By Adanna Anucha, MSW
Art is the expression of the mind and soul – it is pain, suffering, love, joy and the range of human experience. When we partake in an artistic process, we are transported into a state where we are liberated from the shackles that bind us, and free to express our thoughts, tell our stories, and capture feelings and emotions that are often too complex, raw and messy to communicate through everyday language.
Many of us are first introduced to art-making as children where we learn about primary and secondary colours through finger painting – a sense of wonder and curiosity pulsating through us as we captivated our senses and left behind messy painted stained clothes. As we get older and enter adulthood, the opportunities to partake in art-making become fewer, leading to many of us becoming disconnected altogether from artistic expression. There is, however value in re-connecting with our artist mind and finding our “artist mojo”.
Emerging research show that engaging in art endeavours – whether it be visual arts, movement, making pottery, creative writing or even attending cultural festivals and fairs – may be linked to a range of positive health outcomes. The evidence, though sparse, is promising that some countries such as the United Kingdom, have even began to integrate art-based practices in their healthcare system. (Macabena et al) So partaking in artistic expression in some form, can enhance mental wellbeing and aid in recovery goals in transformative ways.
No Need to be Picasso – Mindful Awareness of the Process Over Product
How do you begin your creative recovery and re-connect with your artist mind? Where do you start? If it has been a while since you participated in any kind of artistic activity, the thought of throwing yourself into a creative endeavour might bring up feelings of discomfort or anxiety. Many of us often feel this way because we hold judgements about our artistic skills and abilities. We might feel that we lack the skills to be successful at an art activity, which might lead to urges to avoid engaging in the experience.
To begin creative recovery and engage in art-making, we need to be willing to let go of the outcome, refrain from attaching an aesthetic value to a product, and instead embrace the process. The process of making art (in whatever form) is as impactful, if not more important, than the outcome. Shifting to a “process over product” view, is in itself a first step towards artistic expression, and DBT mindfulness skills can be useful in helping with this shift.
“Art activities facilitate mindfulness, the foundational DBT skill, by engaging clients in a novel, process-oriented experience that possibly ‘slows down learning while activating… positive emotions’” (Clark, 2017, p. 12).
Mindfulness what & how skills show us how to let go of attachments and judgements while becoming one with our current experience. In DBT, we use mindfulness skills to be in our wise mind where we can be intuitive, thoughtful and effective responding to the present moment. To engage in creative art expression, mindful awareness is the key that unlocks the shackles to our artist mind.
Some ways you can apply mindfulness skills in your creative recovery:
- Observe when you might be having strong emotions pulling you aware from engaging in an art activity.
- Participate in an activity by throwing yourself fully into the experience.
- Practice non-judgmental observations of the process. For example, changing “I suck at this” to “I am building my skills through my art and I am still learning along the way”.
Using Self Validation Skills in Art-Making
Engaging in creative arts can be a profound act of self-validation, particularly for individuals that have had painful experiences of invalidation. Art making requires taking time and using resources on yourself, connecting with your emotions and expressing yourself through a creative and artistic medium – all of which is a actually type of self-nurturance, self-compassion and a way to self-soothe.
To aid your creative recovery and re-connect with your artist mind, it is important to “bring conscious awareness & intention to the fact that one is deliberately practicing self validation” before engaging in an artistic activity (Clarke 2006). One way of doing this is to intentionally partake in an activity to validate an unpleasant emotion you might be feeling, or might have felt in a given situation. For example, journaling about the sadness you might have felt at one point, or doing a creative movement to express anger you felt/might be feeling towards an individual. Rating the intensity of the emotion before and after engaging in the activity, would give you useful insight.
It is never too late to re-connect with our artist mind and explore our feelings and emotions through art. DBT mindfulness and self-validation skills can aid us to a path of creative recovery and overall metal wellbeing.
References:
Macabena, R., Archambault, K., Dupere, V., (2022) Promising Practices to Deliver Arts Based Youth Programming to Support Mental Health Wellbeing.
Clark, S. M. (2016). DBT-informed art therapy: Mindfulness, cognitive behavior therapy, and the creative process. Jessica Kingsley Publishers.