Art Expression As A Healing Modality
As a child, artistic expression was my safe place. When I experienced anything from sadness to joy, creating art is how I channelled my emotions. Creating helped me process my feelings and feel confident in my skills. Now as a parent, providing my kids with unlimited opportunities to craft, paint, sew, and more has opened up a world of possibilities. One of my children is now a primarily self-taught blacksmith, woodworker, and ceramicist, and the other is continuously painting, sewing, singing, dancing, learning instruments, and more.
Learning a new skill helps people feel accomplished and can work as a “brain hack” to boost feelings of wellbeing. Creating art reduces the stress hormone cortisol, and releases endorphins — the feel-good hormone. Whether a person considers themselves an artist or not, the process of creation can be a healing modality.
As a teenager, I attended a high school for artists, and I was surrounded not only by painters like myself, but musicians, dancers, writers, and actors as well. I went on to study painting, drawing, and art therapy at my university.
After having kids, I felt passionate about what I learned on my journey as a parent. I believe that the way we raise children can help heal the world. I became a certified wellness-parenting coach, birth educator, and doula, and I have since utilized art as a healing modality. I continue to paint, draw, collage, and more in my daily life, and employ a therapeutic art approach in my work with clients. Even if a person does not identify as an artist, anyone can use drawing, journaling, and other creative approaches to processing feelings and trauma. Therapeutic art can help with birth trauma, childhood trauma, and achieving wellness and parenting goals. My own artwork focuses on motherhood, portraiture, color, and the human figure. I also provide placenta prints to my placenta clients.
