What is trauma?
According to The American Psychological Association (APA), “trauma is an emotional response to a terrible event like an accident, crime, or natural disaster”
However, this is a rather rudimentary description of this pervasive phenomena.
Trauma can manifest itself in life-altering ways. Trauma can change your brain. Trauma can alter your brain chemistry, function and structure. Trauma can overwhelm you.
Trauma does not have any borders or guidelines. Anyone can be affected by it. However, some groups, such as children (ages 0-18), are more vulnerable than others.
Research shows that survivors of trauma may experience a myriad of reactions such as anxiety, numbness, collapsed immobility, and dissociation. Conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression and addiction may also develop after traumatic events. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), an estimated 3.9% of the world population has experienced PTSD at some point in their lives. Therapy may help survivors in resolving conflicting feelings and enable them to gain agency in their lives.
Why is it difficult to talk about trauma?
However, it may be difficult for people to undergo therapy for their trauma for multiple reasons. In some cases, people whose experiences have been invalidated in the past by family, friends or other trusted confidantes may feel apprehensive about approaching therapists. In other cases, talking about trauma may bring up unwanted memories which may lead to feelings of dread around therapy.
In his best-selling book, ‘The body keeps the score’, Dutch psychiatrist Bessel van der Kolk explains findings from his research on how traumatic stress affect the body and the mind of survivors. In it, he elaborates on a phenomenon termed ‘speechless horror’.
“Our most surprising finding was a white spot in the left frontal lobe of the cortex, in a region called Broca’s area. In this case the change in color meant that there was a significant decrease in that part of the brain. Broca’s area is one of the speech centers of the brain, which is often affected in stroke patients when the blood supply to that region is cut off. Without a functioning Broca’s area, you cannot put your thoughts and feelings into words. Our scans showed that Broca’s area went offline whenever a flashback was triggered.”( Bessel van der Kolk, The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma)
This means that the inability to verbalise your trauma may be due to an involuntary change in the brain, specifically in one of the speech centers. This can make it extremely difficult for some survivors to unpack their trauma and take steps towards healing. In these cases, traditional talk therapy may not be effective if you cannot find the words to describe your trauma to your therapist.
How Expressive Art therapies can help?
This is where creative arts therapy comes into the picture. Creative arts therapies (also known as expressive art therapies) integrate communication through non-verbal mediums to help clients express their thoughts, stories and emotions. It involves using mediums such as art, movement, theatre, and music to treat clients. These forms of therapy can be especially helpful for children who may be unable to accurately communicate their emotions verbally.
According to Cathy Malchiodi, Ph.D., Director of the Trauma-Informed Practices and Expressive Arts Therapy Institute,
“Possibly the most compelling reason for the use of the expressive arts in trauma work is the sensory nature of the arts themselves; their qualities involve visual, tactile, olfactory, auditory, vestibular, and proprioceptive experiences. Expressive arts, while whole-brain experiences, are also believed to access the right brain and implicit memory predominantly, because they include a variety of sensory-based experiences, including images, sounds, and tactile and movement experiences that are related to right hemisphere functions. Current opinion about trauma supports the idea that trauma is encoded as a form of sensory reality, underscoring the idea that the expression and processing of implicit memories have an important role in successful intervention and resolution” (Malchiodi Cathy, A 2020 Vision for Expressive Arts Therapy)
Trauma can manifest itself in various ways. Due to the intrinsic sensory nature of trauma, therapy that access your senses may be an effective way to heal. Art therapy can help you have a deeper understanding of yourself as it allows you to be free in your expression. It may help relax stressed parts of your brain by participating in activities that will loosen you up. It can help you access certain memories without reliance on verbal expression.
You do not need to be particularly skilled at art or dance, just like how you do not need to be an eloquent orator to participate in talk therapy. The medium is merely a means of self-expression. These mediums can be effectively used when you cannot find the right words to describe certain experiences through talk therapy. Activities in art therapy may include drawing traumatic incidents during childhood, drawing objects in nature to facilitate relaxation, drawing your emotions for clarity, and making sculptures. It can involve using different art tools from pencils, sketches, paints to clay, leaves and cardboard. Art created during the sessions may be doodles, stick figures, sceneries, scribbles an more.
Recently, there is more and more research supporting the effectiveness of creative arts-based therapy in reducing trauma symptoms, especially when used along with other forms of therapy such as Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy and group therapy. As such, Expressive arts therapy is an emerging field of practice that can be integrated into treatment plans as a holistic approach to address trauma symptoms.
Sources used:
A 2020 Vision for Expressive Arts Therapy - Cathy Malchiodi, PhD for Psychology Today Online, Dec 28, 2019
Calm Through Creativity: How Arts Can Aid Trauma Recovery - National Clearinghouse
The Body keeps the score - Bessel van der Kolk | https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.amazon.in/Body-Keeps-Score-Bessel-Kolk/dp/0141978619&ved=2ahUKEwiq1L-v3MOLAxVjia8BHSNuKC0QFnoECEIQAQ&usg=AOvVaw3z11hxCPAsM_aL3yYC2gYW
American Psychological Association|https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.apa.org/topics/trauma&ved=2ahUKEwiKs8HT3MOLAxV2cvUHHau9CnkQFnoECBQQAQ&usg=AOvVaw1HTYUuyEt4SWQycsZ9yaYD
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