Helping our emotional health through creative expression

In her article Creativity, the Arts, and Madness, Maureen Neihart, Psy.D. notes, “There are numerous examples of artists who used their work to save their minds. For example, Anne Sexton [photo], who was institutionalized for her psychosis wrote, “Poetry led me by the hand out of madness” and Jackson Polluck’s large canvas drippings have been viewed by several investigators as an attempt to organize his chaotic inner life.

“A basic premise of the expressive therapies (e.g. art, music, and dance therapy, etc.) is that writing, composing, or drawing, etc., is a means to self-understanding, emotional stability and resolution of conflict. Creativity provides a way to structure or reframe pain. This, perhaps, is what much good comedy is about.”

This topic of healing ourselves through creating shows up in many quotes by artists and a number of articles and pages on the site, including:
healing & art
nurturing mental health : acting
nurturing mental health : films/filmmaking
nurturing mental health : writing

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Technorati tags: talent development mental health creative talent personal development gifted adults
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