Healing Trauma Through Art: Painting
“Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.”
We all need to find a outlet whether it's through music, writing, sports, dance, etc. Whether you doodle mindlessly on a page or journal for hours, research suggests the act of creating art has powerful healing properties.
Art is healing because it forces you to forge a connection between your mind and your body. Unlike exercise, which works your body, or meditation, which clears your mind, art-making accesses both mind and body to promote healing. Every time you sit down to write a song or paint a picture, you’re using mental processes in a physically engaging activity.
Art therapy uses creative mediums like drawing, painting, coloring, and sculpture. For PTSD recovery, art helps process traumatic events in a new away. Art provides an outlet when words fail. With a trained art therapist, every step of the therapy process involves art.
While talk therapy has long been used for PTSD treatment, sometimes words can fail to do the job. Art therapy, on the other hand, works because it provides an alternative, equally effective outlet for expression, say experts.
“Art expression is a powerful way to safely contain and create separation from the terrifying experience of trauma,” writes board-certified art therapist Gretchen Miller for the National Institute for Trauma and Loss in Children. “Art safely gives voice to and makes a survivor’s experience of emotions, thoughts, and memories visible when words are insufficient.”
Below are some videos and resources about healing trauma through art.
Healing Foster Care Trauma Through Art
Foster Care Stories Told Through Art
How The Arts Help Homeless Youth
How We Use Art as a Vessel to Heal From Trauma
Art Can Heal PTSD's Invisible Wounds
Four Ways Art Helps Foster Youth
