MIND & BODY
Finding
courage i n Creativity
Story by Holly Hunter | Photos by Jack Royer | Design by Kayla Craig
You’ve just woken up and it’s another day of avoiding the plethora of check-in texts from your friends and barely making it out of bed to get to class on-time. It looks like your anxiety has sparked again. However, you don’t have to live in this state forever.
One way students are learning to manage the stressors of college life is by trying art therapy. This is a technique utilized to help students express their personality and emotions through channels that traditional therapy doesn’t allow. According to the American Art Therapy Association, “Art therapy is [a] … profession that enriches the lives of individuals, families and communities through active art-making, creative process, applied psychological theory and human experience within a psychotherapeutic relationship.” Creative therapy is more than just using different art forms such as music or painting to cope with anxiety; it allows people to connect with their emotions on a different level. “It taps into another part of our brain that often we can’t tap into with verbal communication. Many of our early memories are implicit and non-verbal, and often when we experience trauma, it’s similarly difficult to talk about,” explains Amy Claridge, associate professor of Family and Child Life. “Art therapy allows for a less direct way to communicate about complicated emotions and begin to make meaning of them,” she adds. This acts as a new form of opening communication channels about common issues college students are facing. 38
WINTER 2020 | ISSUE TWO
