[AnxiousGirl]

So I'm 19 and have a pretty bad anxiety disorder. My therapist wants me to meet with an art therapist but I have no idea whether or not to do it. I have a horrible time expressing feelings out loud and my therapist thinks that art therapy could help. How does art therapy work? I'm horrible in drawing so I have no clue how I'm supposed to "draw how I feel". Also, is art therapy going to help me speak about my feelings out loud eventually?

I still have weekly appointments with my psychologist, but now add on an art therapist :/

Any ideas? thanks

[Nammu]

Art therapy is great. You don't need to know how to draw or paint, in fact it's slightly better if you don't know. I went to art therapy groups for a while and some of the best expressive work was done by those who had no previous experience with art.

Art therapy is about putting your feeling on paper or something like a 3D mask. The art therapist will guide you and help you figure out how to express the feelings. Even if you are confused about what you feel enough comes though to have something to talk about in therapy which leads to some productive sessions. Do give it a try you can always quit after giving it some time if it does work for you, but give it at least 6 try's.

[gayleggg]

I agree that it could open a whole new look at your feelings. I took an art therapy class in the hospital once and loved it. We did collages and pictures using different medias. It also gets you out of the thinking mode into a more open and feeling mood. Give it a try. I think you will find it will help you open up.

[kim_johnson]

I really enjoyed the art therapy I did - and I'm not artistically inclined at all. I started out coloring in pictures. It was nice childhood memories for me. Then I liked doodling outlines that I could color in.

It felt nice to scribble with a big black pen sometimes - because that was how I felt. To be able to scribble it out without feeling like I needed to rationalise it or justify it to someone... To not feel like I was wrong or bad for feeling that way. To not have someone else try and hit me over the head with alleged irrationalities, which only ever made it worse...

With practice... You actually get better at it. Some of the people turned out to be really very artistic and they didn't at all know they were that way inclined.