For Kids & Families: Try Adding Art to Therapy
Have you heard of Art Therapy?
Perhaps.
Although the gameshow survey says that most have not, even fewer still have tried it for themselves.
When I tell people I am an art psychotherapist and work with clients aged 6-100 y.o., some can’t understand why children would need counselling support. They assume that kids’ challenges aren’t big enough to warrant professional help outside the family and school support system. This is just not true. Like adults, children also experience big emotions, unexpected changes, moving homes/cities, losing relatives, pets and friends, struggling with neurodiversity, disabilities, and learning, plus bullying, conflict, trauma, and more. According to a December 2023 Children’s Healthcare Report, “about 1.6 million children and teens in Canada are dealing with a mental-health disorder, with tens of thousands waiting months or even years for adequate treatment”.
I remain surprised when meeting people who have never engaged in psychotherapy. Of course, there are barriers to accessing mental health services such as stigma, wait times, cost, oppressive forces, and previously poor experiences with the healthcare system. However, I believe that these challenges can push us to problem-solve, persevere, and find a counsellor who’s a great fit for us, our family, and our well-being goals. While researching to find a mental health professional, there are also hundreds of psychotherapy types to discover. So where to start?
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is a common place to begin in sessions: becoming aware of the unhelpful thoughts that contribute to emotions and behaviours that bring on unnecessary suffering and get us feeling stuck and lost. CBT most often happens in dialogue between the client and counsellor. However, not all clients benefit from talk therapy equally. And what if a child client does not yet have the words to express their experiences fully? Enter Art Therapy! According to recent data from the Canadian Art Therapy Association (CATA), there has been a notable increase in the popularity and recognition of art therapy in Canada over the past decade. The number of registered art therapists in Canada is increasing, with an increasing acceptance of art therapy as a valuable form of mental health support. By using art-making to express themselves, children and youth benefit big time from its therapeutic qualities. In my experience, art therapy is especially effective for kids who don’t want to go to counselling or have tried talk therapy without much success. Here are seven benefits of young people engaging in art therapy:
Getting kids to attend therapy: Art-making is a fun hands-on activity that appeals to creative children and teens who resist expressing their emotions or attending therapy at all. The art can be a pass-time to make talking about sensitive topics less scary. For example, making different colours of slime excites kids enough to tolerate discussing challenges at school and learn new coping skills.
Engaging the body and supporting focus: When sitting still for a full hour of reflecting and talking is not possible due to challenges with concentration, hyperactivity, ADHD, or Autism, for example, making art keeps the body busy so that meaningful conversations about feelings, behaviours, and coping skills can happen. Creating something tangible with our hands is also great for hands-on kinesthetic learners who learn and remember by physically doing a themed activity.
Simplifying advanced concepts: Art allows for intangible but crucial concepts to be made visual and thus more accessible to kids’ levels of comprehension. For example, by drawing an animal that represents honesty speaking to them, metaphor and visual art
Fostering open-mindedness, courage, and confidence: Playing with new art materials like paint, clay, soap-making, and theatre games prepares and incites kids to see new perspectives, courageously try novel activities in life, and feel confident that they “can do it”!
Building trust and rapport non-verbally: Our nervous systems talk to one another. That is, when one person is anxious or depressed, another person can sense and be impacted by this in their nervous system. The simple act of colouring in the presence of a calm grounded adult brings a sense of safety and builds trust through co-regulation.
Mindfulness and self-regulation: Coming into the safety of the present moment to self-soothe is a cognitive and sensory coping skill that can be taught to kids using expressive arts. For example, children will more easily notice their racing heartbeat and shallow breathing by drawing a line expressing their different rhythms. Noticing how anxiety and depression are experienced in our nervous systems is the first step to shifting out of fight-flight-freeze reactions and into rest and digest mode. Drawing a body map using colour and shape to identify where emotions are expressed is another favourite emotional intelligence art therapy activity of mine!
Accessing the subconscious: Swiss Psychiatrist Carl Jung theorized that the unconscious could be made conscious through symbols found in art, dreams, story, myth, and religion. Whether we realize it or not, our personality and beliefs are reflected in our art-making choices. Through skilled questioning, a trained art therapist can help kids identify their helpful and unhelpful beliefs and behaviours as they relate to art-making. From here, the beliefs and behaviours revealed in the art process and product are explored as they relate to the child’s larger life. For example, a child’s drawing of their family at home can bring understanding to their perceptions of self and the quality of their sibling and parent relationships.
Art therapy is a powerful and effective form of therapy that offers children and youth a unique way to explore and express their emotions, thoughts, and experiences. Through the use of artistic mediums, clients of all ages can tap into their inner selves and gain valuable insights that can lead to healing, behaviour change, and growth. As more research continues to support the benefits of art therapy, it is clear that this approach holds immense potential in supporting budding individuals on their journey towards mental health and well-being. If you know children or teens who would benefit from art psychotherapy, reach out to us at reneemichaud@sagebaytherapy.ca! We are passionate about sharing innovative mental health services with growing humans.
