Seven Benefits Of Doing Art Therapy To Deal With A Loss
After experiencing the loss of a loved one, going for therapy can prove to be beneficial for those grieving. Therapy can help them cope with their grief and sadness and in turn, guide them along so they can move forward. Not everyone will be able to see progress with just one kind of therapy. Hence, it is essential to find out about the different types of therapy available. Here is what you need to know about trying art therapy to deal with loss.
Provides Emotional Release
It is not always easy to put your grief into words. Art therapy offers a healthy and safe avenue for you to express yourself along with your emotions and thoughts. Instead of bottling up your pain and sadness, you can release it through your artwork. You will feel so much better and may even get to better understand yourself.
Makes You Feel Happier
Humans are creative beings and we are just programmed that way. Studies have found that making art can activate our reward pathways to make us experience pleasure. This boost of happiness can in turn make us feel much more alive after going through a painful loss.
Helps Cope with Trauma
A fatal illness, death by suicide, or the death of a child are all tragic deaths that can inflict a lot of trauma on surviving family and friends. Art therapy can help people address their traumas so they can move forward from them.
Promotes Wellbeing
Art therapy has been found to reduce symptoms of depression. It can also reduce stress, increase self-esteem, and lower anxiety and pain which in turn promote your overall wellbeing.
Takes Your Mind Off Grief
Art therapy can be used to help you find an avenue where you can reflect on and express your grief. It also boosts positive thoughts, thus keeping you in better moods. Creating art is known to help you relax so you can live in the moment instead of staying focused solely on your loss.
Helps Most Grief Symptoms
Art therapy helps with most symptoms of grief. Even though people process loss differently, there are certain common grief symptoms in most cases. These can include crying, missing the deceased, feelings or loneliness and fear, feelings of hopelessness, and intrusive thoughts and memories of the deceased.
Extra Beneficial for Children
Art therapy is particularly helpful for children and youth. They can use art therapy to express their feelings while also developing a better understanding of the meaning of loss or death in general. Children typically experience a hard time accepting a loss and art therapy helps them explore identity in relation to their loss. It can also help create feelings of security and safety.
Art Therapy Exercises
- Epitaphs
- Writing or drawing trauma narratives
- Acrostic poems
- Life imprints
- Unfinished sentences/writing prompts
- Bibliotherapy and creative writing
- Journaling
- Drama
- Letter writing
- Planting
- Commemoration/rituals
- Drawing/panting/collage
- Linking objects
Some of these exercises were developed for child and adolescent grief but they may however be adjusted to be implemented for adult grief.
