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What is Focused Centered Art Therapy?
Therapy can be defined as something that gives you skills to solve life problems, heal emotional or psychological issues and make life more enjoyable. Art therapy can be defined as being creative about doing what I just described in the previous sentence. You can think of it as being creative or artful about working with emotional, psychological, and/or physical issues. It is using art making and thinking in creative and diverse ways that can help you create the change that you want in your life. It is about connecting with, accepting, communicating and acting from your felt sense or a deeper level inside you. It is not about doing good art, it does not matter what the art looks like, what matters is does it give you a new perspective, help you get in touch with your feeling and /or help you make changes? In art therapy sessions we may do sand tray, make dolls, do casting, draw, paint or work in clay. Some clients may want to do Focusing with or without art therapy added. Art Therapy Sessions These are some of the art techniques that I use in therapy sessions with individual clients and groups. Sand Play Therapy Sand is tactile and provides a total kinesthetic involvement. It is a safe protected place where the unconscious knowing can emerge in a meaningful and tangible way. People use the sand tray for story telling, creating future scenarios and for problem solving. Plaster Casting Plaster casts are an effective way of working with mind body connections. Creating a caste on a body part is a soothing exercise which can lead to reconnecting with and seeing your body differently. The act of embellishing and painting the cast is can become a loving and nurturing act towards your body. Masks Masks are a safe way to explore new aspects of yourself and try on a new persona. They allow us to pretend, play and explore. They can also provide us with a better understanding of who we really are behind the masks we put on every morning. Mandalas Joseph Campbell in the Power of Myth wrote, "Making a mandala is a discipline for pulling all those scattered aspects of your life together, for finding a center and ordering yourself to it." Creating a mandala can be a way to focus, slow down racing thoughts and help create a mindful meditative state. Dolls Creating an anger doll helps you see what your anger looks like. Doll making can be used in recovery work as a way to talk to or reclaim the inner child who was abused. Creating a doll can be a way to learn to play again. |
