Alan comes into the session somewhat anxious. As soon as he sat at the drawing table, he chose his favourite medium, pencil. Alan begins to draw skyscrapers with multiple storeys, stairs and lifts, as is always the case at the beginning of each session. He spins a story around his image as it progresses. The pencil is easy to control, and its marks can be erased; hence, it feels less threatening to Alan than paint, which has a mind of its own. The deep pressure of the pencil and its willingness to obey Alan’s commands seems to calm him down. 10 minutes into the drawing Alan appears excitable once again, perhaps it’s the turn that his story has taken or something else around him that has triggered this change of mood. I sense Alan’s frenzy and draw his attention to the clay I have at hand for such moments. Clay will help Alan channel his energy into a medium that can ground or contain his anxiety. Alan begins to pound and knead the clay, and once again, a sense of calm pervades him. Later in the session, I will ask Alan to use paint as I want to dig deep into his emotions. The session will probably end with Alan back to using the pencil, in control.
This brief anecdote provides a glimpse into how the inherent qualities of art materials are used within an art therapy session. Art therapists are trained to work with a large variety of materials to induce or subdue psychoemotional states according to the specific needs of their clients. Especially for children with self-regulation issues, a deep knowledge of the effect of art materials is necessary to modulate sensory/emotional states. For children with sensory integration dysfunction (SID), art materials can sensitise or desensitise hypo or hypersensitive children. Art therapy is being used effectively with children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), learning differences and developmental issues. It is an effective mode of intervention for all ages and a wide range of psychoemotional issues such as anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, bullying, trauma, abuse loss, grief and so on.
When words are not enough, where language has no access to emotions, art therapy is the way to go when verbal expression feels threatening and unsafe.
*You do not need any artmaking skills to do art therapy.
