Creative Arts in Counseling: Chapter 5 Presentation by Jera Dykes

Visual Arts & CounselingJera Dykes

Introduction

Art can be defined “as an arrangement or pattern of shapes and ideas which give form to the images that reside in the cosmos of objects.”

Visual arts are defined as the processes within the realm of art that focus on visually representing reality symbolically or otherwise.

Why visual arts are used in counseling…

Margaret Naumberg, Edith Kramer, Judith Rubin, Hanna Kwiatkowska, and Elinor Ullman were the five professionals that are recognized as pioneering this movement.

Various viewpoints but all agreed on these benefits of visual arts in counseling:

1. Visual arts tap the unconscious and help individuals express their covert conflicts.

2. Visual arts symbolize feelings in a unique, tangible, and powerful way.

3. Visual arts inspire and help people become more connected with the transcendent and growth sides of their personalities.

4. Many art tasks, especially those with children, are usually perceived as nonthreatening and engage clients from the very first session to help identify goals.

5. Visual arts can easily be combined with other creative arts such as movement, creative writing, and imagery.

Practice of the Use of Visual Arts in Counseling

The practice of using visual arts in counseling is used throughout the lifespan, with special populations, and also individuals with PTSD.

Even if a client claims that they cannot draw, this therapy can be appealing to a variety of clients.

Examples of visual arts tests in counseling:

Draw-A-Person test

House-Tree-Person test

Rorschach and Holtzman ink blots

In-Class Activity: Draw a Person Test

Factors to Consider

Have quality materials available to help clients feel relaxed and/or creative.

Environment should have adequate space and should be quiet.

Clients should have freedom of movement, encouragement, and plenty of time.

Counselors should be patient during this process.

It may take several sessions before clients actually enjoy the process or find it beneficial.

Art Therapy

Most who use visual arts in counseling have received special training.

To become an art therapist: hold a master’s degree with concentration in art therapy program approved by the American Art Therapy Association and apply through the Art Therapy Credentials Board, Inc.

Art therapists work to set up conditions to help clients explore underlying emotional issues by using a rich source of artistic materials and methods.

Those who do not hold the credentials compensate lack of training with areas of strength.

Art therapy focuses on use of perceptual strategies employed by the client/artist including: negative spaces, relationships and proportions, lights and shadows, edges, and total product (gestalt)

Examples of Activities

Published Pictures

making the most of already existing artwork

arouses minimal anxiety

encompasses a variety of artwork that looks the way the clients expect art to look

vast variety available for use

provides excellent basis for familiarizing clients with ways of understanding and communicating how we are all unique

Can be used for all ages

Body Outline Drawings

!Made when a person lies spread out on a floor (aka spread eagle) After the drawings are completed, individuals decorate however they wish Sometimes this reveals aspects of their lives that are troublesome Usually best with children

Serial Drawings

Portrayals or sketches of any object that is drawn by a client multiple times over multiple sessions after the counselor initially requests the client to draw a picture (for example: tree, animal or scene)

Idea behind this is that through these drawings, clients will represent themselves and their problems symbolically

A positive self-concept can emerge when the session involves positive talk to complement the visual element.

This requires patience and intuitive timing as to what or when to say or do.

Visual Journaling

art diaries that often contain both images and words

The contents may be a rough draft that will later be a finalized artwork.

Meant to document day-to-day experiences and emotions

Instructive and therapeutic

Found to decrease anxiety and general negative affect level in medical students

Indications that visual journaling can reduce heart rate and increase serotonin flow and immune cells (similar to just journaling)

“Altered books” are visual journals that involve taking actual books and changing them in a variety of ways by drawing, painting, overwriting, or even destroying pages as a form of artistic self-expression.

Clay

seldom used because of its weight and messiness, but has several advantages

Can help clients express themselves in a concrete, focused way.

Can also promote cooperation between clients and counselors

Safe medium for may clients because they do not have to look at the counselor while working with clay

Clay can be used to regress or gain insight by manipulating, squeezing, and pounding it because it is so malleable.

Clay may reduce anxiety, lower defense mechanisms, and serve as an object onto which feelings can be projected.

Under client’s control and can make clients feel empowered

Photography

According to our text, photographs are “footprints of our minds, mirrors of our lives, reflections from our hearts, frozen memories we can hold in silent stillness in our hands—forever, if we wish.”

“Phototherapy” is a way to capture and express feelings and ideas in a visual-symbolic form across the life span.

Similar to art therapy and is better for individuals who find other visual arts too demanding

Phototherapy can be incorporated by most counselors and can be adapted to most theoretical frameworks.

Helps improve understanding, as well as, perception of clients

The basic techniques of using photography:

Photos taken of the client

Photos taken by the client

Photos of the client by the client (self-portraits)

biographical pictures, which may or may not include the client, of groups of friends and family

This can be as simple as asking your client to take photos of something/someone/some place that holds meaning to them or even using family photos to open up discussions of memories.

Active phototherapy: involves photos taken by a client that represent a feeling the client has or photos that the client thinks represent him/her

Passive phototherapy: involves a client either making a scrapbook or mounting on a poster board pictures that have already been taken; this can be from a photo album, magazine, or the internet

Visual Arts in Counseling with Children

Drawing is one way that children exert control over their lives, and this can help them cope with any challenges.

The impact of the process of drawing is more important than the artwork itself.

Sometimes these drawings can reflect pain that the child has felt. This medium is a safer way to open communication starting by reflecting on the drawing.

Examples of activities used:

House-Person-Tree Test

Draw-a-Person Test

Draw a circle and color different areas to represent feelings

Display feelings through sculpting clay

Make something from various art supplies and describe the feeling it represents

Serial drawing (ex: rosebush)

Family drawing and storytelling

Working with props as metaphors to help the child gain understanding

Visual Arts in Counseling with Adolescents

Young adolescents

Structured art experiences may be most appropriate

Example: National Career Development Association sponsors poster contest that has children think about their future career and illustrate it

Older adolescents

Developmental approach may be more useful

Ex: Appleton’s model of four trauma stages (impact, retreat, acknowledgement, and reconstruction) and how the four associated art therapy goals can aid movement from stages (creating continuity, building therapeutic alliances, overcoming social stigma/isolation, and fostering meaning)

Also, Kahn’s stage-by-stage model:

Entry, Exploration, and Action-Taking

Entry: art directives need to be open-ended and encourage teenagers to introduce themselves through art

Exploration: self-expression is increased with an attempt to explore feelings, thoughts, and behaviors that might be problematic

Action-Taking: art directives help adolescents set goals for change and elaborate on the behaviors they need to reach milestones

Photography and dream painting are also encouraged for use with this age group.

Visual Arts in Counseling with College Students

Example: Artbreak program at George Washington University

Designed to help students relax and release stress; develop a sense of community through shared group experience; air concerns about issues such as adjustment to college, roommates, etc; gain self-awareness; and awaken creative energies.

Activities include: group murals, clay group, and individual drawings of situations to therapeutically release tension and pressures

Visual Arts in Counseling with Adults

Drawings of adults can reveal a great deal of information.

Drawings with more empty space, less color, less effort, and more depressive affect represent depressed adults.

Adults seem to be more hesitant and critical.

Introducing classic paintings can arouse feelings/responses that may lead to reflections on deep issues.

Art therapy may address the emotional state of adults with life-threatening illnesses and unresolved feelings while also giving them coping skills and empowerment.

Using arts in counseling adults can be positive to help reduce maladaptive behaviors especially in patients who may be mildly mentally handicapped.

Also, visual arts may help adults plan lives better. Ex: use of picture of road map in career counseling & drawing windows to show whether the client is outside looking in, or vice versa

Visual Arts in Counseling with Older Clients

Excellent therapeutic approach to use with many older patients because this period of life has just as many changes as adolescence

As a preventative/remedial force, visual arts can take many forms, such as pictures/models of remembered events from childhood, school, work, holidays, etc.

Photographs are an excellent way to help older adults review and reflect their lives.

Art on occasions includes patients (for example those in a group living setting) drawing pictures or making cards for sick friends. The clients are to draw the saddest thing they can think of, but add something hopeful to the drawing.

Visual Arts in Counseling with Other Groups

Hospitalized Clients: Only about 2% of hospitalized clients spontaneously participate in artistic activities.

Those who do participate (voluntarily or otherwise) gain control and are able to express their feelings and fears. This can also cause clients to think of ways to become healthier.

Art therapy has been found beneficial to patients with severe burns and physical trauma. This program can help assist them through each stage of the recovery process.

Groups:

assists in group cohesion, formation, and identity by helping group members learn more about each other in a concrete way

helps identify goals for group participation both before and during the group session

provides additional way of communicating thoughts and feelings through drawings and photos

gives a means of viewing problems and issues from various perspectives

stimulates creative thinking and new ideas

provides a historical record of the group’s progress

Families & Couples:

Shared tasks allow the counselor to observe how the family or couple interacts and to form a hypothesis about the family dynamic in order to plan interventions

Joint Family Scribble: individual members of the family are asked to make scribbles and are then instructed to incorporate their scribbles into a unified picture

Conjoint Family Scribble: family is instructed to “draw a picture as you see yourself as a family;” each member of the family draws a picture and discusses it with the rest of the family

Symbolic Drawing of Family Life Space: counselor draws a large circle and instructs the family to draw everything that represents aspects of the family (including relationships to one another) inside the circle. Persons, places, and things outside of the family are drawn outside of the circle. The results of this procedure often get family members to talking to each other in different ways.

Ethnic Minorities:

When working with clients from cultures other than your own, as a counselor you must understand something about the cultural heritage of your clients

Hispanic and Latin American arts are often more metaphorical is use of imagery and color

American Indian cultures may use certain stylized imagery to express events and feelings

Remember these two aspects: professional readiness (accurate and sensitive understanding of cultures of clients) and focus on the creative process

Counselor Drawings

Helpful to counselors in working with clients to alter perceptions or in assessing various dimensions of their own personal lives

According to Milton Cudney, pictures counselors might draw in sessions could help in understanding and objectifying counseling issues, increasing openness, promoting counselor-client conversation, and reaching nonverbal, non-reading clients.

He also believed that pictures could shorten the length of the counseling process by clarifying problems and make them easier to address.

Visual Arts in Counseling With Other Arts

With literature/words:

Can have client to read a poem, short story, or novel and then have them draw main events or characters as they perceive them—good for children and adolescents

Have clients create an illustrated book to show feelings strongly but also with words to accompany—this can empower clients and can help them find the best in themselves

Have clients write and paint simultaneously; it doesn’t matter which one comes first but one can inspire the other

With music:

Have clients draw images based on how they feel while listening to certain types of music

With psychodrama:

Not common, but art activities can be used as focus for role-plays and drama

References

The Creative Arts in Counseling, Fourth Edition, by Samuel T. Gladding

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