The Art of Healing

By: Jean Johnson for Body1

“If I ask a client to tell me about the family they grew up in as opposed to asking them to draw a picture about that family that represents their family life,” said art therapist and owner of Portland Creative Healing, Heidi VanSchoonhoven, M.A., “I’d likely get very different images and information.”

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Getting Help Seeing an Art Therapist has been notably useful for the following: Tracking back into early years of one’s life Resolving current issues that disturb one’s peace of mind Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders Eating disorders Compulsive Disorders and Addictions Manic Depression, Depression and Anxiety Patients suffering from histories of abuse Post Traumatic Stress Disorder To find an art therapist near you, or simply to learn more about art therapy, click here to visit the American Art Therapy Association’s web site.

Talk Therapy Not for Everyone

“I spent thousands of dollars over five plus years in various kinds of therapy trying to get at the root of my compulsive eating disorder,” said professor of art history Joelita Nathan, Ph.D. of Mill Valley, Calif. “You name it, I tried it, and half the time when I wasn’t working for a salary I paid my own freight. One psychiatrist guy had me totally convinced I couldn’t even trust my own mind. He got me so zoned out on various drugs he wanted to try that I really did go off the charts for a good year. No sleep. Too much sleep. High blood pressure. Manic. Depression. It was horrible.”

That was just the beginning of Nathan’s experience with talk therapy. “After the drug fiasco, I switched to various psychologists that don’t have the M.D. and pharmacological orientation. But there as well, I was frustrated that I was getting nowhere but still feeling as though I needed help and should keep trying,” Nathan said.

[To clarify: Psychiatrists are medical doctors. They are trained in talk therapy and can prescribe medication. Psychologists do not have the M.D. and therefore can’t write prescriptions.]

“Then I joined a group guided by a woman who had an M.A. in counseling,” said Nathan. “She kept telling us how we needed to feel our feelings – one of the more revolting expressions I’ve run across in modern society. Worse, the more she harped on the subject, the more defensive I became.

“It wasn’t until I found an art therapist that things finally started clicking for me. So I really do think that exploring different types of therapies is smart. Hopefully people will find their way faster than I did – not to say art therapy is the answer for everyone. But the bottom line is that if I had just listened to myself it would have been better I think.”

Nathan’s experience mirrors those of many who are not aware of the diverse methods that psychotherapists can bring to counseling sessions. According to VanSchoonhoven, “Visual art is what I do, but there are a wide variety of modalities available like dance and movement, drama, writing poetry or prose, and appreciating art as well. Not everyone responds well to talk therapy and there are many effective ways to help the process of personal growth.”

Art Therapists Offer Insights

Listening to oneself is precisely what art therapy is all about according to VanSchoonhoven. “I like to call it art psychotherapy since it illuminates what really is inside a person’s mind. During talk therapy the auditory and verbal neural pathways are engaged, but when I have clients draw or paint or use clay, the visual and kinesthetic pathways come into play as well.”

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Art Therapy Types of art therapy listed by the National Coalition of Creative Arts Therapies Association include: Visual art therapy Dance and movement therapy Drama therapy Music therapy Poetry therapy Psychodrama

Head of the art therapy program at King Fahd Medical City in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Awad bin Mubark Al Yami, M.D., agrees with VanSchoonhoven. “Art therapy differs from other psychological therapies. This offers the opportunity for expression and communication, and can be practically helpful for people who find it hard to express their thoughts and feelings verbally.”

VanSchoonhoven also notes that art therapy has a considerable track record that has shown demonstrable benefits in scientific studies. “Personally I think that it’s important to have valid research proving efficacy, and there are many published studies that show art therapy is effective,” she said.

Art therapy started in the 1950s in New York, and Edith Kramer, who pioneered its techniques in her practice, thought that making art just for art’s sake was therapeutic even outside formal psychological therapy sessions.

Techniques – Making Art

VanSchoonhoven uses all the papers and markers and paints and three-dimensional objects that one might imagine when they think of art.

“One thing interesting about doing this type of work with visual art, is that different materials have varied ranges as far as their ability to evoke emotions. That’s why I keep all kinds of colored papers large and small as well as clay, oil pastels, and clippings from magazines for collages,” she said.

“Depending on the situation I might prescriptively offer materials to a client if I feel they are emotionally upset and need to have some sort of containment to their experiences. Colored pencils and a small piece of paper, for example, is a pretty controlled medium that will likely be less emotionally evocative than other items and thus have greater potential to produce a therapeutic experience.”

On the other side of the coin, VanSchoonhoven says she once had a young client who needed to be invited to just dive in. “He almost used his artistic gift as a defense for not talking about the harder stuff that was going on in his life. Finally I got out some water colors and large paper and large brushes and asked him to paint a body of water.”

The therapist’s tactics worked. “He talked more that day than he had for months. I attribute it to that very loose medium and fluid, expansive subject he explored.”

Indeed, VanShoonhoven noted that “art therapy can be especially useful with children because they sometimes don't have the language development that adults do to express themselves. So using art is a medium that they are fluent in, and this can be very healing for the child in the hands of a skilled art therapist.”

Techniques – Appreciating Art

Art therapy includes leaning on the masters as well – viewing art or reading literature to glean insights that spark wisdom.

Both the Museum of Modern Art and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston are making their collections available to Alzheimer’s patients for the first time. Not only does taking a guided tour through the museums improve patients' moods for extended periods of time, the experience can stimulate a renewed interest in life. One gentleman with Alzheimer’s who had become irritable and unable to control his emotions responded well to Andrew Wyeth's “Christina's World.” Smiling and pushing himself up out of his wheelchair, the client observed that the mown grass around the farmhouse is “to let you know that someone lives there."

President of Hearthstone Alzheimer Care, John Zeisel, who is directing the program in conjunction with the Boston museums, said the change in personality is nothing short of dramatic. "If you met these people back where they lived on an ordinary day, you simply would not see them being this articulate and this assured."

All this would not surprise Alida Maandag, art therapist in the Netherlands. The language barrier prevented us from capturing Maandag’s more subtle thoughts concerning the ability of art to heal. But we were able to determine that she thinks archetypal images enable individuals to connect with something powerful in humanity’s collective unconscious.

In the courses she teaches on healing, Maandag finds herself going over and again to fairy tales. “The Brothers Grimm have many stories that I like to use since I like them before I start my art therapy studies,” Maandag said. “But Greek myths and stories from the Bible and from American Indians – they all have ancient ideas that are useful for the people. They’re not just stories, but guides to wisdom that can help us.”

Last updated: 03-Aug-06