Family and Caregiver Schizophrenia Discussion Forum

Art therapy

#1

My daughter started art therapy, and she seems so excited about it. Art has been one way she has coped with her symptoms for a long time now, and she is quite talented and creative and has always been. She hopes to eventually go to art school. She already brought home a painting she did today and she is going back on Thursday. She can go as often as she likes, and sometimes people can put their art in local art walks here in the Phoenix area.

Is anyone’s family member in art therapy? Does anyone’s family member use some artistic medium as self expression and/or to cope with their illness?

#2

I had art therapy in a couple of hospitals. I hated it. But I am just not artistic. Never have been even before I got sick. Well, in high school I took drafting and that was pretty neat. I also took a pottery course in high school and it was fun. But I am terrible at producing art.
But I think it’s great that your daughter shows interest in going to art therapy and likes it. I think it’s great and I hope she continues to like it. It’s always nice to have something to do that you like, for anyone.

#3

I have been to art therapy and it did help me get what was out of my head into a different medium. It was also a way to get involved in group activities that were safe and non-judgmental.

I ended up destroying a lot of my work from back then because… back then it was all dark and twisted faces screaming in pain. Eventually I didn’t want to see that anymore. It was almost continually upsetting.

But I still value art classes and the community you can get from an art group.

#4

I haven’t been drawing a lot lately, but I love to try to draw and I began drawing likeness from magazine covers in the hospital of wildlife and things before I decided to try to draw my own strange pictures. I think it helped me and the simple accomplishment made me proud.

#5

If you feel like it, you can share your art on the Creativity board! I always like to see other people’s creative works.

#6

I want to learn how to computer sculpt like this program video and then 3d print my own figurines.

#7

Huh. I never imagined there would be digital sculpting software. But of course there is. I guess I always thought part of the fun of sculpting was the hands-on part. But its a new world out there! It is amazing what can be done.

#8

Cuts down on pottery wheel mess truthfully I believe…could you imagine like 12 schizos in a studio with clay, water, and pottery wheels? I dunno that’d be pretty messy, plus it’s easier with this software I bet to delay work and then go back to it without the clay drying or going bad…

#9

Yr crackin me up!!!

#10

When she was not doing as well sometimes the subject of her drawings concerned me, but I had to remind myself to be accepting that she could draw what she wanted and it wasn’t right for me to “interpret” what I wanted out of her drawings-those were for her. Yesterday she painted an octopus against a black background.

She likes computers too neveragain, she might do computer animations-it is one of the things she is interested in for art school.

#11

i do art therapy in day programme twice a week. i would be doing it today, but i have a head cold so am home. i enjoy it a great deal. i especially enjoy being able to do something that doesn’t require the whole “check in” component. well, it does a little, but very little, which is nice because after awhile all the “sharing” and “checking in” just dehumanizes and infantilzes and i don’t enjoy that. it’s called open easel. i mostly do watercolours.

#12

Yes! My son does a lot of drawing. He was taking some classes for awhile, and was going to start again-but he is still having pain from his hip replacement so-do not know yet.
From the time he was little, he was always doing something----drawing, painting, playing guitar. He still does, but it seems he has lost his passion for it, or can only do for a little while what used to keep him occupied for hours.