Chronic Pain

If you have pain for 3 months or more, it may be considered chronic pain. It can be a persistent pain that can leave you feeling exhausted and alone. The experience of pain is unique to the individual, based on culture, experience, gender and coping strategies.

Art therapy can help you to self-manage so that you can start to live a more normal life and become more involved with the community and work etc. 

Art therapy can help you to understand your pain and to find strategies to cope through various art medium.

Marbling might help you to resonate with that feeling of having no control over your life. 

Pain is difficult to explain which is where Art Therapy can help you.

Working with the Art Therapist through an artwork such as this, you can learn to rebuild your life and increase confidence and trust in yourself again. Art Therapy can help you go through that transition period from pain to regaining your sense of self, by working on your strengths through artworks.

 Mental deconditioning can lead to decreased ability to be mindful or the inability to experience positive sensations. Further difficulties in managing chronic pain can stem from a history of trauma and unaddressed emotional pain (Phillips, 2008).

I am also a qualified Rehabilitation Counsellor who has worked with clients with work-related injuries and found that they were often lost for words when it came to explaining their pain, or dealing with their lives because their pain was all consuming. This is the reason I decided to study Arts Psychotherapy and I believe it helps greatly. When I had my own substantial back injury I decided to try porcelain doll making and loved it. It took my mind off the pain, and I got out and mixed with others.

I believe the true results come through the experience of using Art Therapy. This is an opportunity to explore new ways to decrease the pain, and boost your energy and endurance. 

Complete article on chronic pain from quote https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ930794.pdf