Expressive Art Therapy & Psychological Counselling

25/01/2017

24/05/2016

MUSIC AS THERAPY
For most people, music is an important part of daily life. Some rely on music to get them through the morning commute, while others turn up a favorite playlist to stay pumped during a workout.
Many folks even have the stereo on when they’re cooking a meal, taking a shower, or folding the laundry.

Music is often linked to mood.
A certain song can make us feel happy, sad, energetic, or relaxed.
Because music can have such an impact on a person’s mindset and well-being, it should come as no surprise that music therapy has been studied for use in managing numerous medical conditions. All forms of music may have therapeutic effects, although music from one's own culture may be most effective.

In Chinese medical theory, the five internal organ and meridian systems are believed to have corresponding musical tones, which are used to encourage healing.Types of music differ in the types of neurological stimulation they evoke. For example, classical music has been found to cause comfort and relaxation while rock music may lead to discomfort.
Music may achieve its therapeutic effects in part by elevating the pain threshold.

Music may also be used in the classroom to aid children in the development of reading and language skills. Receptive methods involve listening to and responding to live or recorded music. Discussion of their responses is believed to help people express themselves in socially accepted ways and to examine personal issues.

There is strong scientific evidence supporting the use of music therapy for mood enhancement and anxiety/stress relief, according to Natural Standard research.Effectiveness

Here are five other conditions for which music therapy has been studied, supported by good scientific evidence

:Autism
Autism is a brain disorder that is associated with a wide range of developmental problems, especially in communication and social interaction. According to the American Psychiatric Association, autism is classified as a type of autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
These disorders are characterized by problems with communication, social interaction, as well as unusual, repetitive behaviors. Some professionals use a broader term, called pervasive development disorder (PDD), to describe autism. In addition to autism, there are four other disorders that qualify as PDDs:Asperger's syndrome, childhood disintegrative disorder, pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS), and Rett syndrome.
People who have autism spectrum disorders often show a heightened interest and response to music. This may aid in the teaching of verbal and nonverbal communication skills and in establishing normal developmental processes

Dementia
Dementia refers to a loss of cognitive function (an intellectual process resulting in an understanding, perception, or awareness of one's thoughts and ideas). Dementia can be caused by changes in the brain such as those associated with disease or trauma. The changes may occur gradually or quickly. Cognition is the act or process of thinking, perceiving, and learning. Cognitive functions that may be affected by dementia include decision making, judgment, memory, spatial orientation, thinking, reasoning, and verbal communication. Dementia may also result in behavioral andpersonality changes, depending on the area(s) of the brain affected.
In older adults with Alzheimer's, dementia, and other mental disorders, music therapy has been found to reduce aggressive or agitated behavior, reduce symptoms of dementia, improve mood, and improve cooperation with daily tasks, such as bathing.
Music therapy may also decrease the risk of heart or brain diseases in elderly dementia patients
Depression
Depression or depressive disorder is an illness that involves the body, mood, and thoughts. Depression is considered a mood disorder. Depression affects the way a person eats and sleeps, the way one feels about oneself, and the way one thinks about life situations. Unlike normal emotional experiences of sadness, loss, or passing mood states, depressive disorders are persistent and can significantly interfere with an individual's thoughts, behavior, mood, activity, and physical health. According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), depressive disorders affect approximately 18.8 million American adults or about 9.5% of the U.S. population age 18 and older in a given year.
There is evidence that music therapy may increase responsiveness to antidepressant medications. In elderly adults with depression, a home-based program of music therapy may have long-lasting effects. In depressed adult women, music therapy may lead to reductions in heart rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure, and depressed mood. Music therapy may also be beneficial in depression following total knee replacement surgery or in patients undergoing hemodialysis

Infant development
There is evidence that music played to the womb during latepregnancy may lead to children being more responsive to music after birth. Soothing music may help newborns be more relaxed and less agitated. Pre-term newborns exposed to music may have increased feeding rates, reduced days to discharge, increased weight gain, and increased tolerance of stimulation. They may also have reduced heart rates and a deeper sleep after therapy.

Sleep quality
Insomnia is difficulty in falling asleep, staying asleep, and waking up too early in the morning. It is a common health problem that can cause excessive daytime sleepiness and a lack of energy. Long-term insomnia can cause an individual to feel tired, depressed or irritable, have trouble paying attention, learning, and remembering, and not be able to perform fully on the job or at school. Severe insomnia can result in neurochemical (brain chemical) changes that may cause problems such as depression and anxiety, further complicating the insomnia.
In older adults, music may result in significantly better sleep quality as well as longer sleep duration, greater sleep efficiency, shorter time needed to fall asleep, less sleep disturbance, and less daytime dysfunction. There is also evidence of benefit in elementary-age children or stable preterm infants.
Music therapy may also be as effective as chloral hydrate in inducing sleep or sedation in children undergoing EEG testing.

For more information on music therapy, other expressive art therapy and psychological counselling contact us
lanciavandermerwe@yahoo.com

03/05/2016

Benefits of Art Therapy for Adult Survivors of Sexual Abuse

by Christine Hennig

1. Gaining Access to Traumatic Memories and Encouraging Disclosure:

Since art therapy is a visual and sensory modality, it can help clients access traumatic material stored in implicit memory, a sensory, body-based form of memory that is not the same as conscious, narrative memory (what we usually think of as “memory”). Sound- and body-based approaches can also be used to access material in implicit memory, but are also more likely to verwhelm clients. Art-making provides a certain amount of distance and control, and thus provides a sense of containment for clients (Johnson, 1987; Lev-Weisel, 1998).Art expression can help clients who suffer from alexithymia, a trauma-related condition that involves an inability to express feelings in words; and can create a safe “transitional space” that can encourage clients to disclose traumatic memories (Johnson, 1987).Art-making can be a safe way for clients with Dissociative Identity Disorder to “tell” their memories, bypassing the usual switching of alter personalities that may happen when they attempt to report their memories verbally (Frye, 1990).Neurological researchers are speculating that a possible cause for PTSD may be the exclusion of traumatic memories from explicit memory storage, and that art may provide a bridge between implicit and explicit memory (Malchiodi, 2003).A research study found art therapy useful in uncovering unconscious material, generating a finished product that can provide further therapeutic material to work with, and providing a non-verbal way for clients to “speak” about the abuse (Meekums, 1999).

2. Dealing with Developmental Issues:

Art therapy can provide mirroring, psychological distance, and containment for clients who are working on mastering missed developmental stages (Robbins, 2001).Recent brain research in attachment theory links problems with affective regulation with disturbed attachments with caregivers in early childhood; as well as linking affective regulation tasks with the right brain, which is organized non-verbally. This points to a special role for non-verbal treatment modalities such as art therapy (Malchiodi, 2003).

3. Reconnecting with Others Through Sharing One’s Artistic Expressions with Others:

Creative arts expression is a superior way to communicate the devastating effects of trauma and abuse, since it can trigger feelings of empathy in an audience, whereas straightforward reporting in words can hide as much as it reveals, since much of the horror of victimization is “beyond words” (Laub& Podell, 1995).Trauma destroys the inner sense of an “other,” that is, an inner sense of connection with others, and creative arts expression can reestablish that sense of connection (Laub & Podell, 1995).Public display or performance of creative arts products can help reconnect survivors to society, as well as providing a sense of empowerment (Johnson, 1987).

4. Other Benefits Found in Research Studies and Case Reports:

Increased catharsis, cohesion, and insight in group therapy (Waller, 1992).Raised self-esteem (Anderson, 1995; Brooke, 1995, 1997).Reduced symptom severity and interpersonal difficulties, and increased health potential (Korlin, Nyback & Goldberg, 2000).Reduced frequency and severity of nightmares (Morgan & Johnson, 1995).Contained and provided distance from overwhelming affect (Bowers, 1992: Meekums, 1999).Self-reports of art therapy positively impacting survivors’ recoveries (Anderson, 1995).Reduced symptoms of depression (Howard, 1990).Improved self-soothing abilities (Estep, 1995).Provided a visual means of ongoing assessment of therapeutic progress (Glaister & McGuiness, 1992).Increased integration of thinking and feeling (Serrano, 1989).Provided an effective way to work on control issues (Levens, 1994).

5. Reports of the Healing Power of Art-Making by Adult Survivors Who Are Artists:

A female painter with a sexual abuse history experienced a therapeutic breakthrough when she started incorporating healing themes into her paintings and discussing them with her therapist (Lijtmaer, 2002).Artist Jane Orleman has publicly displayed paintings that explicitly depict sexual abuse at the hands of her father, despite some negative critical reception, and has written a book about the therapeutic benefits she gained from doing the paintings (Marstine, 2002).Painter and art therapist Francie Lyshak-Stelzer (1999) created a series of paintings documenting her healing process from child sexual abuse, which she later published in a book, along with a simple narrative of the story of her abuse and healing process.Louise Wisechild (1991) edited an entire book of articles by in**st survivor artists, writers, and musicians proclaiming the benefits of using their creativity to heal.

References

Anderson, F. E. (1995). Catharsis and empowerment through group claywork with in**st survivors. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 22, 413-427.Bowers, J. J. (1992). Therapy through art: Facilitating treatment

08/03/2016

Expressive Art is NOT about the end product - it is all about the JOURNEY

04/11/2015

EXPRESSIVE ART IS A THERAPEUTIC TOOL
Art as a therapeutic tool is rooted in the principle that each individual has worth, dignity, and the capacity for self-direction or possibility to develop based on a natural or innate impulse or creative connection in each individual. As humans we need to feel accepted and understood. It is a rare experience to feel accepted and understood when you are feeling fear, rage, grief, or jealousy. Yet it is this very acceptance and understanding which heals. Feelings of grief, anger, pain, fear, joy, and ecstasy are the tunnel through which we must pass to get to self-awareness, understanding, and wholeness. Personal growth and higher states of consciousness are achieved through self-awareness, self-understanding, and insight; which only come from delving into our emotions.
Expressive art refers to using the emotional, intuitive aspect of ourselves in various non-verbal) media; expressing inner feelings by creating outer forms. It is true, of course, that talking about our feelings is also an important way to express and discover ourselves, meaningfully. Scientifically, human beings have the ability to learn how to cope with difficult situation because of new pathways or brain connections formed by the interplay between 1) the reception of stimuli or information via our touch, smell, taste, visual & auditory systems and 2) the processing of the received information in the brain, followed by 3) a reaction from a stored list of responses available to individuals with which they express themselves. Not to act on a stimulus is also a response. This stored list is our memory and is always connected to an emotion or feelings which are usually unconscious.
Human beings also have a Creative Connection® meaning that there is an enhancing, inborn interplay among movement, art, writing, and sound that opens up insightful feelings, which can then be expressed in colour, line, or form. This creative connection stimulates self-exploration; they become a resource for further self-understanding and creativity and begin to gently allow the awakening of new possibilities or new pathways of thinking (coping) about situations.
Creativity comes from the unconscious and our feelings and intuition where the unconscious is like a deep well of feelings or emotions. Feelings can be constructively channelled into creative ventures: into dance, music, crafts, art, or writing. Thus creativity creates connections to our lists of “coping” responses; using old and creating new pathways and new responses. When our feelings are joyful, the art form uplifts but when our feelings are violent or wrathful, we can transform them into powerful art rather than venting them on the world. Our feelings and emotions are an energy source and more often than not robed from rational thinking or actions. That energy can be channelled into the expressive arts to be released and transformed; helping us to accept that aspect of ourselves and self-acceptance is paramount to compassion for others.
Expressive art as a therapeutic tool is not concerned about the aesthetics or craftsmanship of the visual art, the grammar and style of the writing, or the harmonic flow of the song. We use the arts to literally let go, to express, and to release. Counsellors and individuals gain insight by studying the symbolic and metaphoric messages in the art because it speaks back to us if we take the time to let those messages in. Although interesting and sometimes dramatic products emerge, we leave the aesthetics and the craft to those who wish to pursue the arts professionally. The creative process is thus a deep inner healing; involving the mind, the body, and emotions where intuitive, imaginative abilities as well as logical, linear thought are brought forth. Since emotional states are seldom logical, the use of imagery and nonverbal modes allows us an alternative path for self-exploration and communication. This process is a powerful integrative force. Verbal form and processes of counselling or therapy will always be important but expressing oneself through images; colour, form, and symbols are languages that speak from the unconscious and have particular meaning for and differ from each individual. Using a movement or gesture, art, writing and sound to show how one feels expands into self-knowledge as it provide clues for further exploration followed by the healing process as well as a new language that speaks in which to discover, experience, and accept the unknown aspects of self. Verbal therapy focuses on emotional disturbances and inappropriate behaviour. The expressive arts move us into a world of emotions and add a further dimension by incorporating art as a tool that offered a pathway for using the free-spirited parts of us, even joyful, lively learning on many levels: the sensory, kinesthetic, conceptual, emotional, and mythic.
Thus: Expressive art helps us to go beyond our problems to envisioning ourselves taking constructively action in the world through personal integration of the intellectual, emotional, physical, and spiritual from beginning to end by taking time to reflect, critique, and evaluate these experiences. Learn to play again, let go of what you ‘know’ and discover the importance of being able to begin again because it is much easier to deal with some heavy emotions through expressive play than through thinking and talking about it.

®Natalie Rogers; The Creative Connection: Expressive Arts as Healing, (1993)