When Words Fail, the Arts Can Help - by Jeni Kanis

Throughout the semester, as I (Jeni) have been interning at the Institute for Therapy through the Arts (ITA), I have been learning more about what creative arts therapies are and what the term means. 

One might wonder, can’t any therapist use art? Or can’t any artist help people? And to each of those questions, I think the answer is yes, to some extent. There are therapists who might use coloring, role playing or other creative arts methods to work with clients, and there are artists who have been volunteering their time to benefit others.

So what makes the therapists at ITA any different? There are three things I want to share with you (though I am sure there are many more ways to clarify the difference). First, it seems that our therapists focus on the process not the product. For example, an art therapist I work with encourages clients to explore and investigate when using paints. How can we make new colors? How can we use new mediums? What works? What doesn’t? How can we learn from mistakes? When do we know it is time to stop blending and mixing? These kinds of questions and experiments not only expose the clients to the art form, but they also prompt thinking that is related to life decision making. What happens if we act this way? When do I know I need to stop doing something? 

Sometimes, a product does come about that a group can rally around such as the wall I wrote about a while ago at the military event we did. (You can see it at www.followthewall.org.) But even this product is focused on the collaborative process of filling in the wall and remembering. It is an opportunity for people to respond and for them to reflect.

Second, the art form is always central to the therapy session. The drama therapist I work with makes the drama central to the content we get from clients. Clients are guided to create stories and connections, but the process of creating the drama is the means by which we are addressing relationships and discovering more about ourselves or about how we relate (or don’t relate very well) to other people. Through the art form and the therapeutic techniques these creative arts therapists know, clients can process things and deal with issues or responses as they arise.

Third, these mediums are used to practice and understand skills that would otherwise go unpracticed or be difficult to practice. For example, a music therapy session might be a way to practice breath–support and memory recall through singing, or it might be about practicing interactive skills by sharing instruments or playing how we feel or incorporating our drum beat in with someone else’s triangle playing.

Overall, I have learned to appreciate the depth of these art forms and the great impact that these creative arts therapies can have. After observing a number of clients from different backgrounds, I agree with a phrase I have heard and seen in the office, “When words fail, the arts can help.”