Self-Guided Art Therapy:
What It Is, How It Works?
Nowadays, new therapy techniques emerge everyday. A great example for these newly becoming prevalent techniques is art therapy. This method integrates artistic activities from theatre to painting with the intention of improving well-being.
The idea behind is very similar to a therapy room environment where the patient gets to talk and the therapist listens. But the artistic activity does the job of the therapist in this case as providing space to the patient to talk via creating. It aims to transfer those ideas to an artistic activity, and some of these activities considered as therapeutic as they might be helpful for the patient to explain more clearly and even lead their way through healing in particular cases.
Especially in times of a pandemic it might be difficult to find a safe place to benefit from art therapy practises. Here are some exercise suggestions you can apply yourself at home to turn artistic activities into practising well-being:
Making a Words Book
Many of us have particular quotes, song lyrics and poems that we feel really connected to. These phrases might be just simple for someone whereas we might find ourselves relating to them in a deeper way. Research suggests that collecting these in a written way and creating art based on these might be beneficial for us to accept ourselves in the way we are. One exercise you can do yourself is to get yourself a notebook that you think would suit this idea, and start up writing every little thing that you can relate to. To make this exercise even useful use colourful pens or different materials and try to create an artistic appearance that you think reflects this idea. Don’t forget to consider why these particular groups of words have such a meaning for you and how you feel while you’re doing this activity.
Crafting
The healing effect of handmade crafting is a long-known idea. Research proposes that it is also possible to apply this technique to particular things that overwhelm your mind. You can easily find a craft that you can work for and start this process. There are thoughts you should consider while you’re slowly working on this. You have to aim to use your craft to declare your feelings. Ask yourself what matters to you at that moment and why.
Create a Feeling Wheel
This exercise intends to let you dive deeper in your emotions and especially the ones that it is hard to describe. Being able to recognize what you are feeling is a very important step for healing. For this activity, you need paper and colored pens. Draw a circle and divide it into 8 pieces. Fill each part of the circle with an emotion and write it inside. Then, color the parts with a color that you think resonates with this emotion. While you’re doing this activity, consider why you have put these emotions in this order, which one was the first to write and which one was the last. Think about the feelings you currently have. Look at the wheel and check how many of these emotions are positive and how many of them are negative. Finally, review your color choices; why you choose this color for this emotion, are there any emotions that remind you of the same color and why is that.
These three easy practises might help you to be more aware of yourself and feel relieved. By trying out these you could become more present by learning about yourself, you could deep dive in things that disturb you and find ways to change these situations or even you could figure out things that are oppressed by your mind. Now it’s time to become your own guide and discover these new therapeutic methods.
Author
Ceren Bayrakçı
Join for the easiest, safest, and most accessible way to get psychological support
