Although therapy can be beneficial for everyone, no approach fits all.
There are many types of therapy and finding the right one for each individual depends on various factors, such as personal challenges, preferences, and goals.
So, how to know which one fits you?
Well, only you can answer that, of course.
That said, we want to make it easier for you to determine whether you could benefit from creative arts therapy. So, here are 3 reasons why creative arts therapy might be the right fit for you:
You want to go beyond verbal communication
If you are less comfortable expressing yourself via words, or if you’re going through tough times and are struggling to find the right words, creative arts therapy is worth your consideration.
Creative arts therapists provide a safe and supportive environment for those who are struggling to express themselves. They can help you get the thoughts out of your head and onto the paper – using tools such as paint, collage, weaving, and more.
Each session is meant to enable clients to move out of the more logic-driven rooms in our brain and re-experience the brave play and honesty of childhood. Learn more here.
We can’t promise perfection or an instant fix, but we can give you the space, tools, and new perspectives to move forward and live a fuller life.
By offering non threatening experiences for individuals to confront and cope with life challenges, this method of therapy lowers the entry barrier to getting mental health support and treatment for those who may be resistive to other treatment methods, especially those who find it difficult to communicate verbally.
You are looking to manage a particular condition
If you’re feeling stuck in your current ways of managing stress, trauma, anxiety, grief, or something else, creative arts therapy is a valuable treatment option.
If you are looking to manage a specific affliction -such as Alzheimer’s disease, chronic illnesses, physical or developmental disabilities, substance abuse- you could definitely benefit from this approach to mental health treatment.
We wrote a full guide on the benefits of creative arts therapy that you can read here (link to said blog post).
Depending on what you are struggling with, your sessions can be focused on achieving results that enable you to live a fuller life. It can help you transform the negative emotions into a sense of calm, productivity and mindfulness, or to express your feelings about painful events or memories without using triggering words. It can also distract you from chronic pain and bring comfort back into your life, or help you improve cognitive and motor skills.
You are looking to improve in other areas of your life
Creative arts therapy is an approach to mental health that can carry many benefits to enrich the lives of individuals, families and communities.
If you are looking to manage a particular affliction while also improve on other life skills, the creative arts approach might be the right fit for you to gain the most out of your therapy sessions.
The American Art Association stated that creative arts therapy is used to foster self-esteem and self-awareness, boost emotional expression, cultivate emotional resilience, reduce and resolve conflicts and distress and claim that research suggests that it also contributes to improving cognitive and sensory-motor functions, enhancing social skills and advancing societal and ecological change.
If you feel like you could benefit from additional emotional and cognitive development, then you might have found the right type of therapy for you.
Is Creative Arts Therapy the right fit for you?
Here at The Messy Truth, a Brooklyn-based creative arts therapy practice, we can help you get the thoughts out of your head and into your hands if you’re feeling stuck in your current ways of managing stress, trauma, anxiety, grief, or something else.
We would be honored to come alongside you and help you do the work of unpacking life’s experiences. To get started, please sign up for a free 20-minute teletherapy consultation.
