You’re not limited to pencil and paper. While art therapy typically incorporates visual media like drawing, painting, and sculpture, art can take many forms. If you like to sing or play an instrument, you can compose songs that illustrate how you’re feeling. If you’ve always dreamt of being an actor or actress, you can write your own script and create characters that represent your struggles. Art therapy has no limits. You may feel ashamed that you’re meeting with a nonprofit or a treatment center.
- Mostly, other forms of therapy use verbal language to express feelings and overcome personal obstacles.
- ECHO Recovery is a nonprofit foundation and education organization intended to provide tools and resources to those struggling with SUD.
- Fold it into a paper airplane, and let it go.
- Sobriety requires more than just detoxification because addiction is a pervasive condition that requires long-term effort.
- Many people recovering from SUD are hesitant to work with others out of fear, but the end result of a group art project may be worth it.
Not every client can easily discuss their feelings verbally. Art therapy is used to help these individuals express their thoughts and feelings through the less confrontational path of creativity. Art therapy activities for substance abuse groups are helpful for developing and maintaining social skills. One way art therapy achieves this is by providing an outlet for communication.
Traditional Approaches vs. Expressive Therapies
Instead of making a mask to hide yourself, make a mask that expresses how you feel and empowers you. Cover the mask in symbols that make you feel strong. Create snowflakes out of paper. On each snowflake, write out what you’re grateful for or what makes you unique. Create a family tree painting. Think about those family members who have supported you and given you strength, and paint a representation of them.
While these may all be enjoyable hobbies, they can also have many unexpected benefits. At Clearbrook Treatment Center, we are strong supporters of using art to help with the addiction recovery process. For example, consider how the brain can only hold so much information, and it can be difficult to process it all internally. Many people recovering from SUD are hesitant to work with others out of fear, but the end result of a group art project may be worth it. Others who see this art will wonder what the inspiration was, and you can either communicate your thoughts to them or leave it up for people to interpret. For example, let’s say you had a painful experience during your time using substances.
Find Sobriety at Crosspointe Recovery
In fact, one of the most significant advantages of participating in the creation of art is the ability to illustrate your emotions. Like Howes, I am not going to talk about evidence-based approaches or outcomes. I am also art therapy for addiction ideas not going talk about the use of art to evaluate or assess emotional or other disorders; that is a topic both fascinating and controversial and a subject for another blog series. Create an art installation of a safe space.
