Trauma is an event in which the person has experienced, witnessed, or been confronted with an event or events that involve actual or threatened death or serious injury, or a threat to the physical integrity of oneself or others and stipulates that "the person's response involved intense fear, helplessness, or horror (APA, 2013). Another explanation of trauma posits that it is not the event itself that determines the impact, but rather how the individual processes and assigns meaning to the traumatic event on an individual's daily life, establish the impact (Boals & Schuettler, 2009). Based on this narrative, researchers are exploring strategies through which individuals' perceptions and resilience can be altered in a meaningful and positive way. Traditional therapies are now integrating various modes of art in dealing with trauma survivors. Evidence-based treatments are being implemented through art-based activities (Sarid & Huss, 2010; Tripp, 2007). Literature has established that individuals who experience multiple types of highly stressful events are at risk for entering a dangerous state of allostatic load (Sprang, Katz & Cooke, 2009). This load finally turned into a traumatic state for individuals and impacted their daily life functioning.
For thousands of years, people have relied on the arts to connect with others, express themselves, and to get heal. Art therapy is based on the belief that creative expression can help people heal and feel better (Stuckey & Nobel, 2010). Testa and McCarthy (2004) have effectively used art therapy-based intervention for trauma survivor adolescents. Individuals who have mental illness frequently expressed themselves in drawings and other artworks, prompting many therapists to consider using art as a curative approach (Farokhi, 2011).
Art has now become an essential aspect of the therapeutic area, with some diagnostic and therapeutic procedures using it. The use of artistic methods to treat psychological disorders and to enhance mental health is known as art therapy. Art therapy is a technique rooted in the idea that creative expression can foster healing and mental well-being (Stuckey & Nobel, 2010).
Art opens the closets, airs out the cellars and attics. It brings healing (Cameron, 2021)
Generally, art therapy aims to utilize the creative process to help people explore self-expression and, in doing so, new ways to achieve the personal insight and enhance new coping skills. The creation of art is used to help people to explore their own emotions, develop self-awareness, enhance stress coping, boost self-esteem, and work on social skills. As clients create art, their artwork is analyzed to know about what they have made and how they feel about this process. Through exploring their art, people can exhibit their conflicts or frustrations that may be affecting their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors (Cherry, 2021). Art therapist uses various art techniques such as drawing, painting, sculpture, and collage for the enormous range of clients, i.e., young children to older adults. It has been reported in many studies that clients who have experienced emotional trauma, physical violence, domestic abuse, anxiety, depression, and other psychological issues can be treated effectively from creative expressions (Wadeson, 2010).
While evidence suggests that art therapy may be helpful, the results of several studies on its efficacy are still lacking (Regev & Cohen, 2018). Because studies are limited and inconclusive, further study is needed to determine 'how' and 'when' art therapy is most beneficial. Previous literature depicts that art therapy dramatically reduces trauma symptoms and depression levels in adult trauma patients (Regev, 2018). The art therapy technique assisted cancer patients in improving their quality of life and alleviating various psychosocial ailments while undergoing medical treatment (Ching-Teng, Ya-Ping, & Yu-Chia, 2019).
Art therapy has been used frequently to treat traumatized individuals, with promising outcomes in clinical practice (Schouten, de Niet, Knipscheer, Kleber, & Hutschemaekers, 2015). For years, art is frequently used in helping people explore emotions, develop self-awareness, cope with stress, raise self-esteem, and improve social skills through creating or appreciating them. It employs artistic techniques such as sketching, painting, coloring, and sculpture, Collage, Doodling and scribbling, Drawing, Finger painting, photography, and working with clay. As clients create art, they may analyze what they have made and how it makes them feel. Through exploring their art, people can look for themes and conflicts that may be affecting their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors (Cherry, 2021). Art can aid in trauma management by allowing an individual to process stressful events differently. When words fail, art provides an outlet to ventilate. Every phase of the therapeutic process involves art when working with a trained art therapist.
Traumatized people may struggle to control their emotions, becoming easily enraged or agitated. Because they have not been fully processed, traumatic memories can appear out of nowhere. There is frequently a response to unconscious cues, such as survivors of sexual abuse fearing an aspect of their abuser's physical appearance. Hearing the scream of car brakes can send a person's nervous system into a tailspin, especially if they have been in a tragic car accident. When a person is exposed to a traumatic event, the Broca's brain region (which is responsible for language) shuts down. At the same time, the amygdala, our brain's danger recognition area, is on high alert and captures the traumatic memory visually and as bodily sensations (Rausch et al., 1996).
Thus, in parallel, employing art to communicate emotion accesses both visually stored memories and body memories, as it allows people to create visuals and allows them to link to physical sensations through the use of art materials such as clay and paint. They may be deprived of their bodily senses, especially if they have been subjected to physical or sexual abuse. According to certain studies, individuals' perceptions of touch and sight are linked directly to our brain's fear region (Lusebrink, 2004), which is why art therapy is ideally placed to work with traumatic memory. Victims of trauma benefit from therapeutic relationships because they feel safe and centered in the present moment. This is necessary before any painful memories are addressed, so they can feel comfortable knowing that the trauma has passed and that they are in the present moment in the treatment session. As the painful experience is processed, this can save them from feeling overwhelmed or "flooded." Because unpleasant memories are kept visually, interacting with them through art might be more instantaneous. It lets a traumatized person choose what they produce and release portions of the trauma at their own time, preventing them from becoming overwhelmed. The art enables nonverbal communication, which can help individuals feel safer and more willing to relate their narratives. Individuals may also lack vocabulary; thus, the image might help them put their feelings into words. By talking about the work and giving words to the trauma, the therapist can help the person. However, with the help of an art therapist, the painful experience can be processed and placed in space and time, communicating to the brain that it is no longer happening today. Instead of being kept in the brain's fear center, the memories are saved as autobiographical memory. This helps to minimize the symptoms of trauma by reducing their intense emotional content.
Because unpleasure memories are kept visually, interacting with them through art might be more instantaneous. It lets a traumatized person choose what they produce and release portions of the trauma at their on time, preventing them from becoming overwhelmed. The art enable nonverbal communication, wich can help individuals feel safer and more willing to relate their narratives. Individuals also can lack vocabulary; thus the image might help them to put their feelings into words.
Individuals who have been traumatized may make collages of images that express their internal strengths. They make a mask or draw a sensation and discuss it to evaluate feelings and thoughts regarding trauma. By photographing precious objects, art develops grounding and coping skills. By generating a graphic chronology, it can assist in telling the tale of trauma. Integrating art into therapy addresses a person's entire experience because trauma is not experienced solely via words. Art expression is a vital tool for adequately containing and separating from a traumatic experience. When words fail, art safely provides a voice to and makes a survivor's experience of emotions, ideas, and memories visible (Schouten, 2019).
In addition, trauma rehabilitation entails recovering the safety of one's body. Many people who have experienced trauma become alienated or separated from their bodies. Generally, this is the outcome of feeling physically intimidated and unsafe after distressing experiences. Learning to establish a healthy relationship with one's body, on the other hand, is essential for trauma recovery.
