ART THERAPY REFLECTIONS: The Crazy Artist Stereotype and Myth

Saturday, December 24, 2011

The Crazy Artist Stereotype and Myth

Check out my new post at createmixedmedia. I talk about why we should not reinforce the stereotype of the crazy artist and that mentally healthy people are as creative as those who struggle with their mental health. Enjoy the holidays!

2 comments:

The Creative Beast said...: YES YES YES!!! Karen, thank you for writing so eloquently on this subject. - it's something I've thought of writing about for quite some time but I believe you have hit each and every nail on the head in a way that I could not...

I have grown sick and tired of seeing artists portrayed as the "Mad Genius", as it keeps society at large from exploring their creativity in case they become 'touched by madness', when in fact it's LACK OF CREATIVE EXPRESSION that tends to create depression in people, and the 'crazy' behavior that often goes with it. Having worked with creatives in creative fields (as well as working with office folks) I can say that they may be eccentric, but they are far happier than their counterparts - the office drones behind a desk who often act crazier than artists because they don't exercise their inherent creativity...maybe this is why businessman have the reputation for being 'psychopaths'? They are channeling their creativity in the wrong ways!! ;)

Karen, I love reading your blog and the enlightening insights you share with us here. A very Happy Holiday to you and I look forward to reading and learning more from you in 2012!; December 26, 2011 9:13 PM
Karen Wallace said...: Thank you so much for your response. Hugs Karen; December 27, 2011 6:28 AM

What is Art Therapy?

Art therapy is typically referred for situations in which words are difficult (ex: grief and loss), if there is a mind-body relationship to the nature of a person's trauma (ex: sexual abuse, PTSD), or for clients who are inept with words (ex: children, persons with a communication disability). Art therapy is also often sought out by clients who seek a more tangibly productive therapy (literally “rolling up your sleeves”), enjoy expressing themselves visually (artists, architects, crafters, etc.), or for whom talk therapy has not achieved the desired outcome and want to try something new. Art therapy is generally described as a highly illuminating, enjoyable, and unique experience.

In my work I see individual clients who are exploring issues such as depression, anxiety, stress, life transitions, abuse and trauma. I use psycho-education, cognitive behavior techniques, solution-oriented and expressive therapies.

I draw on a wide variety of theories to create an integrative approach. I am client centered and use techniques and theories which 'fit' the client. I am a practicing artist and combine theories in a very creative way in my practice to facilitate clients' journeys through change.

Some of the tools I use in my work are sand tray, all forms of art making, life mapping, goal setting, relaxation techniques, guided visualizations, journal and creative writing, movement, somatic experiencing techniques, stress reduction techniques, reframing, EMDR, Focusing, mindfulness meditation techniques and play therapy.

Focusing Oriented Art Therapy

Focusing Oriented Expressive Therapy
Do you want to learn how to:
· Be a better listener to yourself?
· Make clear choices?

· Be calm and compassionate to yourself?
· Support yourself through change?
· Feel relaxed and stress free?

Focusing helps you learn how to be Present and listen to yourself so that you can move ahead in your life in an empowered and safe way. Focusing brings you closer to wholeness and allows you to access your inner wisdom. This helps you move in the direction of your potential. It can help you move beyond blocks and get in touch with your goals. Focusing is a gentle and powerful way to develop a deep interpersonal healing relationship with yourself. Awareness of sensations in the body can be blocked through habits of dissociation and repression. This is because the sensation maybe uncomfortable or painful, and we are not trained to focus on this inner knowing and awareness of the body.

Focusing Training:
1-306-569-2974 Email: kwallace@islandnet.com
Level One: Regina Nov. 12, 13
Level Two: Winnipeg Jan. 14, 15

Learning Focusing to Help Free the Artist in You

Do you want to learn how to:
· Be a better listener to yourself?
· Make clear choices?

· Be calm and compassionate to yourself?
· Support yourself through change?
· Feel relaxed and less stressful?

Focusing helps you learn how to be Present and listen to yourself so that you can move ahead in your life in an empowered and safe way. Focusing brings you closer to wholeness and allows you to access your inner wisdom. This helps you move in the direction of your potential. It can help you move beyond blocks and get in touch with your goals. Focusing is a gentle and powerful way to develop a deep interpersonal healing relationship with yourself.
In this workshop we will work with:
· artist's blocks
· money issues that we may have around our art
· time issues that we may have for our art making
· why we can’t get into the studio

What is Focusing?
Focusing is "direct access to bodily knowing." It is a practice that takes a person towards a state of conscious perception that goes far beyond knowing something on a mere conceptual level.

As with Somatic Experiencing, Focusing refers to this bodily knowing as a felt sense. As the Focusing Institute's website explains, "You can sense your living body directly under your thoughts and memories and under your familiar feelings." Focusing happens at a deeper level than your feelings. Under them you can discover a physically sensed murky zone which is concretely there. This is a source from which new steps emerge. This murky zone "opens" as you learn to stay with it longer. Being with it increases the ability to sense feelings behind words or images, even when those are not yet formed. Eventually, you can learn how to let a deeper bodily felt sense come in relation to any problem or situation. It is a subtle process, hard to define in words. Focusing was developed by the philosopher Eugene Gendlin in the late 1960s and early 70s, while he was working with the famed psychologist Carl Rogers.

Karen Wallace M.E.d. BCATR is an Art Therapist, artist, Focusing Trainer, and art instructor living and working in Regina SK. Canada. She has a private practice with adults and children and specializes in depression, trauma and life transition. She facilitates art therapy, creativity and art groups. She teaches internationally. She shows her mixed media art in galleries in Regina, Victoria B.C. and the Gulf Islands. Karen is known for her enthusiastic and dynamic teaching style. Her workshops are rich, playful and creative. Karen’s art work is a reflection of her art therapy work. She expresses her love of nature, her practice of Buddhism and her family in her art. Web site: www.islandnet.com/~kwallace

ART THERAPY REFLECTIONS

Saturday, December 24, 2011

The Crazy Artist Stereotype and Myth

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