• Universality – To know that others have similar experiences decrease group member’s sense of isolation, validate their experiences, and raise self-esteem. In group art therapy, feeling awkward about creating art in therapy is almost universal, until you realize everyone shares that feeling and the need to make beautiful pictures fades, and acceptance of who you are and what you create is authentic.

• Altruism – When members help each other, they begin to feel a sense of value and purpose.  This leads to more adaptive coping styles and improved interpersonal skills. In group art therapy, altruism may be seen in assisting others in their creative process and thus promoting value and a sense of belonging or purpose. 

• Instillation of hope – Group members can learn from others who have gone through life’s challenges and know that there is hope in recovery and support. In art therapy, hope may given when one group member says, “Don’t worry, when I started I felt I could only draw a stick figure too.”  Hope may also be seen in the graphic images created over time.  Progress and hope may be demonstrated by viewing artwork created at the beginning of treatment and again later on. Changes that occur in therapy can be slow, like any growth process, psychological growth may not always be visible without a means to mark progress, much like tick marks drawn on a wall marking the inches of a child grown over a lifetime. Over time, development in artwork may be detected in more intense or brighter color usage, just as affect may have brightened.  Energy may have increased thus resulting in a more active line quality and larger space usage on the page as well the inclusion objects or supports.  These changes and much more may be visible in the art productions as the psychological transformation occurs.

• Imparting information – Understanding the stages and struggles of recovery from can reduce anxiety.  For example, understanding the discomfort associated with the re-feeding process common in some eating disorders is temporary, helps with the commitment to stick to a meal plan.  As well as knowing that body image distortion is one of the last things to change in recovery from an eating disorder helps to understand the patience and self-compassion needed for this healing process. Imparting information in an art therapy group can be as simple as explaining how oil pastels blend.  Or using artwork to outline the stages of grieving or to examine a decision by graphically drawing the pros and cons of an issue can yield visual cues such as weight and importance not always conveyed in words alone. 

• Corrective recapitulation of the primary family experience – Understanding how our past relationships influence our current ones can be liberating.  In group therapy, members can learn how to identify these patterns and avoid repeating unhelpful, or even toxic, past interactive patterns in present-day relationships. It is sometimes much easier to observe family patterns and relationships in imagery than through words alone.  Proximity, weight, tension and line quality all can convey past and present unhelpful patterns while exploration of fantasy through art can reveal pined for relationships.  

• Development of socializing techniques – The group provides a safe and supportive environment for members to take risks by expanding their repertoire of interpersonal behavior and improving their social skills. Often, in group art therapy, group members are called upon to create one work of art in which problem-solving and strength building skills are required thus building new patterns and skills.

• Imitative behavior – One way in which group members can develop social skills is through modeling in which, group members observe and imitate the therapist and other group members. This happens more often than most would admit.  For example, sharing personal feelings, showing concern, and supporting others can all be modeled. Adolescents are notorious for trying on different fads and personae’s as they seek to express parts of themselves that feel like a good fit.  In an art psychotherapy group, working with various media can also help expand and amplify one’s ability to effectively understand and express oneself. Imitative behavior is a common aspect of creativity and play.

• Cohesiveness – Group cohesiveness is an instinctive need to belong, and personal development can only take place in an interpersonal context. A principle goal of all of the groups offered at The Center for Psyche & the Arts, LLC is to offer cohesive groups in which all members feel a sense of belonging, acceptance, and validation. Connecting to others through similar forms and patterns drawn on a piece of paper can be easier and less stressful than sharing personal aspects of oneself.  Through the images, a bridge is created allowing for connection. An example of such is to temporarily subgroup based on line quality such as fuzzy lines, muted colors, or by pictorial elements.  When in small groups to discuss the images (before returning to the larger group), personal patterns can be observed and discussed by using the graphic qualities of the images created as they often yield information about personality types, likes and dislikes, and ways of relating to others. Group members are often amazed about how much is revealed in such a safe and enjoyable way.

• Existential factors – Typically apply to learning that one has to take responsibility for one’s life and the consequences of one’s decisions.  In group art therapy each person makes a difference in our group and this world by sharing a part of themselves.  Focus on how our actions and relationships, can positively influence and help others, now and into the future is created in art therapy groups. One never knows how a piece of art may move another group member, creating resonance and meaning that permeates positively beyond the immediate group experience.

• Catharsis – Catharsis the experience of relief from emotional distress through the free and uninhibited expression of emotion. Have you every scribbled on a piece of paper hard?  It can be both exhausting and enlivening at the same time – this is a cathartic experience.  In addition to increasing creating physical energy from making art, when members tell their story to a supportive audience, they can obtain relief from chronic feelings of shame and guilt.

• Interpersonal learning – Group members achieve a greater level of self-awareness through the process of interacting with others in the group, who give feedback on the member’s behavior and impact on others. The goal of interpersonal learning is to take these skills and experiences in group therapy back into their lives to enrich their relationships with others in many different contexts such as work, school, and family.

• Self-understanding – This factor overlaps with interpersonal learning but refers to the achievement of greater levels of insight into the genesis of one’s problems and the unconscious motivations that underlie one’s behavior. The images created in art therapy mirror internal conflicts and experiences, much in the same way a signature is unique to each person, one’s artwork is unique as well.  Each image holds facets of a personal story, ready to be mined through a relative, therapeutic experience.  Images created over time, create the complete portrait and evolve as the individual and group evolve. 

by Michelle L. Dean, MA, ATR-BC, LPC, CGP HLM (DVATA)

Co-Founder, The Center for Psyche & the Arts, LLC, Board Certified Art Therapist, Licensed Professional Counselor & Certified Group Psychotherapist Honorary Life Member – Delaware Valley Art Therapy Association

© 2014, All rights reserved. Images and text The Center for Psyche & the Arts, LLC

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