How art therapy helps the brain

For many of us, making art is not something that we do daily, but drawing, painting, or sculpting with clay can benefit our mental well-being.

In other words, making art can help reduce stress and anxiety because “we’re engaging our entire self,” said Nadia Paredes, president of the American Art Therapy Association.

“You’re using your body to actually create and then also you are kind of like sometimes expressing your emotions while you’re at it,” she said. “So for your brain making art, it kind of feels like a very holistic experience of being, and that’s why it feels so healing to do art when we’re not thinking of making like pretty art and just making art for the sake of having fun.”

A 2019 study published in the Journal of the American Art Therapy Association found that making art can be particularly helpful for people dealing with emotional issues because it can help people imagine a more hopeful future.

“We’re using our creativity to make something, so it’s basically creating something out of nothing,” Paredes said, “allowing for that state of creativity allows our rational brain to take a step back and then allows our intuition to show up more authentically instead of being stopped by just our thoughts.”

A simple exercise such as drawing lines on a piece of paper can help us emotionally regulate, Paredes said. By noticing the speed at which we’re drawing, we can become more in touch with ourselves and what we need in our lives at that moment.

“Maybe right now you do need to do things quickly because you have a lot of things to do, but then will you have time to slow down or maybe you notice, ‘Hey, I have a lot of things to do, but my body’s asking me to slow down. It’s asking me to draw slower,’ ” she said. “So you can use that as a thermometer for yourself to be like, ‘Oh, this is what I’m actually needing in this moment to go back into self-regulating.”

Quick art therapy exercise for stress:

1. Start by drawing lines or circles on a piece of paper. Notice which one feels better in your body.
2. Continue drawing either circles or lines, depending on which one you choose, but this time, notice the speed at which you’re drawing them. Draw some very slowly and others quickly. Notice which feels more natural to you. Pay attention to what’s happening in your body as you draw.
3. Continue drawing at the speed that feels most natural to you for about one minute. Notice how the speed of your drawing changes. Reflect on what’s happening in your body and how it feels when you draw.

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