**Note: As of 2022, we are no longer providing Art Therapy. To stay updated on future Art Therapy programs, please send an email to reception@thewomenscentrebrandon.com to sign up for our newsletter.
Art therapy uses the deliberate use of art making to safely express and contain difficult and traumatic feelings, cope with traumatic memories and triggers, as well as support emotional stabilization and strengthen safety for survivors of domestic violence. Through art making, survivors can make sense of and find their way out of chaos, terrifying memories, and the raw emotion of their abuse to discover a sense of grounding, strength, safety, understanding, and hope.
There are numerous benefits that survivors can receive from participating in art therapy such as:
- A sense of calm
- Increased ability to physically, emotionally and mentally ground oneself through the impacts of domestic violence
- Develop a positive connection to one’s body
- Develop a new way to express oneself and make sense of things that may have been difficult to express in words previously
- Develop insights about oneself and the relationships in one’s life
- A way of creating a visual documentation of one’s healing journey.
‘Art Therapy for Women’ is for self-identifying women who have experienced domestic violence or are living in it currently. Women should be 18+ and be interested in exploring and expressing thoughts and feelings through art and come with an open mind. Folks do not need to have any artistic training or background. Since art therapy is really about the process of expression through the art, we do not concentrate on the aesthetics of the art pieces created. It does not matter if folks have not used paint or clay or picked up a marker in many years.
There are numerous ways of working with the art that can help foster the expression of self and support folks in exploring impacts and making new connections to themselves and others in a visual way.