The Top 3 Truths About Art Therapy in Austin, TX

Get the scoop!  Art therapy is not the drippy, soft, sugary version of mental health treatment you might have heard it is.  Take a closer look at the facts and decide for yourself if contacting an art therapist in Austin, TX is what’s needed to help you transform the pictures in your head that have been put there by anxiety, depression, stress, trauma, grief, and burnout.

Truth #1: Art Therapy in Austin, TX Is a Profession with a Substantial Post-graduate Credentialing Process

First and foremost, art therapy has long been a master’s-level mental health field.  That means it requires a master’s degree (typically in art therapy) to enter into the profession and be eligible for the post-graduate credentialing process.

And what does the post-graduate credentialing process consist of?  1,000-2,000 hours of direct art therapy practice with clients while under the supervision of someone who meets the requirements of a supervisor (typically a credentialed art therapist) per the Art Therapy Credentials Board, the professional body that promotes the ethical and effective practice of art therapy through the authentication and monitoring of art therapists.

After completing these hours of direct supervised practice, there’s a board-certification exam.  Texas has its own license for art therapists that’s based on this post-graduate credentialing process.  And if you’re interested in knowing what coursework is taught in art therapy educational programs, you can find that information on the American Art Therapy Association’s website.

I rely on my education and training in art therapy to help me guide clients to the outcomes they’re looking for.  My credentials, including the Texas license, serve as a means of letting others know that I’ve earned the right to hold myself out as an art therapist and offer assessment and treatment services that prioritize the nonverbal over the verbal.

Truth #2: Art Therapy in Austin, TX Uses Your Hands and Eyes to Create Psychological Balance   

Second, art therapy is an embodied form of treatment.  That means it utilizes your body to create therapeutic change.

Traditional talk therapy uses very little of your body other than your mouth.  Talk therapists who put art activities into their therapy sessions are generally unaware that somatosensory processing (information that’s being routed through your hands) and visual perception (information that’s being routed through your eyes) are being invoked and that there can be risks and contraindications based on your reasons for being in therapy.

Clinicians who provide talk therapy use these art activities to try to generate more words for talk therapy.  That is not art therapy.

A legitimate art therapist knows how to channel your interaction with art media in a manner that successfully mediates a balance between your inner experience and your outer reality.  (That’s why art materials are called media—they mediate!)  This may require gradual shifts in the kinds of art media being used and/or the way in which they’re used; the media are like medicine in that respect.

I help clients learn to understand the art media as medicine so they can begin selecting materials that most support the psychological balance they want to achieve.  As they learn to master unfamiliar or unpreferred media, they’re also learning to master their own ability to grow beyond the limits of frustration and uncertainty.

Truth #3: Art Therapy in Austin, TX Works with Your Mental Images to Make Change Happen

Then there’s the whole mental image formation process.  We actually think in images, not words.  These images all have an underlying physical component, as we first learn to experience our world through physical means.

Early in our development as little humans, we use our bodies—particularly our hands and eyes—to makes sense of what’s around us and connect it to our internal universe.  This knowledge gets stored as images, and the storage process happens well before we acquire verbal skills.

As we continue our developmental journey and become more sophisticated in our ability to make use of these images, we attach words, language, and analytical thinking to expand upon what we’ve come to know through our direct physical experience.  That means even though you might spend your days and evenings sitting in a chair in front of a computer, the thoughts you have can trace their roots back to the original wisdom of your body.

Consider figures of speech such as “going around and around in circles” and “music to my ear”.  One means wasting time in a confusing and annoying way while trying to get something done, and the other means that something someone said was exactly what was hoped for.  But the original sentiment behind both of these comes from physical experiences—going around and around in circles might exhaust you but literally get you nowhere, and listening to enjoyable sounds is a pleasant thing.

So art therapy makes use of the physical basis of your mental image formation process and gets at this through your hands and eyes, using the art media to mediate between your internal and outer worlds and create beneficial shifts in those pictures you have in your head.  Art therapy sounds less like drippy, soft, sugary stuff the more you know about it!

BTW, “drippy”, “soft”, and “sugary” are physical experiences too—just not ones you’re not likely to have if you’re working with an art therapist in Austin, TX.  The clients I’ve known have described me as relaxing, steady, and warm (all physical experiences) while I’ve treated and transformed their mental images in a respectful and reverent manner.                

Get a Free Therapy Consultation in Austin, TX

Are you ready to discover your own truths and create a life that lights you up? Contact me for a complimentary 15-minute phone consultation. We’ll explore how online art therapy can help you move toward your goals and eliminate the dark shadows of anxiety, depression, and stress. It’s important to find the right plan and the right therapist, so let’s see if we’re a fit!

Need a little more info about how I work? See my About page for clarification of art therapy’s role in the treatment of overwhelm, unhappiness, and burnout and the restoration of balance. It’s all in the eyes and the hands! You can use yours to create a better outcome for yourself. Don’t you deserve that?