Painting therapy

Painting therapy lies between the conventional framework of psychotherapy and the artist's studio. Research on chromotherapy having highlighted the effect of colors on the psyche, painting therapy is an additional tool for treatment. She uses artistic expression as a complement to psychotherapy. Painting therapy is one of the branches of art therapy . It helps fight against forms of depression of which artists are sometimes also victims. The practicing artist is at the heart of the painting therapy system.

A little history !

In ancient civilizations, medicine was an art. There was no precise boundary between the disciplines, music, sculpture and graphic art. Painting could therefore be seen as a manifestation of the divine spirit. Furthermore, she could naturally participate in healing. Images had the power to heal.

Much later, Sigmund Freud discovered that it is essential, for good therapeutic practice in psychoanalysis, to define and release impulses, considered immoral. For Freud, the problem is to find a substrate so that repressed thoughts become readable. This is the principle of “sublimation”. Whether through dream telling or any other method, the important thing is to keep impulsive emotions captive so that they become interpretable.

This is where painting comes into play as a therapeutic practice, because the support of the work constitutes a secure framework for patients.

The American psychotherapist Margaret Naumburg invented the notion of “art therapy” in 1941.

At the same time, the Austrian Édith Kramer is experimenting with this discipline with groups of children. It will be followed a little later in France.

Both understood that it is possible to bring out a person's deep intentions from a drawing or a painting. Analyzing the symbolism of shapes and colors facilitates the understanding of hidden meanings.

The artist-practitioner

Who knows painting better than the artist himself? Once properly trained in therapeutic practices, he can become a practitioner and mediator.

The painter-therapist gives the subject graphic spaces of freedom. He resolves the feelings that block beginners, reassuring them with his expert position. He guides his students and patients towards a certain form of harmony of lines and shapes, in order to initially bring out a feeling of calm.

Often, there is no place for speech in sessions, because it is through gesture and through lines and colors that a reflection of consciousness appears.

The student expels his most secret emotions, during the time of creation, repairing what has been broken, reconciling with what has been separated. This is how he can find a form of balance.

Therapy goes well beyond these initial forms. What has been artistically produced is like an open book that speaks of the unconscious. It remains for the professional mediator to decipher these messages more precisely.

For the patient, the goal is to progress towards better self-knowledge. Some may discover an artistic streak. In the field of arts, painting therapy is sometimes at the origin of artistic careers.

Great creators often have the particularity of being borderline. They find in their art a reason for being which helps them to live among others. Great artists, like Jean Michel Basquiat or Francis Bacon, did not hide their chronic instability.

The effects of painting therapy

Jean Luc Sudres (Professor of clinical psychopathology – Psychologist/Psychotherapist/Art-Therapist/Trainer · ‎Toulouse University) thinks

For the patient, the practice of painting used as art therapy is not a release, but an outlet. It allows him to identify his most inner emotions in order to repair the faults that prevent him from regaining the balance necessary for his mental health. It is a method that offers a new look at the world.

For each emotion, its pictorial form. Curved lines or broken lines have different meanings. Each color conveys a different feeling.

By expressing ourselves on paper or canvas, we actualize intimate and often unconscious messages. The painter's gesture is unmistakable, as are his choices of colors and the texture of the pigments. Intuitive artistic creation in painting translates emotions in their pure state. Symbols in images are created before words even come to mind. Gestures, which prefigure features and shapes, are an intermediary between the physical and the psyche.

A dialogue is gradually established between creation and impulses, sometimes unacknowledged and well buried in our psyche.

Returned to the surface through intuitive painting, the impulses are exposed without shame, like a splinter that causes us pain and that we extirpate.

The therapist is a conveyor of emotions. It allows the patient the emergence of an artistic pleasure which contributes to the development of a better self-esteem previously unknown.

A hidden anger or desire no longer presents a threat if it becomes external. Impulses can be controlled. By delving deeper into all these creative processes, it is now possible to move towards more fulfilled personal development.

The practice of painting as therapy helps identify blockages characterized by fear, poor self-esteem, fear of judgment from others, unhealthy guilt or unhealthy impulses. The therapist uses the intensity of the pencil stroke or the use of colors to highlight the darkest areas of the human psyche.

It is the magic of painting to be able to offer, through a practice aimed at healing, a reconciliation with oneself. It helps consciousness to accept its true nature, to regain a lost balance.

Who is Painting Therapy for?

Innovative technique to strengthen cohesion and prevent the risk of burn-out, art therapy in the workplace is an effective approach to improve the dynamics of a team,

Painting Therapy exists mainly in the medical field. It mainly treats mental imbalance, but it is also used as a tool for personal development. Furthermore, it is particularly recommended for those who ignore or cannot manage their emotions.

The cures last several months, even several years. They are suitable for all audiences, children and adolescents failing at school, but also for adults in difficult situations (mental and physical trauma, depression, bereavement, life accidents).

It is becoming common to use this technique in various areas of society. Art therapy is gaining recognition.

Depression and art

Depression can be improved through art. Furthermore, we now know that depression is linked to a physiological disorder, in the same way as many illnesses. In the article Art Depression , we will see how artistic expression, acting as a revealer of emotion, can be useful.

Depressive artists

Creativity sometimes finds its foundations in the disturbed minds of artists. Francis Bacon is an example. A link exists between mental health and artistic activity. The psychological patterns are similar between creativity and depressive states. It probably appears that the same neural circuits are activated.

This thesis must be put into perspective, because artists, as in other sectors of activity, are exposed to emotional changes and more subject to the anxiety of precariousness.

Depression and art have joint histories. It is still a preconceived idea to believe that a depressed artist is more likely to create quality works. While this remains true for a small number of genius creators, in the majority of cases, depression is a serious handicap to creation. In art, creation is a constant back and forth between emotional exaltation and a state of depression.

Related topics:

Sophrology and art
Art and medicine , a winning association
Art therapy and sculpture
Chromotherapy : colors that heal

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