Why Art Therapy Is the Perfect Tool for Grief Counseling in San Diego.

Grief can feel like brokenness.

It’s a brokenness unique to you, even though others have thoughts on how to fix you. They offer all sorts of books, articles, podcasts, suggestions, tips, and tools.

It can feel unsafe to really express your thoughts or emotions in front of some of your closest friends because you feel judged about how you are grieving. It’s too much or too little.  

What is known is that grief is not the same for everyone.  However, for most people, over time, the grief lessens and is not felt as sharply and constantly as in the initial days, months, and first year of a death.

A therapist, trained in grief counseling, can provide a therapeutic relationship where you can approach the grief in ways that work best for you.  Using tools that make it easier to process and/or talk authentically about the death of your loved one. Art Therapy is one of those tools.

Art Therapy contains Strong Emotions.

For some individuals, the emotions of grief can feel like more than they can bear. Struggling daily to cope, unexpected reminders bring tears. The sadness can feel like it will never end.   Feelings of anger and fear can also overwhelm.  If this is you, you may be more of an intuitive griever who needs to express your emotions and talk.

In Art Therapy, creativity and art processes can serve to hold the barrage of emotions that come at a steady, seemingly unending pace in the beginning. This is especially true when you fear that talking about your loved one or the death will overwhelm you with emotions. Art serves as a container to hold the difficult emotions.

Art Therapy is Action-Oriented.

What is best for some people is moving through grief with action, rather than emotional expression. Initially, someone who grieves instrumentally may find comfort in arranging the memorial, solving problems, and completing tasks.

If you grieve more instrumentally, people may question whether you are truly grieving because of this difference in how you natively deal with loss. It doesn’t mean you’re not dealing with the loss. However, it doesn’t mean you don’t need therapy to help move through the grief.

Art Therapy is an active therapy that supports instrumental grievers.  Clients are involved in making tangible things with their hands, not for the purpose of getting the feelings out, but to help integrate the loss. The focus of the creativity and art processes can be tailored to help you adapt to grief by engaging your thought processes, to think deeply about the loss, and find meaning.

Art Therapy can help process trauma.

Grief can feel more intense, depending on the trauma involved with the death. Sudden, unexpected, or violent deaths are often traumatic to loved ones and friends. While sitting in a group can be a support, hearing about others’ trauma stories can be very difficult and triggering.

In individual art therapy, you can process trauma, without reliving it, by telling the story in ways that don’t re-traumatize, using art therapy protocols designed for safety. Finding metaphors in imagery can provide distance between you and what happened. Working bilaterally with art materials helps your brain integrate the event and move forward.

You can work through the thoughts or memories that repeatedly replay in your mind. Sometimes it’s the thoughts about what you wish you had done differently, or your anger about what someone else did or didn’t do. Art Therapy is a grounding and engaging therapy that allows your nervous system to calm while you process these traumatic aspects of your loss.

Consultation for Art Therapy for Grief and Loss

A vital aspect of any type of therapy is the therapeutic relationship, where you feel safe.  Art Therapy for Grief and Loss is no different.  Whether you’re an intuitive or instrumental griever, with or without accompanying trauma, Art Therapy is the perfect tool to help you through your grief.

As a San Diego Art Therapy professional, I guide my clients through the art therapy process and witness their grief journey through their art.  When you’re grieving, no one really understands exactly what you’re going through; however, therapy should be a place where you have a felt sense of being seen and cared for.  

My name is Tami, and as a therapist trained in Grief and Loss, I provide therapy in San Marcos, CA, in-person and online Art Therapy throughout San Diego and California.

To check my availability and to book a free 15 phone consultation, click here.