Art Therapy

Individuals hearing of art therapy for the first time often say "Why that sounds wonderful for children!" It is wonderful... for people of any age. Those adept with cognitive defenses often benefit the most from the use of media and techniques which bypass the verbal labrynith. For those suffering cummulative or individual trauma, current or residual, art therapy speaks the same scensory lingo as the encoded reactions. Therefore, it is highly valuable in providing a voice and form for:

• repressed or supressed emotions and experiences, providing not only stimuli similar to the original precipitating event, but a "safe" avenue for sharing perceptions without being required to "tell";
• dissociative disorders;
• eating disorders, self-injurious behaviors, and psychosomatic complaints (talk about visual and tactilt enactments of emotional content.);
• physical distress and its accompanying emotions;
• early narcissistic injury and one's attempt to cover or "fix" it. (object relations and containment take on a greater meaning.)