Express Yourself with Art & Community to Heal
Tomika has been struggling with the sexual abuse she experienced as a twelve year old girl, eventually leading to her being human trafficked by her “boyfriend” until she was fifteen. However, after getting saved from this situation she was sent to an alcohol and drug treatment program to treat her drug addiction and start to process the trauma. She found poetry to be the greatest coping skill she had to process what happened to her and owning every part of her story to heal.
David grew up with parents who struggled with drug addiction, as well as anger issues. Throughout his childhood, he hated everything around him except for hip-hop. So, when he got placed in foster care and eventually a group home, he took his beats and rhymes with him. Thankfully, his staff saw this and taught him how to use hip hop as a way to express himself and process his anger (as well as other emotions) which allowed him to see the hope and joy beneath the heartache.
Both of these characters are clients I worked with at group homes and facilities in East Tennessee (their names and identifying information have been changed to protect their identity). Throughout my experience in this field, I have met probably close to a hundred adolescent clients like these two who have used the arts as tools to cope with trauma and other adverse childhood experiences. Studies (lead by psychotherapists such as Natalie Rogers) have shown the expressive arts are the most helpful in building resilience after trauma.
The expressive arts work in many different ways, but the three I chose to highlight here are through the mindfulness it promotes, giving a voice to the voiceless, and a community to belong to. First of all, the brain experiencing significant anxiety or anger has synapses firing haphazardly all over the brain. Over a prolonged time of this, the pre-frontal cortex (the part of the brain associated with rational thoughts) starts to shut down and all which is left is the impulsive portion of the brain (leading to depression or rage). How the expressive arts help with this is by allowing the brain to focus on one thing, such as the hand leading the brush stroke or the strumming of the guitar, causing the synapses to fire in a singular location and helping the brain to calm and maintain the functionality of the pre-frontal cortex throughout the stressor.
Secondly, trauma (especially abuse/neglect in childhood) often steals the voice of a person and the dignity they once had. As in the story of David, the expressive arts can tell a person’s story even when the words can’t come. There is power in a person’s voice and without this voice they remain powerless. Symbolism, metaphor, and other literary/artistic tools provide a safe space to express what needs to be said without risking being vulnerable to the wrong person.
Not only do the expressive arts facilitate mindfulness and provide a voice, but they also bring a community of support to come along with it. There is a reason why most visual artists/musicians/makers/taste artists do collaborations together. Each person has a story, but each story connects to a larger narrative an brings community. Since those who are coping from trauma are in desperate need for community and connections to build resilience. This is why Maker Story Creative focuses on the expressive arts and community with our therapy, as well as our non-profit initiatives.
Stokrocki, M. (2010). Understanding adolescents’ identity formation through arts-based research: Transforming an ethnographic script into a play. Journal of Cultural Research in Art Education, 28, 70-86.
Woodgate, R. L., Tennent, P., Barriage, S., & Legras, N. (2020). The lived experience of anxiety and the many facets of pain: A qualitative, arts-based approach. Canadian Journal of Pain, 4(3), 5-18. https://doi.org/10.1080/24740527.2020.1720501