Integrating Art Therapy and Yoga Therapy - Karen Gibbons

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grace and enthusiasm could be honed and expanded. I attended an open house for a master’s level art therapy program and a light bulb went off. Art therapy beautifully married my skills. I knew why I made art, but sometimes wondered why I longed to connect with the viewer. I began to understand that it is because when a piece of art is successful, a viewer might be able to vicariously “get” that transcendent, indescribable, healing place that the artist experienced in its creation. I would like everyone to experience this flow state (Kolter 2014). I realized that in practicing art therapy I would get to help others to find that healing place in a way that could work for them. The master’s program seemed perfect for me; and I was drawn, perhaps guided, toward two intense years of grad school.

      I had finished my yoga training in 2003, thinking right up until the graduation ceremony that I had no intention of teaching. During the ceremony, reflecting on how much had changed for me, I suddenly realized that I had to share my transforming experience of yoga. I began to teach right away. I continued to study and expand my knowledge. When I began art therapy studies, I recognized that psychology, yoga philosophy, and art were all one endeavor for me. My master’s thesis was on yoga and art therapy with mentally ill and chemically addicted patients in outpatient rehabilitation. The study and practice of integrating these threads continues to be compelling and fascinating. Combining my passion for making art with my devotion to the yogic model of wellness was quite natural. It has become my life, and serves me well as a cohesive therapeutic modality (Gibbons 2013).

      It has been some years now since that tender time when I completed my initial yoga training and embarked on this new career. And still, mind, body and spirit are always considered in my approach to therapy. The convergence of learning that allowed me to blend my practice of yoga and art therapy has led me to continue my education, always supporting integration. I have gone on to study Integrative Yoga Therapy (IYT) with Joseph and Lillian LePage because their approach to yoga therapy is a holistic one. To quote from the IYT’s Yoga Toolbox for Teachers and Students, “Yoga is an ancient science of health for the physical body and balance for the mind and emotions that provides the foundation for the spiritual journey whose destination is self knowledge” (LePage and LePage 2005, p.2).

      Similarly, art making is a holistic activity. The American Art Therapy Association (ATTA) says on their website notes that the use of art therapy blossomed as practitioners recognized that:

      The creative process of art making enhanced recovery, health and wellness. As a result, the profession of art therapy grew into an effective and important method of communication, assessment, and treatment with children and adults in a variety of settings. (AATA 2014)

      The confluence of art therapy and yoga in my life has allowed me to dip my toes into the stream of awareness and self-knowledge. I wish to offer these tools to those who need help. Throughout my career I have tried the combination in various ways, sometimes focusing on yoga and bringing in art making or often blending yoga techniques, meditation and mindfulness with art therapy. In my experience, the success of combining art therapy with yoga depends on the integration of intention. I have witnessed beautiful, magical moments where clients seamlessly internalize their intention in the course of a single session. I have come to recognize that positive results are achieved when the practice remains simple and cohesive. Illuminating the process involved in creating the Intention Centered Yoga and Art Therapy Method is the aim of this book.

      INTRODUCTION

      Art therapy and yoga fit well together as an integrative modality not only because of the many attributes they have in common, but also because the complementary aspects of the two disciplines support the ultimate goal of both yoga and art therapy: generating healing and positive change. Yoga is traditionally practiced to achieve a calm clarity from which to transform the self and find inner peace (Kraftsow 1999). Art therapy uses the power of creative self-expression to promote healing and well-being (Malchiodi 1998). Understanding the similarities and differences between the two practices will help to create a program that can weave their strengths into an effective therapeutic approach.

      This book is directed at mental health clinicians in the field of art therapy who wish to integrate yoga into their practice. The system recommended here is also suitable for yoga therapists wishing to add art techniques to their practice. Yoga teachers can support their student’s well-being by using yoga and art techniques. In fact, anyone can use the Practice Chart for Intention Centered Yoga and Art (Table 5.1, pages 55–66) to address common concerns and create a personal practice that blends the use of yoga and art.

      Both yoga and art therapy are healing modalities by themselves, however, art therapists have training and focus to address clinical concerns such as trauma and serious mental illness that would not be appropriate for yoga teachers and yoga therapists to address without specialized training and accreditation. The use of the Intention Centered Yoga and Art Therapy Method by mental health professionals requires an added dimension of care. A professional melding modalities must be careful to remain within their scope of practice (Weintraub 2013). Seek supervision if there is a question around clinical competency. Be clear with your clients about your training. An art therapist should not offer yoga therapy without proper training and certification and yoga teachers and yoga therapists cannot offer art therapy without master’s level credentials. Both professions can happily and ethically use techniques related to art and yoga as long as they maintain clear boundaries and awareness of legal guidelines around the use of touch in therapy (Furman 2013).

      ATTRIBUTES YOGA AND ART HAVE IN COMMON

      * Experience-based

      * Guided by intention

      * Promotes self-awareness

      * Encourages flow state

      * Activates the limbic brain

      * Reduces stress

      * Encourages observation rather than judgment

      * Adaptive

      * Encourages change and healing

      Both yoga and art are experience-based rather than intellectually- based activities. A person’s mind can convince them of many things, but the body and creative intuition express the truth of one’s experience. Research has found that emotions may be stored in the body (Van der Kolk 1994). By doing yoga, a person can access deep emotions and then by creating art, one can find a means of expression on a fundamental level, perhaps avoiding rigid defense mechanisms.

      Creating intention, or setting a clear direction or focus, is traditionally a way to keep the practice of yoga goal-oriented (Kraftsow 1999). Intention, for art therapists, is established routinely as they work with their clients to create therapeutic goals. One goal common to art therapy and yoga is the promotion of self-awareness. Self-awareness is present when a person develops insight into their behavior and improves their ability to make conscious choices. The ability to make conscious choices is a priority for a serious yogi, much as it is for a psychotherapy patient (Cope 2000).

      In conjunction with the shared aim of finding insight, yoga and art therapy work so well together because both practicing yoga and making art can create a flow state. The flow state is similar to being “in the zone” while playing sports. In this state, the ego (along with its incessant judging) takes a break and allows the intuitive self to act. The wisdom of natural creativity is found in the process; connections are made, clarity is enhanced and new perspectives may be gained. Yoga and meditation instructors may encourage mindful behavior in order to consciously induce flow states (Kolter 2014; Willitts 2014). Peak moments of creativity are integrally connected with the ancient wisdom of the body and so can foster healing of the body, mind and spirit (Diaz 1999).

      When people find themselves in a flow state their limbic brain is activated. As Kraftsow (1999) notes in Yoga for Wellness, the limbic system links “the conscious, intellectual functions of the brain and the unconscious, mechanical functions of the body” (p.303), which explains how emotional response is directly affected by physical sensations, bypassing the conscious mind completely (Goleman 1995). For example, when trauma occurs the stress response is activated and the body goes into fight or flight mode without making a conscious decision. Heart rate increases, respiration quickens and blood pressure

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