Art therapy can be especially beneficial for treating anxiety, depression, trauma, and eating disorders. What clients experiencing these symptoms might have in common is a tendency to avoid or suppress emotional pain, disconnecting from bodily sensations, and a desire for over-control. Art offers a voice to the complexity of our emotional experiences, extending beyond what words alone can capture. Through the creative art process, clients can improve confidence/self-esteem, communication skills, flexibility, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, strengthen the mind-body connection, and so much more.
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As an art therapist I help clients use both the art-making process and the art product to gain self-awareness and increase insight. I call this "visual language." I help clients learn how to externalize their inner thoughts and feelings, so they can be recognized, understood, processed, and then reintegrated for lasting behavioral change.
No previous art training/experience or artistic ability is required to benefit from art therapy treatment. Art therapy can be more interactive and engaging than traditional talk therapy alone. If you've tried talk therapy before and found that it just didn't work for you, art therapy may be a good fit.