trauma narrative through art

[Dee]

Has anyone done this?  How does it work?  My therapist is suggesting we start this.  She has given me time to think about this before my next appointment.  We have talked very little about trauma and are about to start.

[Three Roses]

yes, i did a bit of this, and gained a lot of insight thru my "art". haha if you can call it that! it seemed to bring up deeper emotions than just talking and it seemed easier to access the emotions than with writing exercises. the media i used was collage, utilizing ads and pictures that i cut from old magazines. thanks for reminding me of this - i think i may do it again!

[sanmagic7]

i've also done this, dee, and it was very helpful.  i'm no artist by any means, but i was able to draw feelings easier than i was able to explain them, even to myself.   i got a lot of clarity in all cases, and it also helped with annihilating depression when it crept in again.   

i'm a big proponent of it.  i worked with an art teacher for troubled adolescent girls, and we utilized art a lot with them, too.  very powerful stuff, lots of stuff they could get out of their systems, put on paper, so that it wasn't building up inside them anymore.   it wasn't always coherent pictures, either, but employed scribbles and color as well.  it was just a visual manifestation of a multitude of crapola roiling around inside.  but, they all loved getting it out, and it caused much more stability for them (and for me, too, when i was doing my own.)

just my experience.  big hug, dee.

[Candid]

I went through a stage of drawing, and I drew lots of faces.  Most of them were sad, a few had big fake grins that looked hostile.  That was followed by a brief but happy period of making tiny pixies and fairies in clay.  Most were around 2cm tall. 

Mostly I write.  I can express the feelings of trauma without going anywhere near my own facts -- and to me, the feelings in CPTSD are more significant than the facts.  Three of my trauma stories have been published, and I didn't know I was writing trauma fiction at the time.  All of them show alienation, being misunderstood/misjudged, being unsupported and unacknowledged by the people around the protagonists. In one case the narrator was a cat!

A felt a lot of relief through writing these stories.  The longest of them was placed 3rd in a literary competition before being printed as a novella, but was criticised because it got nowhere -- ie. there was no resolution for the anti-heroine, who I left fighting SI.  It was the way I felt at the time, and I was so thrilled that the judges and publisher 'got' it. 

The non-English speaking refugee found a friend; the cat left home, had some nasty adventures, and returned to its owners with a new sense of self.

I've never (until now) thought of the performing arts -- dance and theatre -- as possible means of expression.  When obliged to dance, I can't get the steps right.  The harder I try the worse it gets, which upsets me when everyone else can do it.   I'm no actor, either... or rather, most of my waking life is an act, so when H tried to film me I 'froze'.  He was saying: "Just do what you're doing" and the results were so awful I made him delete them.

Any of the arts could work as therapy.  I would say pick whichever appeals to you and just feel your way into it.

[AphoticAtramentous]

I haven't done art as therapy specifically before, I have drawn though on my own accord whenever I feel I've needed to just vent. It can be very soothing and calming. Once you spill out your emotions via your hands, once you have a kind of finished production made of your own anger or sadness, it's oddly satisfying to look at.
And if you want, you can collect and save all the finished art works you create. It can be very intriguing to look back at in later years. I started drawing my feelings and emotions before I even knew I had C-PTSD, I've kept all of them too. Occasionally I use that as a little bit of movation for myself, looking at them and telling myself; "I've gone through these emotions before, I have the physical evidence! And I overcame each and every hurdle. So yes, I can keep pushing on."
One drawing is a step closer to mental freedom. ^-^

A felt a lot of relief through writing these stories.  The longest of them was placed 3rd in a literary competition before being printed as a novella, but was criticised because it got nowhere -- ie. there was no resolution for the anti-heroine, who I left fighting SI.  It was the way I felt at the time, and I was so thrilled that the judges and publisher 'got' it. 

3rd place, that's pretty good Candid! Well done!

[Dee]

I have an extremely difficult time talking about it.  I think her idea is for art to help with that.  I looked back at the few items I drew inpatient and I got upset.  However, it was easier than when I tried to write it and read a narrative.  I know I've got to get it out.