The Power of Expressive Arts in Managing Anxiety

Welcome to this journey of creativity and healing! As an expressive arts therapist in Oregon, I have witnessed the incredibly transformative power that creative expression can have in helping individuals with anxiety. Stress and uncertainty can easily take center stage in today’s world. It is crucial to find ways to release tension and express emotions. Expressive arts offers a unique and accessible way to approach emotional well-being. Join me as we explore ways creativity can benefit your mental health and discover a few tips along the way.

Understanding Anxiety

Anxiety is a normal human emotion. Common symptoms can include:

• Muscle tension

• Rapid heart rate

• Thoughts of worry or dread

• Panic

• Irritability

• Nausea

• Avoidance

Anxiety may feel unpleasant, but like all emotions, it is not inherently bad. Emotions are just words that help describe how you feel at a certain moment. Small amounts of anxiety can help you focus or motivate you to make changes. The goal should never be to eliminate anxiety. You can work to reduce your anxiety and learn to understand it better. You want to be able to manage your emotions rather than have your emotions control you. Expressive Arts Therapy can be a powerful tool to help you achieve this.

The Role of Expressive Arts

Expressive Arts Therapy is composed of multiple modalities such as visual image-making, sound/music, movement/dance, writing, and drama. Expressive Arts Therapy shares some common roots with art therapy, but art therapy is solely focused on visual art-making, whereas expressive arts therapy is intermodal—moving between and layering different forms of expression. The act of creation itself is emphasized over the end product in expressive arts therapy. Thus, this approach can provide benefits to people who have absolutely no formal training in any kind of art. 

How Expressive Arts Work

Expressive arts can help you by giving you different tools to communicate with. By incorporating processes such as movement, drawing, or writing, you may experience benefits like:

• Create greater self-awareness and improve your mind-body connection

• Calm your nervous system

• Improve your emotional regulation

• Increase “feel good” hormones 

• Provide a distraction from your ruminating thoughts

• “Dialogue” with your anxiety so you can understand it better

• Imagine and create a new and better outcome 

• And much more

5 Expressive Arts Activities for Anxiety Relief

There are many creative ways to reduce anxiety using expressive arts.Visual journals (also called art journals), guided visualization with art-making, listening to calming music, creating a collage about your emotions, and writing poetry can all be great ways to release tension and explore your emotions through creativity.

1. Visual journals 

2. Guided visualization with art-making

3. Listening to calming music

4. Emotion collage

5. Poetry or creative writing 

Any of these activities can be combined with any of the other activities to expand your options and take you in multiple directions.

Benefits of Online Expressive Arts Services

Expressive Arts Therapy can absolutely be done virtually. I have offered virtual sessions for clients for the past four years now. There are some clear benefits to having your expressive arts therapy sessions online:

1. Accessibility and Convenience:

   All you need is a laptop, a secure internet connection, and a private room with a door where you can be undisturbed during your session.

2. More Choices:

   There aren’t a lot of expressive arts therapists out there. You may not have one with an office near you. By offering expressive arts therapy online, I can work with you no matter where you live in Oregon.

3. Make Expressive Arts as Part of Your Daily Life:

   An online expressive arts therapist can help you learn how to create space and time for creative exploration in your home and they can do so by seeing your actual home.

Common Myths and Misconceptions About Expressive Arts Therapy

1. Expressive Arts Therapy is for Artists

   Expressive Arts Therapy is about expression, not creating art. 

2. Expressive Arts Therapy is the Same as Taking an Art Class

   An art class can help you and release some stress, but only a therapist is trained to help you process emotions.

3. Expressive Arts Therapy is Just for Kids -

   People across age ranges can benefit from expressive arts therapy. 

4. Any Therapist Can Call Themselves an Expressive Arts Therapist if They Just Let Clients Do Something Creative in Sessions

   Expressive Arts Therapy is its own thing and several places around the world specialize in training people for it.

5. Coloring Books are Therapy

   Coloring books can be fun and relaxing diversions, but they do not offer the human support, guidance, and insight that comes from therapy.

Conclusion

Expressive Arts Therapy offers so many great benefits for your anxiety. It isn’t just for kids and it isn’t just for artists. Expressive Arts Therapy helps you add more tools to your coping skills toolbox so that you can create a richer, more vibrant life with more resilience and more authenticity. If you think you might want to try expressive arts therapy, I invite you to click the button below to schedule a free 15-minute consultation to see if expressive art therapy is right for you.

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