Blog | Art Therapy Gold Coast | Vlinder Expressive Arts Therapy

16 Oct

5 ways that being creative can improve your mental wellbeing

Posted by vlind_exp Creativitiy

As I will discuss in future blog posts, creativity extends beyond grabbing your sketch pad and drawing a pretty picture. It’s more about the process of turning a new idea into something tangible. Expressing these ideas in a tangible and creative way has a number of positive benefits on your mental health, and more and more research is emerging in support of this.

So, what specific benefits does creativity have on your mental wellbeing? Read on to find out…

1. Being creative allows you to reconnect and be mindful

We spend each and every day dealing with an information overload. From the minute we wake up, we’re bombarded with notifications, emails and phone calls, all fighting for our attention. We rush through our mornings, barely remembering whether we fed the dog or locked the front door. Gone are the days where we’d work on two things at once – now we’re working on three, four, five different things at the same time.

Being creative, whether it be painting on a blank canvas, picking up your old guitar or even just singing your favourite song, allows you to reconnect with the present. It enables you to take some time out from your cluttered day to be mindful.

2. Being creative provides an outlet for stress

Creative activities have been shown to impact the body in a way similar to meditation. This makes sense when you consider that both meditation and art encourage mindfulness and self-awareness.

The key thing here is that you don’t have to produce a masterpiece to benefit from being creative. It doesn’t need to be perfect, as it’s all about enjoying the process of creating. The process of cooking favourite recipe, learning a new song on the piano, writing a blog post, or whatever it is that you enjoy creating.

Even simply observing creativity has been found to decrease stress levels. So, if you don’t feel like making something yourself, bundle yourself into the car and take a trip down to an art gallery to immerse yourself in creativity.

3. Being creative enhances your brain function

You may be familiar with the notion that the left side of the brain is for logic and the right side is for creativity. Well, research has found that creative people have better connectivity between these two hemispheres. Research also suggests that this increased connectivity may be linked to a higher IQ (3).

In addition to this, when taking part in creative activities, you use different areas of the brain in new ways. Not only does this encourage your brain to start thinking differently, you’ll also find that creativity will start to come more easily to you. Developing creative ideas will become second nature to you.

4. Being creative allows you to express your feelings

Creative activities provide a healthy outlet to express and explore your emotions, particularly negative ones such as anxiety or anger. This means you’ll be more in touch with your feelings and more aware of your emotions, which can give you new insights into why you’re feeling the way you are and help you develop strategies to deal with these emotions.

Visual and performing arts are a great way to communicate feelings you might not be able to put into words, which is why the program is great for children who are facing new and unfamiliar emotions.

Different art materials allow for different methods of expression. For example, clay is highly tactile and fluid whereas pencils are more structured and precise.

5. Being creative can improve your mood

Creative activities have been shown to decrease anxiety and stress, and improve overall emotional health. This is because they allow you to channel your negative emotions into creating something positive and also provide an avenue for self-reflection (4).

The American Journal of Public Health wrote, in 2010, that art “improved well-being by decreasing negative emotions and increasing positive ones.”

We tend to place a lot of focus on the outcome of our creative activities (i.e. the finished masterpiece). But, creativity isn’t about the outcome; it’s about having fun in the process of creating something.

This week, I challenge you to find a new creative activity that you enjoy. One that brings a smile to your face, even if the finished product isn’t perfect.

Research & further reading:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2804629/

http://www.dana.org/Publications/ReportDetails.aspx?id=44267

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-athletes-way/201702/highly-creative-people-have-well-connected-brain-hemispheres

http://www.shelleycarson.com/blog/use-creativity-to-combat-negative-emotions

09 Oct

How to encourage your child to approach the world with a sense of wonder

Posted by vlind_exp Creativitiy

We often describe people as having a “childlike sense of wonder” – but have you ever stopped to think about what this really means?

Having a sense of wonder means you look at concepts in ways that you previously didn’t think was possible. It means exploring different perspectives, asking lots of questions and not simply accepting things as “fact”.

The sad truth is that, while most of us have this sense of wonder as children, it is usually squashed out of us by the time we reach high-school. We’re told to stop imagining, to stop daydreaming, to stop asking questions and to stop talking to our imaginary friends.

However, a sense of wonder is something you should encourage your child to develop and maintain. It can boost their problem solving skills, by encouraging them to think in new ways, even as they grow older.

So, how can you help your child approach the world with a sense of wonder?

Encourage them to think about things in new ways

Spark a sense of wonder by getting your child to look at their surroundings from new perspectives. Always ask them plenty of questions about why things are the way they are.

A great way to do this is to visit a modern art gallery together and observe a few pieces of abstract art. Ask your child what they think the art depicts and what they think the meaning behind the art is. Once you’ve asked them this, ask them to consider that the art has an entirely different meaning or that depicts something completely different.

Encourage them to think about the same piece of artwork in multiple different ways.

Foster a love of books

Reading is a great way to boost the imagination and develop a sense of wonder. Children’s books are particularly good for this, as they tend to explore new, often far-fetched concepts. Dr Seuss books are fantastic for this, as are books that explore common concepts from a different point of view.

Take up photography together

Grab an old camera (or even your iPhone!) and go exploring together – even if just in your own backyard or around the block. Encourage your child to capture the beauty around you from a different perspective to how they would usually see it. Show them how a run-down old building or an old tree stump can become a beautiful piece of art if captured from a new angle.

Ask the right questions

Always ask your child open-ended questions, even when you’re out and about, running errands, or walking down the road together. Ask questions that encourage your child to use their imagination, like:

“Why do you think trees have branches?”
“What if the sky was green?”
“How do you think the tiny ants on the ground see the world?”

Encourage them to ask lots of questions

Children typically ask a lot of questions and it can become a habit to respond with “don’t ask so many questions!”

Instead, we should be encouraging children to ask questions, as this curiosity is a crucial part of exploring the world with a sense of wonder. Learning is one of the best ways to cultivate a sense of wonder – and, naturally, asking questions is an excellent way to learn.

Ultimately, encouraging your child to hold on to their childlike sense of wonder and their innate curiosity is an excellent way to ensure they grow up to be creative, intelligent adults.

Complete our parent and child art activity together

We’ve put together an art activity for your child and a question guide for you, to get you started with asking the right questions about your child’s art. It’s the perfect rainy day activity and can help you reconnect with your child.

Pop your name and email address in the box below and we’ll send it straight to your inbox.

31 Aug

What’s in a name?

Posted by vlind_exp Creativitiy

We have a lot of big ideas for Vlinder Expressive Arts Therapy and I will be sharing these with you as we go. Right now I wanted to talk about our business name which is quite a mouthful and may need a little explanation…

Art Therapy is a transpersonal form of therapy. In simple terms, it means we meet people where they are at, spiritually, intellectually, culturally, ethnically, emotionally and socially. We also celebrate diversity and embrace it. So, I wanted to bring a bit of my own culture to the business.

When I was younger a friend of mine said… “Why do you always say your father is Dutch?….don’t you know that most people think that the Dutch are arrogant, stingy and opinionated?”

This was quite a shock to me, as my own experience of my Dutch heritage is that my clan are open minded, (think euthanasia and cannabis) innovative (think reclaiming the sea), economic (they hate waste), hard working,(egalitarian qualities based on study and respect, not family ties or old money), adventurous (think 16th century traders) and fun-loving (from mardi gras to tulip festivals).

My family are all of these things and more and each time I have visited Holland or had relatives visit, this has been my experience. Talk about a different world view!

The thing is, often when you experience the world a certain way, that’s the way everything is seen, through a filter. Imagine if you could identify the filters that you have, that you use to interpret the world. Some may be useful, may have even saved your life, but what about the ones that prevent you from seeing the world in a way where peace, joy, beauty and connection are everywhere?

So it is with pride that I have put a little of my Dutch background into my business, with the word “Vlinder”

A few curious facts:

Vlinder is the word for “butterfly” in Dutch language.

The “butterfly effect” has been coined to describe chaos theory, where to resonate at a higher awareness, natural cycles or systems need to break down or transform to enable new life.

In the Terry Pratchett’s novel “Interesting Times”, he created the quantum weather butterfly who has the ability to manipulate weather patterns. Small changes affecting the biggest change.

In art therapy, this means to explore your view or interpretation of the creative experience and find and notice the small things that will make a big difference to explore the intention of the session.

I like the metaphor of the “butterfly effect”. In Art Therapy we draw on the valuable ability to allow metaphor to speak to us through our subconscious.

The ink blot ‘butterfly’ in our logo is a tribute to earliest psychologists who used ink blots known as the “Rorschach test” by Fred Binet in the 1890’s, to analyse the subconscious or perceived tendencies of his clients and later evolved into the visual variation of the treatment that Freud established in the 1930’s. Art therapy has certainly evolved since, in that the meaning is seen by the client, not the therapist.

Originally in the 1857’s ink blots known as Klecksographs were used to illustrate poetry by Justinus KernerInk. As his eyesight failed and he used to spill ink onto his papers, rather than throwing them away, transformed them into illustrations for his poetry.

Then there is the magic of transformation as a butterfly is born from a soft grub only pausing a while in a cocoon where this amazing miracle occurs.

So that my dear reader is the meaning and essence of the Vlinder logo and ethos. I hope you enjoyed reading a bit of background and if you have any questions or comments just post them below and I am happy to answer them.

5 ways that being creative can improve your mental wellbeing

1. Being creative allows you to reconnect and be mindful

2. Being creative provides an outlet for stress

3. Being creative enhances your brain function

4. Being creative allows you to express your feelings

5. Being creative can improve your mood

Research & further reading:

How to encourage your child to approach the world with a sense of wonder

Encourage them to think about things in new ways

Foster a love of books

Take up photography together

Ask the right questions

Encourage them to ask lots of questions

Complete our parent and child art activity together

What’s in a name?

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How Art Therapy Changed My Life