By Renée Fabian
When I color during therapy, it creates a safe space for me to express painful feelings from my past. Coloring engages a different part of my brain that allows me to process my trauma in a different way. I can even talk about the most difficult memories of my sexual abuse without panicking.
Yet there’s more to art therapy than coloring, despite what the adult coloring book trend may suggest. They’re onto something, though, as I’ve learned through my own experience. Art therapy, just like talk therapy, has enormous healing potential when done with a trained professional. In fact, for those with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), working with an art therapist has been a lifesaver.
What is PTSD? PTSD is a psychiatric disorder resulting from a traumatic event. Terrifying or threatening experiences like war, abuse, or neglect leave traces that get stuck in our memories, emotions, and bodily experiences. When triggered, PTSD causes symptoms like re-experiencing the trauma, panic or anxiety, touchiness or reactivity, memory lapses, and numbness or dissociation.
“Traumatic memories typically exist in our minds and bodies in a state-specific form, meaning they hold the emotional, visual, physiological, and sensory experiences that were felt at the time of the event,” says Erica Curtis, a California-based licensed marriage and family therapist. “They’re essentially undigested memories.”
Share This Post!
Beahvioral Health Conditions in Children and Youth Exposed to Natural Disasters
Supplemental Research Bulletin, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration This Supplemental Research Bulletin focuses on mental health and substance use (behavioral health) conditions in children and adolescents following exposure to [...]
Many Refugees Dealing with Trauma Face Obstacles to Mental Health Care
By Erica Zurek and Alander Rocha Refugees are arriving in the U.S. in greater numbers this year after resettlement counts reached a 40-year low under President Donald Trump. These new arrivals, like [...]
The Dangerous Impact of Racial Trauma on the Black Community
By Maia Niguel Hoskin Psychologists use the term trauma to describe an emotional response to a terrible event like an accident, rape, or natural disaster. Racial trauma, or race-based traumatic stress, [...]
California Surgeon General on Covid: ‘Greatest collective trauma’ of a generation
By Maanvi Singh When Dr. Nadine Burke Harris was first appointed California surgeon general, she set out to address the toxic stress and trauma plaguing the state’s most vulnerable residents. Then [...]
States Address ACEs and Trauma and Build Resilience
By Anna Heard Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are potentially traumatic events that can affect a person’s health, well-being and success into adulthood. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated these dynamics by disrupting [...]
Adult ADHD and Childhood Trauma: Is there a link?
By Keri Wiginton If you’re an adult with ADHD, you’re among millions of other grownups who also live with it. Scientists know your genes play a major role in your chances [...]