Trauma and Art therapy....

Monday has come...... again!
Ah.... why my weekends pass to quick?! I've been PLANNING to do so many things but haven't done most of that!!!!

Anyway, Start of a new week means more knowledg and experience coming up.
Here, i want to write about Trauma (PTSD) today (cuz i found interesting article : )

Well here is just a quick brief description about TRAUMA:

Trauma (From Greek τρᾶυμα = "a wound") is medically called 'PTSD(Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and it mainly has 2 category; physical and psychological.

Physical trauma means to a physical injury in considerable degree. A trauma patient is someone who has suffered serious and life-threatening physical injury, with the potential for secondary complications such as shock, respiratory failure and death.

Psychological trauma is damage to the psyche that occurs as a result of a traumatic event that is often life threatening. When that trauma leads to post traumatic stress disorder, damage may involve physical changes inside the brain and to brain chemistry, which damage the person's ability to adequately cope with stress as well as inability to manage everyday life. (WIKI pedia)

Both traumas are equally scary but i will focus about psychological trauma here.
I personally think a Trauma caused by Natural disaster is the hard one to cope with. For example, Tsunami happened at south Asian region, Massive earth quake at Haiti or hurricanes in USA. Because these events occur outside of human power and hardly able to avoid, it is hard to deal with. When there are no one to put blame on, or throw anger to, we people do not have place to express feelings / emotion other than mourning.
On the other hand, there are man-made(caused) trauma such as witnessing murder, abuse, domestic violence, sexual abuse, accident or bulling. In these days, this man-made trauma has been increasing as dramatic arise in reporting numbers of domestic violence, sexual abuse and school bullying. And sadly, the worst part of it is that when a trauma is untreated, it often keep creating same abusive link to next victims. For example, a sexually abused victims often become perpetrators for various reasons (some of them just wanted to experience to be a 'causing side' since they were a 'caused side' before, or some become perpetrator to pay their revenge to other innocent and powerless children) , or a child grown up with domestic violence repeat same behaviour to their children (which may create more than multiple effect). That is why it is very important to resolve the traumatic memory / experience so that the person affected by trauma can cope with it and live better life and it can also stop the link for further trauma victims.

Art Therapy is one of the powerful tool for Trauma treatment.
Art therapy is increasingly introduced for Trauma treatment especially for children. When people are in confusion / mental chaos after traumatic event, often, a lot of people lose their ability to explain things in words (not enough time to process, or inability to have enough sleep causing chemical imbalance in brain) and their emotional response maybe blocked due to defence mechanism. Art therapy is said particularly useful tool of treatment as a sensory nature of trauma. Art making involves not only active participation, but also help people express thoughts and feeling without words, become vent for their struggle in safe space, and may support sensory part of trauma processing.

I found interesting web-page about 'art therapy helping Indigenous women'. I found this particularly interesting as i am living in Australia and knowing how sensitive & challenging Indigenous issue is. Also it is very interesting and perfect idea of using art for their therapy treatment since they are well known 'art people'
this is another related link; http://www.arttherapyblog.com/ptsd/art-therapy-aids-trauma-recover-helps-indigenous-women-heal/

It is wonderful to find people finding art as a therapeutic way and getting benefit from this amazing limitless methods!

Art Therapy and Autism

There are growing number of children diagnosed as an Autistic..... What is this Autism we increasingly hear from day to day life nowaday????

'Art therapy and Autism' explains Autism as;
  Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a commonly used, non-scientific term (now often used as “autism”) that describes a category comprised of five related neurodevelopmental disorders (DSM-IV):

1. Childhood Disintegrative Disorder,
2. Rett's Disorder,
3. Autistic Disorder,
4. Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD),
5. Asperger's Syndrome.

A person with ASD is a person diagnosed with one of these five disorders. The disorders within this “spectrum” are often ordered from low functioning with mental retardation to high functioning (an individual whose intellectual reasoning is unaffected; ex: Asperger's).

What all ASD disorders have in common is the presence of deficits in three main areas to greater or lesser extents: communication, socialization, and imagination, as well as the presence of restricted and repetitive (“stereotyped” or “perseverative”) behaviors and presence of these deficits depends on the individual (their specific diagnosis, personality, and timing of therapy received, family support, etc.).
Hyper- or hypo-sensory sensitivity (tactile, aural, visual, etc.) is common and a huge influence upon the deficit areas listed above. Also obsessive-compulsive behaviors are common, self-injury or aggression toward others, and seizure disorder. 

Art Therapy is increasingly used for a part of ASD treatment because of the believe that art making is beneficial to ASD people (particularly children) due to their intense sensory needs and disregulation, often nonverbal nature, and need for more visual, concrete, hands-on therapies.

Still don't get it?
Now i fund this info.... (from http://autism.about.com/od/autismtherapy101/a/arttherapy.htm)

One of the hallmarks of autism spectrum disorders is difficulty with verbal and social communication. In some cases, people with autism are literally non-verbal: unable to use speech to communicate at all. In other cases, people with autism have a hard time processing language and turning it into smooth, easy conversation. People with autism may also have a tough time reading faces and body language. As a result, they may have difficulty with telling a joke from a statement, or sarcasm from sincerity.

Meanwhile, many people with autism have an extraordinary ability to think visually - "in pictures." Many can turn that ability to good use in processing memories, recording images and visual information, and expressing ideas through drawing or other artistic media. Art is a form of expression that requires little or no verbal interaction which can open doors to communication.

All too often, it's assumed that a non-verbal person or a person with limited verbal capabilities is incompetent in other areas. As a result, people on the autism spectrum may not be exposed to opportunities to use artistic media -- or the opportunities may be too challenging in other ways (in large class settings, for example). Art therapy offers an opportunity for therapists to work one-on-one with individuals on the autism spectrum to build a wide range of skills in a manner which may be more comfortable (and thus more effective) than spoken language.

So, these are the possible list of 6 major ASD treatment goals

• Imagination/abstract thinking deficits
• Sensory regulation and integration
• Emotions/Self-expression
• Developmental Growth
• Recreation/Leisure skills
• Visual-spatial deficits

For more detailed information; go to http://arttherapyandautism.com/index.html  (above infomation is a summary of this noted web-site) 

Im learning so much by writing(editing) this blog!!!! ( '0' )
Why? As i am an art therpist, i should know these thing, don't I????     Well, although my speciality is on children, i work more with immigrant/refugee children often. So i am learning to expand my speciality. Everyday is a challenge and day to learn new things (^_^)

Below is another intro info describing use of creative arts for ASD therapy.

I am more and more excited being one of this 'limitless and exploring' Art therapist!!!!!

Collage.....

I am not so much into collage. Well, i do it in time to time, but never really saw it as an ART FORM....
I know, i should have open my eye much much earlier since i am doing art therapy and knowing its popularity in art therapy world..... but really, it was not 'my kind of art....
Anyway, today i saw post comment from Cathery Malchiodi, who she was intrioducing 'visual journaling'. It was just simply interesting to read! Then i found a page showing amazing amount of collage images! Its so breath takingly beautiful and Visually, it really telling you something. You should check this page, especially if you are like me-not so much into collage.....

Amazed! Amazed and amazed!!!!
For sure, collage has a POWERFUL voice in art Therapy!

ART THERAPY - THE NEW AGE THERAPY

Here is an introduction for art psychotherapy. BuT,,,, If you ask ‘what is art therapy?’ to art therapists, you will probably get various responses from them. Its because, there are many theories and methods for it, and each art therapist apply theory (theories) which they believe and uses methods that they feel most comfortable.


* Art psychotherapy (also known as art therapy) is one of a new generation therapy methods. It is a part of mental / allied health and similar to counselling. It mainly used in 2 ways; art AS a therapy, and art IN therapy.

   In ‘art AS therapy’, art is used simply as therapeutic activity. Art making is a beneficial on its own and there is no need for interpretation, but let the artist find their own creative flow to face and deal their inner issues.

   In ‘art IN therapy’, art is used as a way to communicate with own subconscious mind as well as with others. In this way, art making is used along with traditional psychoanalytic approach.

For more info, please go to
www.atelierflow.com

about atelier FLOW....

Atelier FLOW offers an ART PSYCHOTHERAPY (or often called as an ‘art therapy’) through therapeutic space with creative experiences for any one looking for positive way of living.

We believe creativity is innate gift to all mankind. It is needless to say that art making had been used since the ancient history as a way to communicate, to express, to keep cultural record, to substitute words and to appreciate beauty.

Everyone has basic need and desire to express themselves in their own ways. Art making is not only an expression, but is also a way of exercising one’s creativity. Through my practice, I witnessed creativity gives joy, fundamental drive and richness of life.

Creativity can be such an essential part in human life. Because creative processes can help people transforming their experiences, feelings, or emotions into creative energy, creativity becomes fuel to find a best solution to challenging situations.

We trust application of art psychotherapy will enhance people’s innate creativity, help colour oneself as s/he wishes and lets form oneself uniquely to move forwards to a way s/he wishes.