As kids, we explore all different types of creative expression. We paint, draw, build, write, sing, and dance regularly – as part of our schooling and on our own or with friends. As we get older, many of us put those pursuits aside, especially if we don’t feel we have a strong aptitude. But art isn’t only for artists. Creative expression serves as a powerful tool for processing pain, reclaiming identity, and fostering emotional healing.
Simply put, creativity can be a way to not only survive but also thrive when you’ve been traumatized. That’s why expressive arts therapy is a key component of our holistic, trauma-first treatment here at The Guest House. By utilizing creative outlets like music, art, or writing, you can transform your trauma into resilience and growth.
What is Sublimation?
As we explore the importance of creativity and expressive therapy for trauma survivors, we need some background. It’s important to first understand how trauma affects the brain and the use of a sublimation defense mechanism in response. After all, trauma and the brain are interconnected.
When you experience trauma, especially early on in life, your fight-flight-freeze-fawn response can stay activated long after the traumatic event ends. This can significantly impact your ability to learn, form memories, remain calm, and regulate your emotions, according to NHS Wales. Because you can’t regulate your emotions well, you may easily feel overwhelmed with stress or anxiety, even if there isn’t real danger present.
When you begin to experience negative feelings, anxiety, or stress — whether you’re a trauma survivor or not — you typically engage in various defense mechanisms in response. These defense or coping mechanisms may include:
- Denial of reality
- Using humor to avoid uncomfortable feelings
- Rationalizing poor behaviors in response
- Sublimation
But what is sublimation, exactly? Sublimation as a defense mechanism involves channeling unwanted or unacceptable feelings or urges into a productive, socially acceptable behavior. Considered a “mature” way to cope, a sublimation defense mechanism is an ideal strategy for navigating trauma, addiction, or mental health disorders. Examples of using the sublimation coping mechanism may include exercising, talking to a trusted friend, or in the case of this article, expressing yourself through creativity.
Mind-Body Healing: The Power of Creative Outlets
Trauma in many ways leaves destruction in its wake after a traumatic event subsides. It can change a life from being filled with hope to one filled with fear. And considering what trauma does to the brain, it can rob you of your mental health and well-being as you navigate life’s highs and lows. Consequently, the maladaptive coping mechanisms you pursue due to trauma’s destructive effects can make your situation worse, leading to trauma-induced addiction and mental health disorders.
However, what makes the arts so powerful to trauma survivors is their ability to transform trauma’s destruction into a beautiful creation, one that restores hope and encourages recovery. For many, the creative arts can provide a profound healing experience, as well as an opportunity to reconnect with a different part of yourself — such as your inner creative child — that so often has been ignored or forgotten. Creating art is simply good medicine, explains Rush University
Creating something provides:
- A healthy distraction
- A feeling of control
- A sense of accomplishment
- Pleasure
- Relaxation
- Relief from anxiety, stress, or physical pain
Creative expression offers a unique outlet for you to sort through your trauma and express negative experiences and feelings in a more positive way, according to the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). It makes finally addressing the trauma that’s dominated your life more doable than simply talking through painful experiences with words. And by utilizing this cathartic creative outlet to express yourself, you can begin to truly achieve mind-body healing, develop greater resiliency moving forward, and reclaim your life.
Expressive Arts Therapy for Trauma Survivors
It’s precisely because of creative expression’s special healing properties that it’s incorporated into trauma-based addiction and mental health treatment programs in the form of expressive arts therapy. This type of experiential therapy provides you with a non-pharmacological option to achieve restorative healing through discussing your trauma in nonverbal, creative ways.
Expressive therapies within treatment facilities are always led by accredited professionals who specialize in treating complex trauma through artistic expression. Expressive arts therapy sessions are usually conducted individually or as a group. Each session may involve different forms of artistic expression, including:
Art
Whether it’s painting, drawing, sewing, or sculpting, creating a piece of artwork can help aid the healing process. Behind the scenes, making visual art actually activates your brain’s reward center, reports NPR, indicating that the experience is pleasurable and feels good. This is especially helpful for those recovering from addictions as they learn how to pursue healthier activities beyond substances to achieve feel-good experiences. At the same time, research has shown that making art can reduce your body’s cortisol levels, which then lowers your stress or anxiety.
The benefits of art therapy also include improved cognitive functions, increased self-esteem, as well as strengthened resilience and social skills, shares the American Psychiatric Association (APA). Like expressive arts therapy, art therapy for trauma allows you to address your emotions and experiences associated with your trauma when you can’t easily discuss them with words.
Even if you don’t consider yourself an “artist,” participating in art — no matter how it looks — can bring about positive changes to your well-being. It’s much more about the process of creative expression than the final product.
Music
Music and mental health often go hand in hand. According to the Listen4Life Foundation, music, like art, can improve your mood by increasing the production of dopamine, serotonin, and endorphins in your brain. It can even reduce stress, by lowering cortisol in your body. Music also activates numerous regions of your brain, creating new neuro-pathways around damaged areas so your brain can heal. And when aerobic movement such as dancing is added, music can provide physical health benefits as well.
Music’s mental health impact makes music therapy one of the primary expressive therapies for treating traumatized individuals. Here at The Guest House, for example, we use a number of music interventions in addiction and mental health treatment, including:
- Songwriting
- Analyzing lyrics
- Playing instruments
- Singing
- Drumming
- Movement
These activities allow you to discover your motivations and dismantle barriers to recovery, including trauma. Music therapy also invites you to uniquely engage your emotions and convey them in ways that words can’t. While this act of releasing emotions is important, what’s often more empowering is using this release of difficult emotions to create something new, according to New York University.
Writing
When you’ve dealt with trauma in the past, it’s easy to bottle it up and bury it within you. The last thing you may want to do is discuss your trauma with others. As a form of expressive arts therapy, writing about your trauma helps you confront these bottled-up feelings, find meaning from your experiences, and achieve closure, according to Stanford University. In the long run, this practice can even make you happier and healthier.
Writing within expressive arts therapy may take on many forms. Some practices may be more personal and reflective, while others are more creative. Writing exercises can include:
- Journaling
- Creating gratitude, permissions, or affirmations lists
- Utilizing writing prompts
- Mindfulness writing
- Narrative writing
Creative Healing at The Guest House
At The Guest House in Ocala, Florida, we understand how trauma can make you feel stuck with an unending, secret burden. In many cases, those who struggle with mental health disorders or have had traumatic or distressing experiences can be afraid of talking about or sharing what they have been through. For some, reliving the moment is too painful. For others, the fear of judgment keeps them from opening up.
As the nation’s premier trauma-first addiction and mental health treatment center, we also understand the power of creative expression in getting you unstuck from your trauma. After all, art in healing helps create a space where an ugly or negative experience can become beautiful, or where words are not necessary to let others know how you feel. By taking this creative journey together, we can help you uncover and process the source of your trauma, move past it, and ultimately restore your life.
Using Creative Outlets in Recovery
Though expressive therapies can make a profound impact on your initial healing from trauma, they can continue to benefit you in your everyday life long after treatment ends. That’s why it’s a good idea to continue participating in creative outlets in recovery, both as a sublimation coping mechanism and as a way to foster overall well-being.
Here are a few ways you can access creative outlets on a regular basis:
- Journaling your thoughts in the morning or evening
- Listening to music for stress relief
- Participating in DIY or crafting projects
- Painting in a park on a weekend
- Acting in a local community play
- Writing poetry or short stories
A Safe, Confidential Setting for Healing from Trauma
When trauma is dictating your life, finding a safe place to heal is paramount. At The Guest House. we provide a secure, confidential, state-of-the art setting to heal from your trauma, as well as any trauma-induced addictions and mental health disorders. To learn more about our personalized approach, world-class team, and premier treatment center, contact our team today.