Your Path to Healing: Talk-Based Therapy vs. Expressive Art Therapies
So, you’ve reached a point in your life where your default, go-to self-soothers aren’t working anymore. That oozy creamy cake, chased by Vodka and lemonade, is no longer working to keep your emotions in check. What the heck you say, as the anxiety creeps up to a top-tier attention grabber, knocking at the door to your awareness, pleading for you to attend to it.
After much ignoring and hostage-level negotiations, you give in and decide it’s time to seek out the guidance of a therapist, to help you tap into that emotional vault that has been demanding your attention. But which route do you embark on? Talk your way, or art express your way into emotional equanimity?
Congratulations on taking the first step to improving your emotional, mental and physical well-being.
Now that you have committed to honouring yourself on all levels, and have decided to seek therapeutic support, you may encounter two primary modalities: Talk-based therapy and expressive art therapies. Which one piques your interest more? While both approaches have merits, they differ in their methods of exploration and healing.
Keep reading to explore the pros and cons of talk-based therapy and expressive art therapies, and their unique qualities, so you can make an informed decision about which approach best aligns with your needs.
Talk-Based Therapy: Exploring the Depths with Conversation
Talk-based therapy is exactly how it sounds; you talk your way through your emotional wounds. This form of therapy relies on dialogue and conversation between the therapist and the client as a primary mode of exploration and healing. It’s more of the traditional method of therapy that we are all familiar with. Sessions are most often conducted in the therapist's office, or via Telehealth/phone.
Pros of Talk-Based Therapy
Verbally Express to Gain Insights
Talk-based therapy offers a safe space for individuals to express their thoughts, feelings, and experiences verbally with a qualified therapist.
This process often leads to articulating insights and developing a deeper level of self-awareness and understanding of your past and triggers. It allows for the release of the built-up tension and a safe space for having your experiences and emotions validated by another person. The therapist can act as a ‘witness’ to what you have been through and this often leads to an emotional release.
We often get stuck in the past, because the people who hurt us fail or refuse to validate how they have hurt us. This is where having a therapist listening to your experiences without judgement, can facilitate a release, thereby allowing you to get closer to healing and moving on from the hurt.
Cognitive Restructuring
Overtime, once trust has been established between you and your therapist and you have had the time to develop a sense of safety, your therapist may use talk-based therapy techniques to guide you to challenge ‘negative’ thought patterns and beliefs, that keep you in the loop of painful and heavy emotions.
Cognitive restructuring can help guide you to reframe your perspective around a certain thought process that is holding you back.
This approach will get you to look at the situation or thought pattern and challenge aspects of it, giving you the opportunity to look at it from a different perspective and then adopt a healthier thought pattern and behaviour, with the hope of improving emotional well-being.
Targeted Problem-Solving
When you first approach the idea of therapy, you may have a specific issue that is causing you stress, that you wish to address. Attending sessions with a talk-based therapist will give a platform for you to discuss these specific challenges and the therapist may offer or inspire you to think of new strategies and mechanisms to cope with and address these issues. They may provide you with a ‘toolkit’ of self-directed techniques for you to employ outside of therapy.
Cons of Talk-Based Therapy
Limited Access to Non-Verbal Expression
In order for talk-based therapy to be effective you will need to be the type of person that can connect with your emotions verbally. Unfortunately, not all of us can fully articulate what is going on for us on the inside using cognitive processing and verbal expressions. When emotions are running high and causing stress hormones to be swimming through our system, finding the right words to express what is going on may feel elusive and limited. Not to mention, how hard it is to talk about something deeply disturbing, that we have spent a lifetime keeping secret.
Overemphasis on Cognitive Processing
Talk-based therapy’s reliance on cognitive processing to gain insights may challenge some clients in feeling safe enough to remain present and connected to their emotions. It may also fail to fully address the somatic or subconscious aspects of their emotional experiences. It is common for people with deep emotional wounds and traumas to be disconnected from their bodies and past experiences and talk-based therapy may not be able to facilitate access to these deeper wounds.
Expressive Art Therapies
Unlocking Healing through Creative Expressions
Expressive art therapies encompass a range of modalities to encourage deeper emotional exploration and healing, without the explicit need to verbally articulate it.
These expressive modalities may include visual arts, sand and play therapy, music, dance, and drama. The therapeutic benefit is in the creative expression of oneself and not in which method of expression you engage with. Typically, sessions will be conducted in an office or studio with many different art supplies available. However, there are opportunities for Telehealth or mobile sessions.
Pros of Expressive Art Therapies
Non-Verbal Expression
Have you ever felt stressed out and turned on some heavy loud beats and danced freely and probably erratically but then felt better for it? At its basic core, dancing freely like this is tapping into your body’s need to release tension and rebalance your nervous system.
Expressive art therapies access body-based emotions and tensions and work at regulating and healing the nervous system. By engaging in various art forms, you can tap into deeper emotions hidden from your conscious mind and express them through whatever art form you are engaging in.
Accessing the Subconscious
The subconscious mind is like a warehouse, storing the totality of our life experiences, emotions, and thought patterns initiated after every experience or interaction with others and our environment. It’s the basement of our awareness, yet the foundation on which we stand.
Accessing our subconscious isn’t always the easiest of tasks and requires some clever covert tactics to drag out the right information for our conscious selves to view, challenge, and release if need be. Our subconscious doesn’t judge the information, it simply delivers as programmed. This is where we may encounter issues; the information stored may not always be the truth for us now and may harm us by allowing the programs to run unobserved.
By engaging in creative expressions, we can gain access to aspects of the subconscious mind, gently and safely. By tapping into the subconscious, deeper insights and hidden emotions may be revealed for us to examine and then process. Healing occurs when we can examine a thought pattern, challenge its validity, and heal the emotional charge behind it. Artistic processes can facilitate bypassing cognitive defenses, allowing for this access to occur.
Embodied Healing
For complete and authentic healing to occur, you will need to gain access to your somatic (body,) emotional and energetic states. In addition to the subconscious, our bodies are the gatekeepers of our past life experiences. As Dr. Bessel van der Kolk said: The Body Keeps the Score.
Expressive art therapies can tap into the body’s emotions and allow them to safely spill out onto the art form you are engaging with, which then enables you to stand back and analyse it from a less emotionally charged state.
Body movement and dance are other ways you can creatively express yourself, allowing for somatic and holistic healing to occur. Tuning into your body and allowing it to move freely, releases emotional tensions, promotes body awareness, and facilitates emotional integration.
Cons of Expressive Art Therapies
Need for Artistic Skills?
Some individuals may feel apprehensive about engaging in expressive art therapies due to the false impression that they have to have artistic abilities to start. They may feel self-conscious about their lack of ‘artistic talents’. However, you don’t need to be artistic or have any such so call ‘talents’, to gain benefit from this healing modality. The benefit of expressive art therapy is in the process of creatively expressing yourself freely and allowing your subconscious mind and body to release the emotional tensions and traumas held in your body and mind.
Interpretation Challenges
The interpretation of artwork in expressive art therapies can be subjective, requiring skilful facilitation by the therapist. Different individuals may interpret artwork differently, making it important for the therapists to create a safe and supportive space for the client to do self-analysis with only gentle guidance and prompting from the therapist. The client’s interpretations are what matters in analysing the artwork. A good art therapist knows not to project their thoughts and interpretations but may use colour theory, symbolism, and archetypal motifs as a way to encourage the client to delve deeper into their artwork.
Emotional Overload
As with any form of therapy, when first starting out, emotional overload may be a concern. Delving deep into the subconscious mind and tapping into somatic tensions, may trigger past traumas to surface. That’s why it’s important to work with a therapist to develop a sense of safety first and ensure that they are aware that titration is key for safe accessing and processing.
Final Thoughts
Both talk-based therapy and expressive art therapies offer valuable pathways to healing and personal growth. Talk-based therapy provides a platform for introspection, cognitive restructuring, and problem-solving through verbal communication. On the other hand, expressive art therapies tap into the power of creative expression, non-verbal communication, and somatic healing. Ultimately, the choice between these modalities depends on individual preferences, comfort levels, and therapeutic goals. Some individuals may find a combination of both approaches beneficial. Whatever path you choose, remember that the therapeutic journey is unique to you, and the most important aspect is finding a qualified therapist who can provide the support you need on your path to healing and self-discovery.
Happy therapising 😊
Starlah Rose
If you're interested in exploring the advantages of Therapeutic Journaling, click on the image above to learn about my unique 3-Step Process to Improved Emotional Wellbeing.
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© 2024 Starlah Rose
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Contact
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© 2024 Starlah Rose
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