Painting a New Narrative: Art Therapy as a Tool for Trauma Therapy

By: Kala Gattuso, LCSW

Trauma is individual to you and trauma therapy has to be as well. It isn’t always a big event it can be small daily occurrences or even things we didn’t get that we needed. Trauma encapsulates when our ability to respond to a threat is overwhelmed; it is a loss of connection to ourselves, our environment, and sometimes others.

Trauma manifests itself in physical and psychological symptoms. Sometimes the reactions are delayed which can catch us off guard when they come up.

There are three main types of trauma: Acute, Chronic & Complex

Acute Trauma

Acute trauma results from a single incident: Acute trauma can come from many different things, the Waukesha Parade is an example of facing acute trauma. Being the witness to something terrible happening can cause a quick trauma response. The sooner you get into trauma therapy after acute trauma, the less likely it will turn into PTSD.

Chronic Trauma

Chronic trauma is repeated and prolonged such as domestic violence or abuse:

• Chronic trauma can also be the absence of things: like having a parent who isn’t emotionally connected or present with us growing up so we often have to take care of them or we simply just don’t learn to care for ourselves.

• Chronic trauma can lead to deeply rooted negative beliefs of ourselves like perfectionism, people-pleasing, defensiveness, and high anxiety around needing control in our life.

• Trauma therapy for chronic trauma can involve processing the trauma itself but also the beliefs and automatic actions that have stemmed from it.

Complex Trauma

Complex trauma is exposure to varied and multiple traumatic events.

Trauma is more than an incident. Trauma therapy is more than one session. Some examples include:

• War

• Learning to stay quiet so you don’t get yelled at or punished

• Being parentified at a young age

• Sexual Assault

• Neglect, betrayal, or abandonment during childhood

• Automobile accidents

• Invasive medical procedures

• Chronic Illness

• Chronically feeling in the way of others

• Birthing stress

Honestly, this list could go on. And sometimes we don’t even know something was traumatic until we do trauma therapy. Bottom-up therapies like Brainspotting can show us what caused these responses and process where the trauma is stored.

Trauma can show up in a lot of different ways:

• Hyperarousal

  • Physically: (increased heart rate, sweaty palms, difficulty breathing, panic attacks, tension)

  • Psychologically: racing thoughts, intrusive thinking, increased worry, and anxiety.

• Hypoarousal, which can be described as feeling numb, shut down, stuck or depressed.

• Dissociation

• Denial

• Feelings of helplessness

• Sensitivity to light, sounds

• Insomnia & sleep issues

• Shame

• Flashbacks

And this is just the surface – there are many other small ways that trauma shows up that feel less obvious.

Trauma changes our brain chemistry. Trauma gets stored in our bodies. It can be through images and other times a felt sense of not feeling safe. The Broca’s area of the brain gets especially impacted, meaning our ability to put words to our experiences gets much more challenging. Van der Kolk (2015)

Art therapy is a somatic activity, meaning that it uses both mind and body to connect, and allows the excavation and exploration of our trauma. Art therapy can allow expression and somatic release, without the need to speak about the trauma (which can often be re-triggering).

The 3 guiding principles that art assists with during trauma therapy are:

• Safety and stabilization. Art therapy provides self-soothing and regulation tools personalized to what you need.

• Remembrance and Mourning: through this stage, you start to release your emotions associated with stressful events and/or memories. This grieving process helps us find ourselves, and reconnect to the world the way we want.

• Reconnection and Integration: You will continue to build inner strength, using the art form for continued safety and enhancing resiliency

Art therapy sessions utilize a quiet, calming, and mindful approach, to help soothe symptoms of worry, stress, and avoidance.

Resources on Art therapy

Van der Kolk, B. (2015). The body keeps the score: brain, mind, and body in the healing of trauma. New York: Penguin Books.