Recording Artist: Bradford Smith
Art Therapy
When words are not enough
Art? What if I cannot draw a straight line?
The act of expressing oneself creatively is an innate part of all of us; it's part of being fully
human. The problem is that for some of us, that innate, playful, and creative "knowing" got
squashed somewhere in our early years by teachers, parents, and other authority figures.
Whether the verbal comments or silent gestures made were in disrespect or more in a
place of being practical or "helpful" to the young art maker, many carry a great deal of
trauma and fear around being creative since their childhood. The common theme seems to
be, "I'm not good enough."
Try to remember being a child with all those luscious colors of paint in front of you and the
freedom to create whatever your heart desired. Children
More often than not, when I'm first meeting with a client and they are beginning their first
Art Therapy session, I hear a great deal of apologies from clients for not being a very good
artist. Let me reassure you that the "process" rather than the "product" is of importance
within the therapeutic environment. Usually after that first art therapy experience, the client
walks away with a little more confidence, a little more self-esteem and more of a sense of
the creative self that had been extinguished for a good part of his or her life.
Anything can happen when one wants it to, especially in an environment that feels
nourishing, supportive and non-critical.