Art Therapy Promotes Healing for Victims of Sexual Abuse

Therapy is an integral part in overcoming addiction and recovering from traumatic events. For many children, adolescents and adults, the therapy used in the healing process often involves group or individual psychotherapy. For some patients, however, there is a far greater need for innovative approaches to therapy and healing.

In teenagers and adults who have experienced sexual abuse, group therapy or individual psychotherapy may be difficult to use as a way in which to facilitate healing. As a result, counselors and therapists understand there must be a more varied approach in reaching out to those who are adversely affected by these events if healing is going to take place. In many innovative settings, the uses of animals, dance, music and even art, have become a way in which to bridge and connect abuse victims.

Art therapy has become a tool by which therapists can aid the sexually abused in releasing pent-up emotions, including anger, guilt, fear and sadness. With art therapy acting as a catharsis, or aiding in the release of tension and anxiety, many sexually abused patients find improved quality in their life after only a few sessions. If you are living with negative feelings and emotions that may be related to a traumatic event involving sexual abuse, art therapy may be a way you can begin to engage in the healing process.

Because art, by its very nature, has an inherent ability to tap into our emotions, so does art therapy for the abused victims in need of mental health services. By tapping into the emotionally driven side, rather than the intellectual side, of the brain, art therapy allows sexually abused victims to express feelings and emotions in a non-threatening format or medium. In many cases, victims of sexual abuse will first paint and draw very simple, or even erratic, pieces of art. However, with art therapy progression, there is often a use of symbolism with re-enactment of many traumatic events on art paper or canvas. Eventually, however, this art becomes fully expressive, allowing for release of emotions and freedom from suppressed fear, anxiety, guilt and anger.

Art therapy is a form of therapy we often associate with outpatient mental health services. For victims of sexual abuse, even inpatient mental health services can incorporate art therapy into the recovery program. Therefore, if you are considering either inpatient or outpatient therapy, it is important to ask about the opportunities for art therapy as part of your mental health and sex abuse recovery program.

As with any form of therapy, it is important to know what the most innovative approaches to healing may be. While some patients do well in traditional psychotherapy alone, there are many who desire, and need, a greater platform or medium in which to express emotion. For those victims of sexual abuse, art therapy may hold the key to recovery.