Creative Arts Therapy and Anxiety
By: Allison Harari
Creative Arts Therapy and Anxiety
How starting an art making process can help you start to bring your life more moments of calm and ease
So while the seasons change, temperatures drop and we settle into cozy, slow, winter vibes, maybe your experience of anxiety feels louder, and more than ever you are eager to find a greater sense of calm and ease this season…
I know what it's like to feel like you’re bogged down by constant worry, self-doubt…..and wondering if your experience of anxiety will ever change.
You may feel it in your body, your thoughts, or emotions. It may leave you feeling uneasy, affecting your daily tasks and lifestyle. You're unsure if these feelings will ever go away, and unsure how to soothe yourself.
Sometimes the best place to start when seeking to soothe anxiety is to meet yourself in the moment, without trying to change anything, and just attempting to “be.” This can feel harder than it sounds, so sometimes we need something that can support us in the practice of mindfulness.
How Art Making Helps Ease The Mind, Body & Spirit
Art making can help with this, and can be a start to giving yourself permission to be present in the moment, just being with yourself and feeling okay to do so without guilt or feelings like you should be doing something else or being anywhere else on your journey.
Leaning into The Creative Process
The art process, and feeling of creating something can be a powerful intro into a “flow state.”
Using art materials, such as paint, pencils or oil pastels, can bring us into a calming and meditative state, where you are focused on the artmaking and creative process. This art making can give you space from uncomfortable feelings of anxiety and stress and engage in an activity that is enjoyable, that you can control. Focusing on the creative process calms you and takes your mind away from the anxious thoughts and feelings. You become present in the artmaking process, focusing on the colors, textures, and movement of the art materials on the page.
This can bring you into a flow state, which is an optimal state of mental engagement and focus. You become completely immersed in what you’re doing, where you no longer focus on outside distractions and thoughts. This can promote creativity and wellness, reducing feelings of stress, softening that “on edge” feeling.
Art making can be a friend, without the expectation of the outcome of what “art” is supposed to be.
Instead, it's a creative world that meets you wherever you're at that day. You can create however and whatever you like, with any colors and materials, at any point throughout your day, being something you can always turn to in times of struggle. Think about your home, or your office, or even the stores in your neighborhood, a pen, paper, something with color, it’s always nearby and there for you to use whether you grab it out of your everything draw in your kitchen or stop at a convenience store and pick up a pack of pens, creation is at your fingertips.
So what is Art Therapy and how can it help?
Art Therapy was introduced in the mid 1900s, and has helped people of all races, ages, and backgrounds, address a range of mental health symptoms. According to the American Art Therapy Association, art therapy exercises help “foster self-esteem and self-awareness, cultivate emotional resilience, promote insight, [and] reduce and resolve conflicts and distress.” It can be especially helpful in the treatment of anxiety. Edith Kramer, a pioneer of Art Therapy, believed that the art process itself is the “healing” factor of art therapy, as well as the final outcome of the artwork. Kramer writes “the arts have helped man to reconcile the eternal conflict between the individual’s instinctual urges and the demands of society. Thus, all art is therapeutic in the broadest sense of the word.”
Art itself is a therapeutic process that help individuals heal and work through internal struggles,
Art making holds a lot of power for people to heal and have feelings of wellness in their lives.
While Art Therapy is extremely beneficial for individuals, art and the creative process can be done outside of the therapy room as well!.
There are various directives and prompts that one can do on their own, in their own time, to help reduce feelings and symptoms of anxiety to promote wellness. Art is a friend, available at any time. You can pick up a pen and paper, begin to doodle, or create an image with markers, whenever you need it. Art is always there, and can be anything you want it to be.
Here are some possible interventions to try when feeling anxious:
Textured Materials Image
Go outside and find some leaves, flowers, twigs, branches, grass. If you are by the beach, some sand, shells
Bring these materials inside, and grab some elmer’s glue and watercolor paint
With these materials, create your own landscaped image on a page
This art directive can help soothe anxiety in different ways. Going outside and getting fresh air has been proven to help soothe anxiety, and allow you to feel more present with yourself in the world. Grabbing pieces of nature from outside can have continuing effects, using these materials to create something and enjoy yourself. You can feel grounded in this process, connecting with nature.
2. Watercolor Painting
Take out watercolor paint and a paper
Allow your mind to flow freely, with the movement of the water, paint on the page, with any colors you enjoy
Watercolor painting can have a soothing effect, with the movement of the paint on the paper. Watching the colors and feeling the brushstrokes, can help calm you down, reducing feelings of stress and anxiety. You may feel a sense of enjoyment, calmness, and creativity, where there is no expectation or desired outcome.
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I hope this blog provides you with some insight on how art therapy and individual art making and the creative process, can help soothe feelings of anxiety.
Art making- a creative way to sooth anxiety and to finding relief.
Art making can be done at any time, with any materials, and I hope you can bring yourself to try the interventions in time of need, to help calm and soothe yourself!