This Art Therapy Work
I sit in a coffee shop, grounded for the day due to dangerous, snowy driving between Santa Fe and Albuquerque. As I sip my tea, I am struck by the power of art in the therapeutic process. It offers an incredible way to express emotions, strengths, pain, and perceptions of self and world that spans language barriers and the limitations of language in general.
There are indeed vast differences in the meaning of symbols, line, color, etc. among varying cultures. I am careful with assuming any specific meaning of a client's artwork - art therapy involves a lot of questions in my experience. But it offers space for a new English-language learner to more freely express himself/herself, and a springboard for more personal conversations. It also offers ways to creatively organize confusing inner or outer experience.
I have seen a child sag with relief after sorting through her swiftly changing moods by charting them in a heart-shaped pie chart. She chose colors that represented for her the tone of those moods. She voiced satisfaction in what for her was an accurate portrayal of a confusing inner situation.
I have danced with other girls, as we shared our inner experiences through dance moves and colorful scarves. Each of us chose scarves that represented our feeling state at the moment.
I have painted, drawn and wrote a beautiful prayer along with a client of mine for the quickened arrival of her mother from a refugee camp in Africa. Much of her depression was related to an increasing sense of hopelessness for not having seen her mother in 4 years, and her faith in God was just barely keeping her from feeling total despair. The prayer, which still hangs in her room a year later, renewed her hope and faith even as she still waits.
I have watched Israeli and Arab girls work together to represent anger, fear, grief and hope in large, multimedia sculptures. I have encouraged them to work through their hesitation and resistance, succeeding in deeply intimate sharing and collaborative expression.
This art therapy work is powerful and inspiring for me as a clinician and as an artist. I would love to hear of other people's experience with art therapy.
There are indeed vast differences in the meaning of symbols, line, color, etc. among varying cultures. I am careful with assuming any specific meaning of a client's artwork - art therapy involves a lot of questions in my experience. But it offers space for a new English-language learner to more freely express himself/herself, and a springboard for more personal conversations. It also offers ways to creatively organize confusing inner or outer experience.
I have seen a child sag with relief after sorting through her swiftly changing moods by charting them in a heart-shaped pie chart. She chose colors that represented for her the tone of those moods. She voiced satisfaction in what for her was an accurate portrayal of a confusing inner situation.
I have danced with other girls, as we shared our inner experiences through dance moves and colorful scarves. Each of us chose scarves that represented our feeling state at the moment.
I have painted, drawn and wrote a beautiful prayer along with a client of mine for the quickened arrival of her mother from a refugee camp in Africa. Much of her depression was related to an increasing sense of hopelessness for not having seen her mother in 4 years, and her faith in God was just barely keeping her from feeling total despair. The prayer, which still hangs in her room a year later, renewed her hope and faith even as she still waits.
I have watched Israeli and Arab girls work together to represent anger, fear, grief and hope in large, multimedia sculptures. I have encouraged them to work through their hesitation and resistance, succeeding in deeply intimate sharing and collaborative expression.
This art therapy work is powerful and inspiring for me as a clinician and as an artist. I would love to hear of other people's experience with art therapy.
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