by: Michelle Peterson
Photo by Pixabay
Dealing with addiction is not an easy process, but there are some therapy options that may make it easier. For women and adolescents especially, art therapy can help you access your emotions and give expression to experiences that are too difficult to put into words. This can help you get to accepting and progressing in conventional therapy techniques. For men, music therapy has been found to be helpful and was originally developed to help WWII veterans returning from war deal with their PTSD symptoms. Below is some information on how they work and ways to incorporate art and music therapy into your addiction recovery.
Talking about addiction can be too difficult and also the reasons behind the addiction might not be readily known. This is why both therapies offer a helpful alternative. Many times substance abuse is an attempt to numb feelings or forget a past trauma, and both music and art allow access to feelings that soothe or slowly lead to understanding the pain rather than facing it head on. The self- expression encouraged by both art forms can help the person in recovery become self- aware and more ready to deal with the recovery process. They also provide stress relief and increased self-esteem’ filling the holes that lead to or were caused by addictive behaviors.
Some music therapies that are especially helpful include drum circles and group performance, which encourage people in recovery to be responsible in order to keep up their part of the piece. Drumming is also cathartic and lowers your blood pressure. For some, art therapy allows an expression of “scary” or difficult emotions that can be addressed more readily once they’re visualized and put down on paper. Drawing, painting, or writing allows you to uncover what you’re feeling or afraid to express. Doing so helps you get prepared to deal with the trauma in a more direct way.
Some examples of art exercises that can help in this way include the lighthouse project and the self care box. In the former, you draw or paint a lighthouse to represent a source of guidance in your life as a reminder that you can find a safe place. In the latter, you cover a cardboard box with drawings and cut out images or however you want to decorate it, and use it to collect trinkets and positive affirmations that make you feel good. Fill the box with photos of friends and family, worry stones, treasured jewelry, or whatever provides you comfort. Other projects include drawing yourself as a child and writing words of support surrounding the drawing or painting a scene of your perfect life and listing three things that you can do to attain it. All of these exercises help you focus on the good things in your life while you’re trying to recover from your addiction.
If your current therapy options do not include music therapy, create your own by learning to play an instrument. Drums are cathartic but not very portable, so learning to play a woodwind instrument like a saxophone or clarinet might be a better option. Woodwind instruments force you to breathe fully when playing them, as well as to sit up straight, so they improve your posture and strengthen your abdominal and core muscles. Learning an instrument like the saxophone also helps you to meet new people and, if you’re performing together, helps you socialize and learn to perform under pressure. Another good thing about the sax is that there are nine different types so you’re likely to find one that fits your stature, unlike perhaps a tuba or oboe.
Learning to express yourself and your emotions is a large part of the recovery process; art and music therapy can be great tools for a successful recovery. Utilizing your creativity to access painful parts of your past can help you address them and move forward. If you create beautiful art and music in the process, all the better.
About the author: Michelle Peterson is the founder of Recovery Pride and can be reached via email at support@recoverypride.org.