The Benefits of Art Therapy

If you’re interested in exploring creative ways to enhance your mental and emotional well-being, it may be a great time to consider the benefits of art therapy.

At Greenpoint Psychotherapy, we offer art therapy sessions to help you navigate the more challenging times of life with more clarity and confidence. Our licensed art therapists guide you through creative exercises in a supportive environment, so you can express yourself freely.

Art therapy can be an effective treatment option for people with conditions like mental health disorders, substance use disorders, and autism spectrum disorder. We also offer art therapy sessions for those dealing with grief, trauma, loss, and low self-esteem.

What to know about art therapy

Art therapy includes integrative techniques that heighten your sensory experiences and perception, so you can better align your mind, body, and soul. The goal of this creative therapy is to help you express your thoughts and feelings in ways that aren’t achievable through talking alone.

Skilled art therapists use psychotherapy and other therapeutic techniques during art sessions to help you recognize and express negative emotions. They utilize artistic activities like painting, drawing, storytelling, and crafts to guide individuals, families, and groups toward healing.

Art therapy can also include somatic therapy, which involves physical movements to release trapped emotions from the body. Traumatic events can trap negative emotions and memories when overwhelming circumstances become too difficult to process.

Somatic therapy helps you release anger, fear, and other negative emotions that affect your physical, emotional, and mental health, so you can enjoy a better sense of well-being.

Benefits of art therapy

Creating art has been a method of healing in many cultures for centuries. The art therapy techniques in use today offer a lot of value for adults and children who are processing trauma, navigating negative emotions, and facing mental or physical health issues.

Here are four benefits of art therapy to consider:

1. Offers a healthy distraction

Engaging in crafts, painting, and other creative activities is a highly effective way to relieve tension and stress from everyday life. Art offers a healthy distraction from worries, rumination, and even physical pain.

Spending time working with clay or making crafts helps you stay in the present moment, which can reduce cortisol (stress hormone) levels in the body. Less cortisol makes you feel more relaxed and centered.

2. Relieves anxiety and depression symptoms

Art therapy offers benefits for people with anxiety disorders and depression. Through art, you can express your emotions freely and gain a new perspective on triggers of anxiety or depressive symptoms.

Creative activities also give you a new outlet to open up about your experiences living with mental health issues.

3. Supports recovery from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

Art therapy may help people with PTSD process their past trauma more efficiently. Nonverbal expression of traumatic memories and experiences can help you process and release deep-set emotions, so you can move forward in your healing efforts.

4. Increases self-esteem

The ability to express yourself without fear of judgment or rejection can greatly improve your self-esteem and boost your self-confidence.

Creating art also provides an opportunity for you to identify the things that matter most to you, so you can build a stronger sense of identity.

Call Greenpoint Psychotherapy in Brooklyn, New York to learn how you can benefit from art therapy or book a consultation online today.