Now providing therapy for central Ohio residents in Westerville, Powell, and New Albany.
Life is Too Short to Be Stuck in the Past
Breaking Through Creative Blocks
Art therapy can help break through creative blocks as well as deepen the creative process.
Some of my clients already enjoy creative and artistic activities, so engaging in art therapy seems like a natural approach to their personal work.
For some, the idea of having a creative practice sounds desirable, but something gets in the way of making it happen. And for others, they used to have a thriving art practice, but then something happened that got in the way.
Fear of the Blank Page
In the first case, there are other things, such as anxiety, negative self-talk, an overbearing internal critic, or perfectionism getting in the way. This may also be experienced as not knowing how to start or feeling blocked from ideas of where to begin, or fear of the blank page.
Art Block or Artist’s Block
In the second case, this is known as creative depression. Someone may have enjoyed art making as a regular practice in the past, but the creative urge to paint or the connection to creative flow has dried up.
Art Therapy Can Help You Find You Again
Jump Start your Art Practice with Art Therapy
In either case, art psychotherapy can help jump-start your practice and get your creative juices flowing. Rather than just using prompts to get you through knowing where to start, I also help you understand the archetypal pattern of the root cause of your distress.
Understanding the Root Cause of Distress
I can guarantee that if you are feeling blocked or anxious in your art-making, you are experiencing it in other parts of your life.
Maybe it’s that teacher or family member from a million years ago telling you that you don’t have any talent. (Excuse me, how dare they! Watch my video about the myth of talent here).
It could be one too many formal art critiques in school. (I suffered from that one for years).
Connecting with Your Body in Therapy
Or it’s that tension headache or knot in your stomach that you mostly try not to think about. You may not understand what your body is trying to tell you, and that’s okay. We work through connecting you to your body in the work I do with clients.
How Can Art Therapy Help?
I'm Maggi, an art therapist in Columbus
I came to art therapy as a second career in my mid thirties when I needed a major life course correction. So I've been there. I understand the confusion, the guilt and shame, the grief,
the seemingly never-ending tears. (I'm happy to say they do end, eventually).
I understand the utmost necessity of needing to go your own way and let go of the relationships, the old ways, and the old you that aren't serving anymore.
I have also experienced the betrayal, estrangement, loneliness, the creative block, and the doubt. Oh! the dark, gruesome wrestling with yourself at night. I know that demon too.
I don't agree with the adage of "everything happens for a reason." Heck no, I wouldn't wish some of the crap life serves up on anyone! I do, however, know that that the clear day at the end of the catastrophic storm will dawn.
Your art process will be one of discovery for your new path a new you and I'll be with you to ferry you through it to the other side of muddy waters.
Getting Started is Easy
Book a Consultation
We'll chat about what you're hoping for and whether we are a fit to work together.
Schedule Online
Conveniently schedule your sessions online 24 hours a day.
Find Yourself
Cross the threshold to knowing yourself deeper so you can finally feel whole.
How is Art Therapy different from traditional talk therapy?
Accessing the Visual Centers of the Brain
Your “issues,” complexes, or trauma affects the visual centers of the brain. That’s one of the reasons why people have nightmares and/or visual flashbacks. Because those memories and emotions are stored in the visual centers of the brain, using the verbal centers of the brain and talk therapy doesn’t fully access that part of the brain.
However, art therapy, as a visual process, engages directly with the parts of the brain where the trauma memories are located and, therefore, could be worked out in the art therapy process.
As a trauma-informed therapist, I help guide my clients through this process, paying attention to unconscious communication in the artwork, as well as behavioral indicators and direct feedback from my clients to make sure that the process unfolds along a path and at a rate that each individual client finds the most beneficial. I talk more about what an art therapy session looks like on my blog here.
Art Therapy and Mindfulness
Also, here’s a video of an example of a mindful art meditation technique I use with my clients. It may not be what you assumed “art therapy” might be. A lot of times, we use art materials as calming and grounding techniques as well as ways to connect with unheard parts of ourselves that we aren’t generally related to.
But I’m not an artist. I can’t even draw stick figures.
You don’t have to be an artist or have any “talent” to benefit from art therapy.
It’s not about the supposed quality of the work but the underlying meaning of it.
Whether it’s painting, sculpting, or just doodling, you can learn to decipher the messages from within.
Everyone is creative in their own way. You’ve just lost sight of it.
Still not convinced? Here are my “rules” for art therapy.
How do you do Art Therapy online?
Really the only thing different about doing art therapy online versus in person is that you have to have your own supplies.
While there may be supplies you want along the way, a pencil and a piece of paper can get us started.
We will meet online using a secure video-conferencing platform similar to FaceTime or Skype.
During the session, we’ll be able to see each other and talk as though we were in person.
What is Dream Interpretation and how does it work with Art Therapy?
Both our dreams and the art we create share the same language- the language of images from our unconscious.
Ask yourself, “where does art come from?”
When we are creating art, we aren’t actively thinking about it. Similar to when we are dreaming. It’s like a waking dream.
To learn more about how these two approaches work together, visit my Dream Interpretation page.
Ready to Get Started?
Have More Questions?
Schedule a free 30 minute consultation to learn more.