Profusion Art

Art and Writing As Used in Therapy for Healing

Marie Scott

27 July 2012

Negative Drawing

                      Therapists successfully use writing and art to help heal people who have depression and other types of illness, because together, they employ both the left and right hemispheres of the brain in doing something both cleansing and revitalizing.

            Writing helps a person make sense of an experience by forcing the writer to see the event from beginning to end, rather than keep reliving the worst parts of the event over and over again—as we do in our minds. In the writing, the writer may also begin to see how his or her experience has added something to who he or she is rather than just taken away.

            There are times when people can’t express in words how they feel. That is why a visual drawing, cut-out collage, or other type of expressive art helps to show their feelings and even teach them about the depth of their own trauma.

            Here’s how a therapist administers the therapy: The therapist asks a patient to draw two pieces of artwork. The one expressing the negative emotion. The other showing positive growth, healing, and how the patient wants to feel. The patient writes about both pieces of artwork. The healing process has already begun, but the patient continues to look at and focus on the positive picture.

            Continuing to write and do artwork gives a person enjoyment and hope for healing. Laughing, being happy, and searching for the positive has been proven in the medical world to help healing of all kinds, as has creativity.

If doing artwork is enjoyable, why not use it to heal your heart and mind?

Positive Drawing

(Refer to Term Paper on Stress and Depression)