This client came in to her regular session with physical complaints - both shoulders debilitated in two ways. Both ached enough to interfere with work, chores and even sleep. She is under the care of a medical doctor for the underlying torn rotator cuff and the old, knotted muscle and is making plans for surgery. This is art therapy AND the medical model in collaboration. It is important to address “disease” on all levels. We thought it a good idea to take a look at the metaphysical causes of … [Read more...] about Art Therapy and Metaphysics
Art Therapy Is…
Acting Out Sexually
This bold drawing in four parts tells the story. Seeking OUTSIDE oneself for validation, love and esteem is the set up for addiction. How do you know it’s addiction? Because it fuels or feeds SELF HATE. That is the root of all addiction; how we hate ourselves and teach others to hate us too. In the case of this particular oil pastel drawing we see the addiction cycle acted out as relationship addiction complicated by body image stuff. Feeling alone, fat like Jabba the Hutt, depressed and … [Read more...] about Acting Out Sexually
Process and Product
I tell clients (and prospective clients) that it is NOT NECESSARY TO HAVE ART TALENT OR TRAINING to benefit from art therapy. You don't even have to be able to draw! Here is a collage made by a chemically dependent adult recently in a treatment center. The directive was to make a comparative collage using words and images cut from magazines. On the left hand side is "Drunk me/Using me" and on the right "Sober me/Clean me." Look how scattered and random the images on the left are! They are … [Read more...] about Process and Product
Boundaries
BOUNDARIES At the most basic level, boundaries describe an individual’s “close comfort” zone. Where “I” end and “you” begin. Personal space, skin, energy field, mind your own business. A healthy person’s boundaries are flexible and vary from intimate friend to casual acquaintance to total stranger. Boundaries are for protection and esteem and individuation. Healthy boundaries are empowering and encourage self-reliance and responsibility. Healthy parenting looks a lot like a good Al Anon – … [Read more...] about Boundaries
Ready for Treatment
The Inside/Outside Box is a typical art therapy project. Fun to make, it is a self-portrait in metaphor and an un-self conscious look into things like persona, boundaries, containment, congruency and secrets. This particular box was made by a woman waiting for a bed in a treatment center. Lots of times people with eating disorders try to “pretty up” their outsides; more concerned with how others see them than they are with their own insides. I usually see a difference between the outsides and … [Read more...] about Ready for Treatment
Collaborative Sand Mandala
Sand Mandala Blueprint More and more I see art as the by-product of an experience. The experience happens in both process and product during art making and in art therapy. Nothing illustrates this quite as well as the collaborative sand mandala. I got the idea from the Tibetan monks who spend their lives memorizing grain by grain and color by color these beautiful, symbol-laden traditional designs, or yantras. They then painstakingly create the image in colored sand with a special … [Read more...] about Collaborative Sand Mandala
Big Black Hole
Symbol of my Disease oil clay sculpture by "M" inpatient for alcoholism Several things happen when an alcoholic begins to grapple with the reality of his/her diagnosis. Most people need some time to assimilate all the implications. Some individuals are helped by the knowledge that alcoholism is a DISEASE; it is not weakness of character or evidence of innate badness. This can be a huge relief. The disease concept also lays the groundwork for the idea that the disease itself is separate from … [Read more...] about Big Black Hole
Right Brain Spine Tingler
Life line oil pastel on paper by "E" age 17 This young restrictor drew her life from left to right – happy childhood, lots of moves around the world, the friendship of her popular sister, and a loss of self in early adolescence. Food and weight became the one thing she could control until she became ill, messed up and sought help. She has wisely chosen to open a new door to recovery. She draws a life founded on love. Above that her right brain sent … [Read more...] about Right Brain Spine Tingler