Integrating creative arts with proven therapeutic practice

You can embrace your inner Jackson Pollack and fling vivid colours upon your canvas. Go abstract with shapes and swirls that represent your inner emotional storm. If you have arthritis or another condition that makes hand movement painful, you might find it more comfortable to make a collage as a form of therapy. You can tear or cut pictures out of magazines, so there’s no need to grip a pencil, paintbrush or needle. Plus, you won’t need to spend much money on the other supplies you’ll need—you can find poster boards and glue at nearly any dollar store.

art therapy ideas for adults in recovery

Crumple a sheet of paper, tear off the edges in the form of an oval or circle. In the middle, create a drawing on any topic. Exercise trains the imagination, helps to overcome stress. Ink blots and butterflies art therapy ideas. Drip a drop of ink on thin paper and roll it up or fold it in half.

Express Yourself! Using Art Therapy to Help Treat Addiction

Thanks Sabino, I am truly grateful to you and the Sabino family. Beyond the obvious benefits of art for individuals in recovery, it’s obvious all of us could use more art in our lives. Through a paint brush, ink pen, charcoal pencil or the gentle maneuvering of clay, art becomes the expression of emotions art therapy ideas for adults in recovery that words cannot explain. In essence, art in process does the talking without speaking a word. As a tool for those struggling with a mental health or substance use disorder, art can be a way to express trauma, pain and emotions in an entirely new way. Art therapy also bolsters self-esteem and confidence.

  • Create your own interpretation of a famous painting.
  • It’s not just about creating beautiful art; it’s about expressing what’s inside when words are hard to find.
  • Paint different moods (sad, cheerful, joyful, etc.).
  • No artistic skill is required for art therapy; the key is a willingness to engage in the process.
  • Without a way to deal with emotions, mental health is always in flux and at the mercy of what a person can control or not.

After that, you need to draw images of the words you heard. Take a dictionary and pick two random concepts at random. Match them up, come up with a crazy story with these concepts, and draw a picture. These art exercises is great for training the brain and helps develop creativity. Draw something that combines as many features of all the animals you know as possible.

Why Addiction Treatment Should Include Art

Paint a stone or a brick, take part in the Kindness rocks marathon. Collect a collage of leaves, twigs, glue them to paper. Then finish painting the background, draw pictures around them. Create your own interpretation of a famous painting.

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