When Trauma Lives in the Body: How Art Therapy Can Help
Trauma is often defined as an event or series of events that occurred which impacts our body and nervous system - creating a lasting mark that can affect us in many different ways. Trauma can include different forms of abuse: physical, emotional, sexual or verbal; as well as experiencing bullying at a young age, a challenging romantic relationship, feeling excluded within your family, and so much more. Trauma is characterized less by what happened and more about how it made your body feel.
How Trauma is Expressed Through the Body
Since we live in a society that often rewards and places emphasis on what we can explain and express verbally, the ways in which trauma may present itself for you may feel challenging to explain (especially if you don’t quite remember what happened to you).
However, our body is always working to support us and communicate through sensations and physical experiences. Trauma may be expressed through the body as:
chronic or undiagnosable pain
feeling numb, frozen or disconnected
becoming easily overwhelmed even if you are able to “think” your way out of it
stomach discomfort, IBS or any other condition that doctors can’t seem to diagnose using a test
feeling hypervigilent, struggling to trust others and always on the lookout in your relationships
None of this means that there is something inherently wrong with you, your body is simply asking for some attention and care.
How Art Therapy can Help you Access Trauma Stored in the Body
In an Art Therapy session, your therapist may provide you with different options for art materials you can use, a directive (think an art activity or something that has more structure to it) or allow you to choose what you would like to create all of which involves creative expression, emotion regulation and space to play safely. The Art Therapist is there to create a safe and supportive space, guiding you with curiosity and compassion as needed.
Through Art Therapy and the creative process, you are giving your body the space to communicate in it’s own language without needing to use language or words. You are also allowing your body to perhaps begin to feel into or explore your experience in a safe and supportive space with someone (your therapist) who can perhaps understand your experience without needing to hear what happened to you. When you are present in the creative process, your body is able to (or in the very least begins to) come into a state of play, ease and safety. This is the opposite of what the body feels when it is stuck in it’s trauma response of being tense, frozen or even stuck. Certain materials may also support the activation of past experiences or memories - in both a challenging (and maybe even triggering way) or in a fun and safe way.
The difference about the Art Therapy experience from making art on your own is that you have the support of a trained professional who is able to support and hold the space for you so that you do not then go into a state of greater overwhelm. Something that can be fundamental in trauma healing.
Healing Through Connection and Creativity
Trauma healing occurs in a couple of different ways. This includes:
Connection
Art Therapy offers you a space to connect with both yourself and your body through the connection and expression of the art materials. As well as with another, the therapist - who is present in a supportive and compassionate way.
Safety
As you spend more time with your therapist, the rapport supports the development of safety and trust - both rationally and within your body. Additionally, the art-making process itself is inherently safe due to the nonverbal nature and experience of creating.
Emotion regulation
Learning to notice the way you and your body feel in the moment and then adapting to or coping with it is one of the main benefits of using art materials and the art-making process in a therapeutic space.
Supporting your body’s somatic symptoms
Taking the time to really listen, notice, name, listen some more and find the tools to manage the ways in which your body is communicating with you is a beautiful way to heal from your trauma - a process which allows for you to rediscover yourself and come back into your body.
The goal in trauma healing - especially when the somatic symptoms are loud - is to be able to repair what may have become ruptured at the experience of the trauma.
If you've ever felt frustrated that insight alone hasn't created the change you hoped for, you're not failing at healing. Trauma impacts more than our thoughts—it impacts our entire nervous system, mind, body and spirit often leaving us feeling disconnected and lost. Using Art Therapy as a treatment for trauma healing can help to repair these lost or fractured parts.
Through the use of Art Therapy and the support of an Art Therapist, you can be supported in listening to the wisdom of the body, reconnecting with yourself, and discover new pathways toward healing that extend beyond words. If you are in Miami and are looking for the support of an Art Therapist, book a free consultation call with me today to see if working together may feel like a good fit. I have availability for both in person and virtual sessions at this time.
