Alcoholism is a dreadful disease. It steals our lives, often one drink at a time. Thankfully, there is hope. That hope can begin with a treatment program. Treatment helps us rediscover ourselves and overcome our addiction. This process of rediscovery can also be a way to uncover exciting new things.
Through different treatment approaches, we begin to not only rediscover ourselves, but to learn new things that add meaning to our lives. One way is through art therapy. Now, you don’t have to be an artist. Your art doesn’t even need to be good. Here’s how art therapy can be helpful in recovering from alcoholism, even though you’re not an artist.
What Are Alternative Recovery Therapies
Alternative therapy for helping with substance abuse recovery supports the traditional treatment structure. Frequently, the idea of alternative therapy creates confusion. These aren’t alternative ways to address the problems of drug addiction and alcoholism.
Alternative therapeutic approaches for addiction treatment are tools to help with the process. Things like music, art and dance can be wonderful ways to help us learn how to live clean and sober.
Art is one of the easiest of the alternative therapies to infuse into an addiction treatment program. Here are some benefits of art therapy for helping you to recover from alcoholism.
The Benefits of Art Therapy for Recovering from Alcoholism
Alcoholism is but a symptom of the mind. You may feel uncontrollable physical urges, but this isn’t what compels the vast majority of alcoholics to drink obsessively. It is an obsession that develops in our mind.
Art therapy adds a tool to help divert these obsessive tendencies. It provides an alternative from turning to a drink or drug for relief, relief that ultimately metastasizes into grief. Since the urge to drink or do drugs resides in our mind, art therapy offers various benefits.
- Heal Inner Emotions – Simply working our hands can be therapeutic. The act of creating something with our hands supplies us with a sense of pleasure. It could be woodworking, sculpting or drawing something.
It doesn’t need to be art worthy of display at the Louvre Art Museum in Paris. There is a myriad of scientifically supported research behind the tactile sensation of touch. Art therapy is used to help heal all types of mental illnesses and treat traumatic life events.
Every alcoholic, who has beaten themselves up trying to stop, understands the idea of mental trauma. Art uses this proven physiological association between our hands and our minds. It is a process that helps us heal our inner emotions no matter how or why they became damaged.
- Improve Self-Worth – Many times alcoholism destroys our self-worth. Alternative therapies are an excellent way to help reestablish our self-esteem. Low self-esteem often drives substance abuse.
Just the idea that you can accomplish something new and exciting helps gradually improve your self-esteem. As alternative therapies such as art therapy help repair our inner emotions, they also begin to rebuild lost self-worth.
Reduce Stress and Anxiety
Trying repeatedly to stop drinking or abusing drugs creates an unimaginable amount of stress. The stress and anxiety associated with substance abuse can be so overwhelming we give up hope.
By simply making one simple choice to enter treatment can erase what seems like a mountain of anxiety. Art therapy is another tremendous way to reduce stress and anxiety. It is used to treat children with hyperactivity issues.
It helps people who suffer from attention disorders, or individuals who experienced traumatic stress in their lives. The key thing that alternative therapies like art do is to relax the mind.
When we step away from anxious feelings, even but for a moment, it can open new doors. Anxiety disorders are a common contributor to substance abuse problems. Using art therapy to help reveal the core of these mental health issues can be monumental.
Art therapy is an excellent way to help gradually reduce the stress and anxiety that might otherwise trigger us to drink or use drugs. It’s not all about the art itself, it’s about the emotional release you get from doing it.
Alternative therapeutic approaches to helping us recover from alcoholism and drug addiction are proving valuable. Completing even the crudest art project proves to us that we can do something special.
The slightest crack in your self-perceived low self-esteem can be monumental, whether or not you can draw a stickman. It’s not how well you can draw, paint or sculpt. It’s the act that counts. Don’t worry about what your art project looks like compared to another.
It’s yours, and that is what matters. Like your art project, your life matters. If you even think you have a problem with drugs or alcohol, ask for help today. Tomorrow may be too late. Just like an art project, you will rediscover the most beautiful masterpiece of art you can create, yourself. Call us at 772-266-5320.
