I'm putting on the polishing touches to the talk about art therapy benefits the traumatized child. My God, the power and awe of what seems to be the perfect therapeutic tool for children in trauma- hushed with the overwhelming burden of having witnessed something so scary that the thought to tell it shuts them up before they open their mouths to speak. Research shows that art, along with other therapies, is one of the BEST ways to heal hearts.
Whats gotten me riled up is that I know this place as both survivor and healer. I relate to these kids and know the screaming quiet, so for those of you who don't know this already, I was/am one of these children. My family had happy years, but many of those alternated with a thick cloud of un-namable fear and dysfunction. And at its worse, I was the only sober person in my house. I was 8 years old. Domestic violence was the rule, not the exception... and altho it was my normal, somehow I still knew it was something to be ashamed of and kept quiet. Afterwards for a long time, I couldn't talk about what was happening, describe it; it lived in an amorphous cloud in the back of my mind that came out when something "triggered" emotions and feelings. Later, the name PTSD was attached to the experience. I'm trying to cleanse the stigma attached to it for other people. Its survivable.
I'm OK today and have come to terms with the things can't be erased or totally healed, but instead come to a peaceful place because they can be watered down in potency~ and what is left over can then be used as fuel to heal others. But this isnt' about me.
If this research helps kids to decrease the fear they carry within themselves, that was FLUNG upon them by whatever force crossed their paths, (Katrina, dysfunction, accidents) what a blessing. Clair Evangelista and I had a whole discussion the other day about what the role of artist was in today's society: she thought the role is to offer hope and to heal and I wholeheartedly agree.
Now we know why the abstracted-amorphous cloud couldn't be talked about! Trauma shuts down brain areas, particularly Broca's area and then elevates activity in the amygdala~ the area responsible for encoding memory emotionally. The person stays in the hyperaroused state (aka anxiety disorder) because of the amygdala and the memories cannot be stored in a linear, rational way, but instead are stored in a sensory/emotional area- a right brained area.
Left field tangent: Hmmm... maybe thats why most artists are pretty sensitive, we're righbrained. We also usually have this uncanny thing in common: BAD MEMORIES. We can't remember much of anything, ha ha. But seriously, since many artists are extremely emotional~ many memories are stored in this abstracted area for us... so, maybe our amygdalas are more active than most.
But in treating trauma, the act of the trauma is trapped in an area that can't talk. This area is a sensory modality, one that can't be articulated, but will be expressed with motion like dance, the act of writing (sometimes) and the act of painting and drawing. The body moves, you hear the charcoal grind acrosss the paper and the scratch of the brush into the grain of the canvas. You see marks being made. Change pressure or release by hitting the canvas. Brain works, moves into the place where you feel what happened and your body follows and eyes, senses, body motion and brain become one.
Sounds romantic, right? Not that I'd want it differently, I wouldn't trade being an artist for a Beaver Cleaver upbringing any day of the week, but ptsd isn't any fun. You can't change a constitution of a person, but changing the nature of someone who remains in a traumatized state of being is a must. Depression and suicide are real threats to these people.
Research back into the pasts of artists, writers, singers and dancers (right brained people) and you will usually find one of two things: that there is a history of trauma or a history of sensitive constitutions who could be traumatized more easily by seemingly normal happenstances by others' descriptions.
But for someone going through the very real and frightening effects of unhealed trauma, take it from someone who has seen the very damaging and serious other side of the coin, once you get to a place where articulating the event is possible, (whether its Katrina, childhood abuse, sexual abuse, domestic violence) you own the experience, it doesn't own you. You have the power.
This research has proven why, on a neurophysiological way. ART HEALS and we now have proof. Isn't it amazing that wisdom was written millinea ago that said, "Physician, heal thy self"? I think that when we tap into the Spiritual gift of creativity and acknowledge what it means to be made into the image of the Creator, we transform ourselves and create our own reality.
Next, we'll get into *how*.
And who better to heal and speak of the abstract, amorphousness that trauma brings? Artists.
Healers and hope offerers.
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