brain can change over time!

  • the capacity for it is what allows our brains to change

• the capacities for neuroplasticity span the entire continuum

• art gives us more input to change and regulate things in our minds

• How do our bodies experience and store trauma?

  • when we experience stress/adversity/trauma, our bodies store it on a less conscious level, like in the body

  • when we re-experience trauma, the talking centers won’t work as actively so sometimes when we experience trauma, we literally cannot talk about it

    • the capacities of our prefrontal cortex = stymied

  • Important: Art therapy can allow ppl to express selves with having conscious or verbal access

  • Sometimes talking isn’t enough so art therapy allows for emotional regulation

• Art’s BEEN around, similar rn, we’re seeing a shift to practices that have been discredited by occidental societies

  • ex: Yoga, incense meditation, art therapy

  • music therapy for memory loss

• Different types of art media have different properties that create different effects

  • ex: watercolors for sensory rather than building things

  • clay, creates cognitive, higher level of thinking

  • fun fact, coloring books aren’t art therapy

Art therapists are careful about materials bc they don’t want to create emotional flooding in client

• Art therapy could be amazing but it’s important to be sure more folks have access to it

• One thing

  • Titi: Fiber art @andreanimates

  • Zakiya: Linda Kato, artist
    

Guest Expert

Our guest expert is Professor Juliet King, associate professor of art therapy at the George Washington University, and adjunct associate professor of neurology at the Indiana University School of Medicine. Her research is focused on using neuroscience and art therapy to treat psychological trauma. And guess what? She’s got a whole book on all of this and more called Art Therapy, Trauma and Neuroscience Theoretical and Practical Perspectives.

Transcript

You can read along with this lab here!