Art therapy is a form of psychotherapy, using art materials as a way of expressing thoughts, feelings and past experiences. It offers a creative way to explore the difficulties someone’s experiencing and is a form of therapy that can be helpful at any age, from primary school children to adults. Many people feel safer using art to express themselves rather than just through talking therapy. Clients don’t need to be ‘good’ at art to benefit from art therapy. They can use many different art materials, and it’s up to the person to decide what they’d like to work with: from paints or pens and pencils, to clay or collaging.
What can art therapy help with?
Art therapy can be used to work through a variety of issues, including anxiety, depression, past trauma and bereavement. It can also be suitable for those who have ASD or ADHD. The role of the art therapist is to support a client. They may offer connections, highlight patterns within the artwork, or ask the client to suggest a narrative around the piece.
How art therapy helped Jamie
Jamie was referred to us when he was 9 years old. He’d been removed from his mum’s care along with his little sister because of abuse and neglect. He now lived with his paternal grandmother and father.
While living with his mum he’d moved schools multiple times, losing friendships and trusted adult relationships. He became the carer and protector for his little sister. His sister had significant neurodiversity needs that he struggled to meet, and both children had spent lengthy periods with no school or social services care or support.
Jamie presented to adults as overly affectionate and continually seeking their approval. He struggled to make friends with his peers, resulting in him feeling isolated at school particularly at break and lunchtimes.
The early days
Initially, Jamie was talkative but controlled in sessions, saying please and thank you with almost every interaction. He only used dry materials, pens, pencils and crayons and was careful not to make a mess and keen to tidy up before he left. He would repeatedly check it was okay to use the resources and thanked our play therapist for letting him use them.
He shared in detail about his different schools and how well he got on with the teachers but made a point of saying that the school he was at was the best. He was keen to make a good impression.
In the next few sessions, Jamie was curious about the therapist role. He reflected on working with counsellors and social workers before, noting none were as ‘nice as you’. But he avoided any exploration around his family or the struggles he was having in school. Jamie wanted to present a picture of a popular happy boy with no problems in school or at home.
Positive milestones
As trust grew in the therapeutic relationship however, Jamie began talking about what life was like with mum. This coincided with a breakdown in supervised visits with his mum and was shown in sessions as he moved to ‘messy play.’ He added paint and foam clay to produce ‘slime’. He asked his therapist to do the messiest part, mixing the paint into the clay using their hands. He was fascinated they didn’t mind getting dirty and were okay about the table getting messy.
As the weeks went on, he became increasingly more comfortable with making a mess during the session. He began mixing the paint and foam clay with his hands. He commented “Look, I never used to be able to make a mess”. This was a positive milestone. Jamie recognised he was more relaxed, felt safe and could express himself honestly.
Acknowledging the mess in the art therapy session was a metaphor for the mess within his life. Acknowledging and sharing this helped him move towards processing and healing from his trauma.
Jamie used this style of play to explore multiple experiences over many months, including having no food to eat and being locked in a room with no lights.
A safe environment to explore feelings
Allowing Jamie to share his fears in a safe, non-judgmental environment meant he learnt it was okay to be fearful and that he wouldn’t be rejected for expressing those feelings.
During the years that Jamie attended therapy he navigated seeing both his parents under supervision. Then prolonged periods of no contact with mum without knowing why and his dad being removed from the family home for physical abuse. He had to tolerate restrictions on friendships and activities, often finding this confusing and distressing. Without the support of ongoing therapy, Jamie would have relied on his earlier damaging understanding of relationships. Being able to work continuously with Jamie meant he has been able to process some of his life events and learn how to build healthy relationships.
Jamie’s progression from dry to wet materials marked his ability to tolerate change. Being able to tolerate mess was important for him, coming from a very negatively controlled home life with mum. Now having the skills to build resilience, Jamie began to forge friendships and could better tolerate disappointment that didn’t leave him devastated or ending the friendship – an important social skill as he moved to high school.
Please support our campaign
We are currently crowdfunding to provide more free art and play therapy sessions to children. If you would like to help more children like Jamie then please consider making a small donation on our Spacehive page.
