What are the benefits of expressive arts groups?

Art therapy in a group setting can provide just as many benefits as individual art therapy, and, depending on what one is going through, have even more benefits than one-on-one therapy. As humans, we thrive when we experience community and acceptance within our community. 

What happens during a group expressive arts therapy session is each group member goes on their own individual journey throughout  the creative process, and then shares their experience with the group. A therapist is there as a guide to facilitate and create a safe, sacred space. Often, the process of having our stories held and heard in a sacred space is healing on its own.

When we have that safe space to share our art with others, and the experiences we had making it, and those feelings and experiences are held by others, we feel a sense of unity and a deeper purpose. It’s an incredibly vulnerable yet courageous act.  Even just acknowledging  the deep emotions and processing internally without sharing is courageous.

It is okay to quietly witness. You do not necessarily need to be outwardly expressive if that is not what is most true for you. Sharing your art is a deep act of trust and might feel too vulnerable. Perhaps, at that moment, you don’t yet have the words to express how you feel. If it feels too overwhelming, it is enough to listen. However you decide to express it, coming together to create art is healing and helps us embrace our common humanity.

How is the creative process healing?

The art that you make becomes a container for whatever feelings come up for you to process. 

• Art gives you the freedom to explore yourself and to explore your boundaries even deeper. With art, you are able to step out of your own self-created expectations to immerse yourself in the creative  process.

• Art helps you use art to communicate what you can’t put into words.  The right side of the brain is the center of  intuition and creativity, while the left side of the brain is the center of logic and language.  When we think of creativity and art-making, we might assume that only the right hemisphere of the brain is being used. In actuality, art-making uses both the right and the left sides of the brain, which is why it is such a wonderful tool.

• Art-making also helps you tap into your body’s relaxation response.  When you are creating, you are essentially sending yourself into an altered state of consciousness that changes your brain waves. So, in everyday life, we operate on Beta brain waves, where we think, make decisions, etc. It’s how we work our jobs and drive a car. It’s necessary, but it’s not very healing or creative. While you are creating, however, there’s a shift that makes your thoughts and breathing slow down. You drop from Beta Brain Wave, to Alpha Brain Wave, where you experience a “flow state” where you have no sense of time. Then, there is that final shift into the Theta Brain Wave state, which is a meditative state where you are able to fully access the “Wise Mind.” This is a potent and healing state, allowing deep-rooted issues to rise to the surface to be examined and healed. 

Hope for HIE 

This past May, our founder, Dayna Wood, and Art Therapist Quinn Smalley facilitated an expressive arts group workshop for Hope for HIE, an organization that does amazing community work for the families of children with Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy. Their mission is to help improve the lives of the families of children with HIE and has a comprehensive support network that connects families worldwide. Here are some of the ways you can get involved.

This year, they put together a retreat in St. Petersburg FL for mothers of children with HIE called Hope by the Beach. Dayna and Quinn facilitated an expressive arts workshop to help the mothers discover themselves in a deeper way by decorating their own personal “touchstone” from a variety of materials. 

Photo cred: Brentwood Photography

Starting with a creative written voice and a BA in English from ASU, Alli Cravener has become so much more than Integrative Counsel’s voice! Not only is she a writer who is passionate about connecting concepts and content, Alli is also currently a grad student working towards her Master’s in Counseling. She is also the editor-in-chief, office manager, AND intake specialist at Integrative Counsel. When you call us, you’ll talk to Alli! Alli’s interests include painting, history, learning about other people, and wearing the color pink. She likens herself to a “mouse in a palm tree”, and she loves it that way.