Art Therapy
- Meagan Hammer
- Mar 26, 2020
- 1 min read
In the middle of a stressful time in my life I searched for activities that would calm my nervous system and would keep my brain challenged at the same time. This combo seemed paradoxical. How could I be calm yet energized and focused at the same time? Before I began studying and really understanding the nervous system, I was used to being in fight or flight (sympathetic) slightly stressed states to help me focus and get things done. Being in parasympathetic states was rare for me so I struggled to find activities that naturally kept me floating around in a calm state. Art was one of those rare activities. Specifically I found scrap-booking and a few forms of abstract art to be not only fascinating but also deeply peaceful. I usually had to "work" to keep myself in parasympathetic but I found myself naturally and easily staying in wordless oneness without any effort on my part. I was interested to see if my clients would have the same results. I knew art therapy was being used successfully for many different mental health struggles but I had always found art stressful because I was so bad at it so I resisted. This was different.
The wabi sabi nature of this art was both uplifting and calming. It released me from the need to be perfect.
I knew i had to find a way to bring this to not only my clients but also anyone out there struggling with PTSD and trauma.
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