Primal Therapy & Art
CAUTION: some content is explicit.
Primal Therapy Australia views expression and communication through art as a valuable therapeutic tool because people can sometimes express through drawing feelings that they cannot put into words or are yet to fully feel.
Drawing and painting allow us to gain a deeper understanding of traumatic experience as sensory experiences imprint more vividly into consciousness and often have no words.
Art is not used as a substitute for the feeling process but rather it is used in conjunction with the feeling work as it provides a non-verbal medium to convey the profound impact of overwhelming trauma on adults and children. Many people find that using art (their creativity) helps them to integrate dissociated and painful material and assists in their healing.
Art in therapy can be used in different ways:
-
For different diagnosis and monitoring response to treatment.
-
For processing traumatic memories in an observer mode so that they are not relived until the client is ready to experience the feeling part of the memory.
-
For teaching clients self-soothing and techniques to help them cope with flashbacks.
-
For educating clients and helping them understand the dissociative dynamic and stay grounded instead of dissociating.
At Primal Therapy Australia drawing and art has been and is invaluable in education and healing. It has played a powerful role in the integration and understanding of many clients.
Following are images kindly donated by People who have done therapy with Primal Therapy Australia.
