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Art Therapy

art therapy

“Art is about building a new foundation, not just laying something on top of what’s already there.” – Prince

I cannot say enough about Art Therapy. It is my first love. I teach it to graduate students at NYU and I’ve lectured about it all over the country. I have seen it go places that no other type of therapy can touch.

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On multi-disciplinary teams of very talented clinicians (social work, psychiatry), it is often the art therapist that provides first insight toward a patient’s diagnosis and treatment plan. In private practice, when done properly with highly sophisticated materials in a studio environment, art therapy can treat almost any diagnosis.

Many people are hesitant to consider art therapy because they feel they are not artistically talented. I often hear “I can’t even draw a stick figure!” It doesn’t matter. The treatment and exceptional outcomes you will experience are the same no matter what your experience with art is.

Art therapy is my go-to choice for treating trauma because it is a soothing and relaxing process, and I can analyze the art and keep it hidden in metaphor until the patient is ready to start to talk about the event. If it is a sexual abuse case, I can take the art to court. This is powerful and undeniable testimony.

I quickly show patients with no prior art experience how to make very sophisticated pieces that they are proud to sign and cannot believe they made. This boosts the ego. Trauma weakens the ego. Patients become more confident, happier and more prepared to engage in the complicated work of healing. I give them tools to reach for before we begin tackling tough stuff. I pay careful attention to pacing so patients do not get overwhelmed.

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Patients keep a portfolio that usually becomes full quickly. This offers the opportunity to do portfolio reviews, so patients can look back and we can talk about how far they have come, notice places where they have gotten stuck, and leave certain things in the past.

The portfolio becomes a touchstone. It provides a visual record of the treatment. Verbal psychotherapy alone cannot do this.

Intrigued? See art therapy in action in my case studies.