Blog by: Dr. Ria Das | Art-based Therapist | Counselling Psychologist
"Art is not always about pretty things. It's about who we are, what happened to us, and how our lives are affected."
What is art therapy?
Art therapy is a form of therapy that uses creative expression through art-making to improve mental, emotional, and physical well-being. It can be helpful for individuals dealing with a variety of issues, including anxiety, depression, trauma, and stress.
How does art therapy help?
Art therapy is a form of therapy that incorporates creative expression into the healing process. It can be helpful for individuals who struggle with verbal communication, as it allows them to express themselves in a non-verbal way.
Here are some ways in which art therapy can help:
Helps individuals process and cope with difficult emotions
Provides a safe space for individuals to explore their thoughts and feelings
Encourages self-expression and self-discovery
Enhances communication skills
Fosters a sense of relaxation and stress relief
Can improve self-esteem and confidence
Can be used to treat a variety of mental health conditions, such as depression, anxiety, and PTSD
Overall, art therapy offers a unique and powerful way for individuals to explore their inner selves and work towards healing and growth.
Art therapy warm up One simple art therapy warm up is to take a blank sheet of paper and draw a continuous line for a few minutes without lifting the pen from the paper. This exercise helps to loosen up the creative flow and can lead to interesting patterns and designs. Another option is to choose a color and fill the entire page with that color in any way you like. This can help to calm the mind and focus on the present moment.
Three amazing art therapy techniques to try
When introduced to art therapy, it is important to start with something easy and meaningful so that individuals can understand its importance and impact on their well-being.
Listed below at three easy and very engaging techniques which anyone can take up for introspection and get an idea about their inner conflict. These are great tools for introspection and understanding the pattern of their conflicts. These icebreakers will help to lose enough and go with the flow. It also creates a sense of conformity and understanding for art based therapy. Let’s go!
#1 WHICH COLOUR ARE YOU TODAY?
Color psychology is the study of how colors affect human behavior and emotions. It explores the influence of colors on our moods, attitudes, and perception. Different colors are believed to have different psychological effects on people, and understanding these effects can be useful to map and understand once emotions.
Method Close your eyes and say : "I am feeling _____________ (name the color) today" If you have a hard time verbalising, close your eyes and write the first colour that comes to your mind.
What do you feel about this color?
Does it remind you of something/someone from your life?
Introspection questions
What color are you today?
Comment your color meaning.
Comment if you didn't find your color.
Comment if you have doubts.
Psychological meaning of colours
Colors have different psychological meanings and can affect our emotions and behaviors. Here are some common associations:
Red: passion, excitement, energy, danger, love
Blue: calmness, trust, security, sadness
Green: nature, growth, balance, envy
Yellow: happiness, optimism, caution, anxiety
Purple: creativity, luxury, spirituality, mystery
Orange: warmth, friendliness, energy, caution
Pink: love, kindness, femininity, innocence
Black: power, sophistication, mystery, alienation, easily affected
White: purity, innocence, cleanliness, emptiness
Brown: maturity, boredom, serious, humble
#2 FEELINGS CHECK IN
In this activity, various faces of emotion check-in is taken into consideration where a metaphorical meaning is given to the emotions being expressed.
Start with: how are you feeling today?
If you have to name your emotion, a colour, what colour would that be?
Where do you feel this colour in your body? Are there any concerns related to it think deep.
Big is your feeling is it as because small as a mountain, a building a sofa, a cupcake or just a small button?
If you could touch the feeling, how might it feel? Soft, hard, spirally, zigzag, light, heavy, sharp, blunt, flat, airy, void, springy etc.
What else would you like to say about your feelings?
This activity gives great insight into how you are currently feeling and the quality of your emotions. Whether the emotions are light or intense positive or negative. It also gives you certain cues in order to resolve certain conflicts through which you are feeling these particular set of emotions.
#3 WHAT'S IN YOUR JAR?
This activity deals with symbolic representations of your emotions, followed by a series of introspective questions, which you need to journal in. Art making process means you do the activity and makes you more mindful. The state of mindfulness is required in order to introspect and come up with effective problem-solving skills.
VERSION ONE: Method
Draw a jar, any shape, size, design etc
Decorate it
Close your eyes and imagine you feeling it with something. Pause draw it in your jar and colours before proceeding to the questions.
Questions to ponder
What did you see your jar being filled in with
How much did you fill it with? Is it too little or overflowing?
What was its colour smell, texture, et cetera didn’t make you feel good? If not, why?
How does the thing that you filled your jar with, hold importance in your life in the present? Line what do you see yourself doing with the jar?
Reflect on the answers and see what your present conflicts or maybe triggering for some in that case stop and seek help if needed
VERSION TWO: Make your own colour and emotion key. Check in with your feelings and then fill the jar with the colour emotion that you are feeling right now.
Questions to ponder
Which emotion is the most dominant? Is it negative
Which one is the most feeble? Is it positive?
How can I fill my jar with more positive emotions?
What will make my God look happier? How can I make it happen?
Who or what can help me?
Do I have the resources? If not, how can I get them?
Reflection
What did but you’re just tell you?
Put a caption to your work.
This activity is great as a self check in and something that needs immediate attention.
Activity 1: reflects the subconscious desires, conflicts. Once identified can lead to conversations regarding the importance, needs and potential changes through problem-solving.
Activity 2: great for self skills. A good tool to gauge emotions, quantify them and work on it consciously. Can be an opening activity for sessions.
FOOTNOTE
It’s important to complete the activities and sit together with all the responses. Certain patterns generally emerge through which me get a deeper insight into your concepts and problem-solving skills. Based on the findings, you may then modify, accommodate or change certain aspects about yourself for a better adjustment and sound mental health.
Hope you enjoy the above three activities. A few details about our art therapy support group which we are running every month for details and registration follow the below link.
Check the FAQs here (click me)
We put together a lot of time and effort and love into making these posts which can come in use for you and therapy sessions and journey. These methods of simple easy to understand and caters to everyone’s needs. Again a reminder, you don’t need to be an artist or be trained in art in order to take up art therapy based activities. Help us by following and sharing our content with more people. This in return will help us come up with more content that may be used widely by maximum number of. Thank you!
SUPPORT GROUPS
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Dr. Ria Das has been a practicing psychologist for the last fourteen years. Her approach centers around art-based, play-based and creative counselling practices. Her passion for art therapy has led her to explore this field and establish it in her country. Dr. Das is passionate about the various modalities used in therapy and its ease of use to let individuals feel safe, take interest in the process and come up with effective problem solving skills.
Create your own color and emotion palette. Check in with your emotions, and then fill the jar with the color emotion that you are currently experiencing. I'm delighted to have found https://truetherapy.org/services/art-therapy/. It taught me a lot of things.