Art Therapy to Process Emotions

by Jennifer Jensen on August 23, 2020

Art Therapy to process emotions

Using the creative art process for helping individuals explore and express their emotions is the objective of art therapy. There are endless possibilities that allow individuals to express their feelings or emotions through art. For instance, playing with the watercolors in a sensory-based activity or creating a family collage may help one explore their feelings which are reflected in their selected images.

How does Art Therapy help to Process Emotions?

Art always helps you connect better with your inner self and process your emotions better. Here’s a look at how it may help achieve great insights:

Art offers a healthy way of expressing feelings

Creating art offers a safe way to express, repressed emotions

Helpful for one to differentiate between different states of feelings

An alternate way of communicating something that can’t describe in words

Develop an awareness of their own feelings and stay more connected with the
The art therapy process can help individuals to validate and accept their feelings

Reflecting on different types of art allows us to gain new insights and understanding of emotions

Using art therapy to process emotions could be as simple as painting or drawing something you may be feeling on a day. Often therapists advise their clients to draw what depression, anxiety, or anger might look like to them. When they bring out their inner feelings on a piece of paper, the insights can help to start feeling better.

Turn things around: moving from hurt to healing

Art Therapy can help to turn things around, by helping individuals develop an awareness of their own feelings and stay more connected with them. Art therapy helps people work through emotional and somatic-based problems such as depression, anxiety, self-esteem, panic, and addiction.

Find your purpose

Grow from the struggle. With art-making comes self-discovery. This increases the sense of self-worth and heightens appreciation for life.

Best Ways to Cope

Understanding the emotions and normal responses that follow a disaster or other traumatic event can help you cope with your feelings, thoughts, and behaviors.

Following a traumatic experience, there are a number of steps you can take to build emotional well-being and gain a sense of control over anxiety. If you're having depressive feelings during quarantine, it’s important to Calm your state of mind. Explore Creative Expression. Discover coping skills by using both sides of your brain, with Art Therapy.

Art Therapy Activities to Process Emotions

Here are a few art therapy activities that can be helpful in expressing your feelings.

1. Create Mandalas

You can draw figures that have repeated patterns, such as mandalas as they help in regulating emotions as well as the nervous system. It’s helpful in focusing your attention and will also calm you down. Once you have drawn the figures, fill them with your chosen colors. Alternatively, you can use predesigned patterns. Here are a few simple mandala designs, and more detailed mandala designs.

2. Picturing Your Emotions

Picturing your emotions helps you better understand them and also throw out any negativity. For instance, you can create your Anger Monsters after first picturing them in your mind to see what your anger actually looks like. You can always bring out your anger, have a look at it, and see how ugly it looks. With the visual depiction, you can contemplate a way to cope with it better.

3. Making Art Inspired From Nature

Working with natural materials tends to be soothing and can be helpful in grounding us. Finding yourself some beautiful materials to create your art is never a hassle as you can easily come across them as you take a stroll outside. A few examples would be making nature bracelets, beautiful weavings, or sun-catchers.

Do you think of any other activities that would help you process your emotions through art?

You can always enroll in an online art therapy course to come up with new ideas. It is a convenient, affordable way to improve your mental health and well-being. Use this link, for a free session.

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