“When I was in the grip of my eating disorder I used my body to say what I needed. When I was angry at my parents, I wouldn’t eat. When I was upset about something my boyfriend said I wouldn’t eat. I thought they’d know what I was feeling just by looking at me,” says Shawn, a 17-year-old Abington, Pa. resident who has made tremendous strides in recovering from anorexia. “I now use art to express myself, and I’m also learning to tell people how I feel.”
Art, which has been such an inspiration for Shawn, has been used as a therapeutic modality since the 1930’s, when psychiatrists began studying artwork created to see if there was a link between creativity and illness. They discovered that the simple act of creating art reflects the person's experiences, including unresolved emotional issues and conflicts.
Art therapy is a form of therapy that uses paint, clay, drawing, sculpture and other forms of creative expression. The emphasis is on developing and expressing images that come from inside the person. Art therapists are trained to recognize nonverbal symbols and metaphors that are communicated through the artwork.
Art can be especially helpful in the treatment of eating disorders.
“Just as the eating disorder is a symbolic voice trying to express underlying issues and needs, art is symbolic in nature” says Michelle Dean, ATR., an art therapist that specializes in treating eating disorders. “Although many individuals who have eating disorders are bright, articulate, and educated, when it comes to expressing their feelings there is a disconnect. This makes them vulnerable to using symptoms to express needs, conflicts, and discomfort. Art therapy allows the individual to work through underlying issues and facilitate change.”
There is no such thing as a “typical” art therapy session. Dean individualizes sessions to the needs of each person. She makes a variety of materials available for the therapeutic session, which may include drawing, painting, clay, and other three-dimensional works such as masks and dioramas. Dean often uses these mediums to explore a problem or issue that is occurring for the person. For example “dioramas are great to use to facilitate a discussion about one's life as a stage and how to reengage so they are more of an creative participant rather than a spectator,” she says.
Another interesting application of art therapy is body tracing, in which the art therapist guides the patient in looking at body image distortion. Using a full-size drawing paper, the person draws what they think they look like. The therapist will then trace their actual body directly on the same piece of paper. People with eating disorders often overestimate the size of their bodies. Seeing the difference between their estimated size and their real size can be enlightening.
Michelle Dean’s practice, The Center for Psyche & the Arts, LLC will be expanding to include offices in Elkins Park, Wayne, and Lansdowne, Pa.
Next: Mindy Jacobson Levy on Finding Your Voice Through Creativity, an art and journaling workbook
Comments
My primary therapist is also an art therapist. At the beginning of my journey w/her, I did not have the words to express what was going on in my head. Drawings were a great way to get a discussion going on some very deep issues. It was a safe way to approach problems that I was too afraid to bring up directly. Sometimes the art projects were vessels of containment - A way to take very intense feelings and put them some place until I was ready to process them. Some of the drawings stayed in her closet for years b4 I ready to discuss them but eventually I was able to process the issue safely. Art therapy can take many forms and has been extremely helpful in my recovery. I don't need it much any more b/c I have found my voice but I know it is always there if I need to use it.
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