Jenny Boyce Counseling

"A picture is worth a thousand words" may be be cliche, but it's true. Self-expression through a medium other than what we are used to (talking) can illuminate aspects of ourselves, a situation, or relationship of which we were not previously aware.  Making art helps us heal and humans have used art and metaphor for healing since our beginnings.  Neuroscience has shown that art therapy or other sensory-based therapies help our brains integrate feelings and memories and change patterns of behavior.  

 

You don't have to be an "artist" to do art therapy.  In Bali, there is no word for artist because, by virtue of being human, everyone is an artist.  Often we received some message early on that what we freely and innocently created as a child wasn't "right" or "good" and stopped creating.  Most people haven't made art since elementary school.  If you are curious about art therapy but have reservations, we can talk about those and explore an art media [drawing (even scribbles), collage, clay, painting, building] that feels safe for you.  There is no wrong way to make art.  I will encourage you to look at your art in new ways, but it's more important for you find your own meaning about what you have created.

 

Art therapy might look like making a self-portrait from magazine images, drawing your life as a river and using the elements of a river as metaphors for life experiences, doing an abstract collage of your family to explore your relationships, making an inside/outside box that reflects those aspects of yourself, and much, much more.