Role of Art Therapy in Addiction Recovery

Painting the town mellow –

Sep. 24, 2020 – In a nutshell, art therapy helps patients express their emotions, improve self-esteem, manage addictions, relieve stress, improve symptoms of anxiety and depression and cope with recovery.

In addition, art allows a person to convey ideas and emotions and explore issues in a way that allows that person to communicate in a non-verbal way. Many patients initially feel hesitant about exploring and addressing those issues in group therapy or in conversation.

“Everyone gets art therapy if they are in treatment here. What makes us so different from other facilities is that we offer a lot of creative process services like drum therapy, art and mindfulness,” Hanes says. “Art therapy has been used quite a bit in psychiatry and for drug and alcohol addiction. It’s now booming and being used in different ways, like in burn centers, cancer centers and for trauma recovery.”

Hanes himself discovered art therapy while studying art and art education in college. He met another student who majored in art therapy, and the subject instantly fascinated him.