by Patrick Bailey

Many downers in life try to suck every inch of happiness from our existence. Addiction, depression, and COVID-19 are examples of such emotional vampires. They can cause people to be worried, overwhelmingly sad, bored, and lonely. Furthermore, they can cause a person to try to turn to substances such as drugs and alcohol to alleviate the pain. Art therapy is the perfect alternative to turning to harmful substances for a false sense of happiness. It's a tool that anyone can use to combat the conditions and situations mentioned above. Here's some information about it and how it can help.

What Art Therapy Is All About

Art therapy is a method of treatment that involves the arts. It uses a variety of art forms to help people to work through their pain and struggles. Writing or journaling is a form of art therapy, as are painting and drawing. Other examples of art therapy include writing music, playing a musical instrument, sculpting, sewing, knitting, and crafting collages. Many alcohol and drug rehab centers use art therapy to help patients and clients to work through various stages of addiction recovery. Art therapy is also a practice that some doctors use for neurological conditions such as Parkinson's disease and multiple sclerosis. Alternatively, sometimes art therapy plays a role in the lives of abuse survivors as they are trying to find the way to their true selves and their new lives.

Why Art Therapy Helps

Art therapy can help people for many reasons. The benefits list is long, but we'll mention some of the most crucial ones. First, it allows the participants to create something new and something beautiful. Many people in art therapy programs have been surrounded by ugliness in their environments. The artistic activities allow those people to become creators and take control of their lives by making it what they want it to be.

Artistic activities center a person's focus as well. It can help keep an individual grounded and calm while that person is going through the withdrawal stage of addiction, for example. Additionally, the act of creating art can give a person a strong sense of accomplishment. It can help a person to feel as if his or her life has real meaning, or to help them express their feelings in a more indirect but healing way. That feeling is especially important in someone who is suffering from a depressive episode.

Art therapy could provide a person with a strong sense of who he or she is. Many people discover that they have artistic capabilities while they're in art therapy. They may have spent so much of their lives catering to other people that they never got the opportunity to develop fully. Art therapy gives them a chance to do that.

How to Get Started With Art Therapy

An individual who is interested in art therapy can use several methods to get started. He or she can contact an individual art therapist who can work with the person to use art in its purest form to help combat life's struggles. A person who is working through addiction can contact rehab drug centers to find a facility that participates in art therapy as a part of its overall program. The best way to find out what a facility offers is to contact the facility directly and request to speak to an administrator. Another way to get started with art therapy is to take an art therapy course.

Another way that person can get involved with art therapy is to go it alone. The individual should take a few days to think about which artistic activity is the most appealing to him or her. The individual should then research (if needed) and write down a list of all the materials that will be necessary to perform the activity. For example, the person might need colored pencils and construction paper for a drawing activity. The person can start any time after he or she gathers the appropriate materials. The best way to do it is just to do it. It will be exciting for the individual to see the lovely creation at the end of the activity.

Start Taking Control with Art Therapy

You've just read a brief description of what art therapy is and how it can be of assistance to different people.

Art therapy can be an exciting new way for you to get in touch with your inner artist and use this process of discovery to work through complex emotions. You might want to give it a try if you're in any of the situations mentioned above. Art therapy may also be worth considering if you've tried other therapies and they haven't worked for you. You can use any of the methods mentioned above to start your journey of using art therapy to help yourself. You'll be a lot happier and healthier in the end. Remember, there's no wrong way to recover. The only wrong thing that you can do is to fail to try.

Author Bio: Patrick Bailey is a professional writer mainly in the fields of mental health, addiction, and living in recovery. He attempts to stay on top of the latest news in the addiction and the mental health world and enjoy writing about these topics to break the stigma associated with them.