I see myself as a mediator between the creative process, art materials, techniques and the client. I do not lead the therapy sessions, but am there to support and empower the client through providing inspiration, giving impulses and possibilities for reflection, asking questions, and fully sharing my awareness and attention with them and their artwork. Together we create a space that invites and allows explorations, experimentation, feelings, thoughts and experiences. Art therapy offers a judgement-free zone where things and experiences that can not be put into words are welcome and get a home. The artwork can serve as a container for all sorts of experiences, situations and feelings. It is very powerful, because things from the inside are externalised and become visible and can be viewed upon from different perspectives. Developing new perspectives and creating new experiences is an important part of art therapy.
The creative process as well as the artwork itself can serve as a mirror. When we work on an art project, we do this often in the same way and with a similar mindset as we approach life. Patterns may emerge that we were not aware of. Feelings may come forward that we have not acknowledged or suppressed.
Art therapy touches not only the conscious part of our brain, but also our unconscious part. Our unconscious mind commonly speaks in non-linear ways, and expresses itself in sensory-based experiences and images instead of words. Dreams are a great example for this. Often dreams are not about words, but about visual representations and feelings. In dreams we experience things that are very hard to put into words, and often do not make sense once we return to our conscious mind when we wake up. For example there are these dreams, where we are at a place that is actually not that place, but it somehow is. This kind of knowing often happens in dreams, as well as in our waking life, for example when we have a gut feeling about something or someone.
People that search therapy are often stuck and experience some sort of conflict. As Knill (2005), a well known expressive arts therapist, puts it “Conflicts are situations that lack choices”. Through art therapy conflicts can be re-evaluated and put into different contexts. The creative process invites us to try out different approaches, make new choices, without having to deal with severe consequences (as in real life). In the arts there are few limitations, so we can explore freely which engages our imagination and sense of play.
Literature
Knill, P. (2005). Principles and Practice of Expressive Arts Therapy – Toward a Therapeutic Aestetics. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.