art therapy
Connemara
"Disarray" <disa...@asarian-host.org> wrote in message
news:disarray-973624...@news.mindspring.com...
> can somebody say more about what art therapy is and what it does? i've
> never done it and know nothing about it.
>
> dis
hi dis--
think it depends a lot on the person and the therapist. it is supposed to
reach the inner child--the subconscious-and bring it to the surface. i had
a therapist once hav me take crayons and just scribble on a large piece of
paper--with my non-dominant hand--to relax and not think. then she asked me
to draw a picture with a bridge in it.....and whatever i wanted on both
sides of the bridge and put myself in it. strangely--i drew a house on one
side with no windows! it was not intentional--in fact when she pointed it
out, i was surprised--kind of a description of a home no one saw inside to
help us?? the other side was the typical child's vision of a park--with
sunshine, rainbows, flowers, etc. but the lack of the windows amazed
me....the fact that subconsciouly i saw my childhood that way.
hope this helps some....
btw--my sister did not know about me till i was in grad school as well. i
was lucky he was kicked out of the house when i was 10--the same year a
cousin r*ped me, but that's a different perp! but, still i could not have
told anyone.....and i know she feels sad that she could not protect me.
but, we all know the perps play their games this way and they win!
take care,
michelle
--
In Memory of Colette Cassavaugh
***8/13/99***
--who lost her will to live
to the external demons
charged with her care.
and then...
--lost her life to internal demons.
--REFORM MENTAL HEALTH CARE--
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Jennifer Thompson-Hall
I'm not sure how it's classified officially but I've read several good
books out there on it and try to do it on my own. Basically I think that
the left brain activities (like words and writing and math and probably
PhD's:) don't process feelings well, but right brain activities do such
as art and writing with non-dominant hands. I've never had a therapist
guide me in much; only once and it wasn't very effective as I didn't
trust them. But I am finding a lot of healing through this collage I'm
building right now which maybe I'll put on my web site eventually. I
think that counts as art therapy, and the poetry people post, I think
that counts too. For me it's creating what is, and bringing out into the
open of what already is, and naming it so it can no longer control me
subconsciously. Or maybe really it's about doing something about it so
it doesn't just keep sticking to my undersides.
I'll see if I can dig up my collection of books on it if you want; my
favorite is Art as a Way of Knowing.
Jen
Oh, dance and music are also part of art therapy and maybe more
mainstream, not sure.
Wow, just saw this title on Amazon.com:
Milia : Self-m*t*l*tion and art therapy; v**lent creation.