Art Therapy

Depression, fear, and anxiety are some of the most common and uncomfortable emotions that we can experience at some point in our lives. Both are the top two reasons individuals seek therapy.  The best thing about humans is how diverse we are. Nature does not like “perfection”. Perfection like control is a concept. I do not judge my clients, that would make me an awful counselor. I will try my hardest to understand your perspective and the issues that draw you to therapy. I will do my best to hold a safe space for you to explore your emotions and unique life experiences. Together we can identify how we became the individuals we are, identify triggers, and develop skills so when the world falls apart around us, we don't fall apart with it. 

Most individuals are familiar with the CBT/Cognitive Behavior Therapy. DBT has been found to be a high effective intervention in almost every mental diagnosis. The therapeutic intervention involves using acronyms focused on deficits in regards to emotion regulation, stress tolerance, and interpersonal skills. I was exposed to DBT skill when I first started my career in community mental health working with teens over a decade ago. I use DBT skills on a daily basis to navigate the stressors of the modern world.  

  The word trauma is both a very broad and a complex word. The Sanctuary Model is based on the idea that trauma occurs to everyone at some point in their life. COVID created trauma on a global scale. Individuals across the world were separated from the support of friends and family, a great many lost their jobs and homes, and almost everyone at some point was or is living in fear sparked by just the sound of a cough. Unfortunately we are by no means out in the clear yet. Home (also a broad term) is our sanctuary. Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs puts home/sanctuary at the base of the pyramid, falling into both the physiological and safety part of our needs to be whole and healthy. Working in residential provided me with the unique appreciation for how our homes reflect not only our internal state of mind, but also the ability to examine the supports and deficits that surround a client. My goal in therapy is for us to make positive internal changes but also examine the external to supports to assist in nurturing those changes. 

The word mindfulness is being thrown around a lot as of lately.   

The mandala is readily used in art therapy and captures the concept of mindfulness. It represents the individual, but not just what we carry on the inside, but how we feel and react to outside factors influencing the world around us, as well as how the world around us influences us. Mindfulness is a skill that will help bring awareness of self and the dance between internal and external with the world and the people in it. Mindful is about slowing down, focusing on the moment, taking a breath to actually evaluate and not just react. I love the story of the tortoise and the hare. The tortoise not only won the race, but he enjoyed the journey as well. The tortoise not only got to stop and smell the roses, but if he got pricked by a thorn, he didn’t give up or fall apart. In real life tortoises are one of the longest living animals. They even stop to assist other tortoises if they are flipped over. It’s true, there are videos. Tibetan sand mandalas are the quintessential form of mindfulness: created through a slow and beautifully long and gentle way, appreciated every step of the way, celebrated when completed, blessed, and then gone with a few sweeps of a broom.

I’m not sure who said it, but the answer to the question:

“What is the meaning of life?” is “To live.”

 The DSM 5 says that in order to make a diagnosis the symptoms of the criteria must cause distress and/or interrupt functioning. If they don’t do that, then it’s not a mental illness. We all experience anxiety, depression, and loss. We get songs stuck in our head that we don’t want in there or our senses play tricks on us when we’re tired and stressed (all similar to symptoms of psychosis). We have negative internal thoughts that can cause pain. We use words like should of, would have, and could have that will do nothing to fix the situation. Life is not perfect. Life is messy, gross, difficult, and definitely not fair. However, if we didn’t experience the “negatives” there is no base of comparison for the “positives”. Every one’s distress is real, and no one’s distress is more important than another’s.  The Dali Lama said that we are all universally the same in that we want to avoid pain and to seek comfort.

 Talk therapy is nice, but what if you can’t talk, don’t have the right words to express your story, or you don’t want to say the difficult things out loud? Art therapy offers another form of communication and assists in processing. Strong emotions need to be physically processed. If they aren’t let out then they can build up until one blows up and that’s when self harm, harm to others, destruction of the physical world around us, or just simple shut down/giving up happens. Art therapy like many of the expressive therapies (there are lots out there now) provides that cathartic release.