Art And Creative Visualization As Forms Of Anger Work
Most of us know that art work is an excellent means of self-expression, but how many people know that art therapy, or “Anger Work” through the use of art can be successful as well? Art just for the fun of it is not what we are discussing though. Art as a simple pleasure might keep you from losing your mind, but art as Anger Work is something else. It is a more active way to express your anger through what you create or do. Many examples of anger or other strong emotions can be found from the greatest artists, painters, musicians, and dancers, but the rest of us can focus our anger and thereby heal, as well. You don’t have to master an Art to use art as a means of working through your anger.
Children and many adults love to do Art Anger Work. They may create a descriptive image with their angry feelings, or they may create and then destroy some piece of art. It is best to let your anger flow as you create paintings, for example. One survivor of sexual abuse may create abstract paintings dominated by deep red tones. Another may create a jumble of body parts expressing the confusion and disconnectedness he feels. A particularly distressed client I knew many years ago was angry at a former therapist who used to eat cookies during their sessions and had even fallen asleep during a session with the client on one occasion. To express this anger she drew a caricature of her former therapist lounging on the couch with cookie crumbs all over her. Her eyes were heavily lidded, and a little balloon above her head read “Want a cookie?” My client drew herself on the other couch as a nondescript naked body with a huge knife sticking out of her guts and blood pooling on the floor below her. She was careful to include the plaque that hung ironically on her former therapist’s wall: it read “It’s Never Too Late To Have A Happy Childhood.” In this one drawing the client was able to express her desperate need for help and her anger at feeling neglected by the therapist.
To begin your anger work through art, just let your creativity go. Who knows, perhaps you will create some items worth selling someday. A couple of professional artists with whom I have worked with over the years have changed their style of artistic expression after getting into Anger Work. They often feel even more connected to their pieces because of the intense level of self expression.
Some other modes of artistic expression you may want to explore are those of expressive dance, creative movement, and creative visualization. This could even be in the form of a creative work-out routine. For example, as a survivor of rape or sexual abuse you may create a special work-out routine as one of my clients did. There were three movements to her routine. The first was a straight, strong punch forward at eye level, imagining that she was punching her attacker in the face. The second movement was a swift, powerful kick upward, imagining that she was kicking the attacker in his private parts. The third movement brought her arm up over her head, then down in front in a swift swinging motion where her clenched fist met her open palm like a hammer, finally symbolizing her crushing the attacker’s private parts between an anvil and a large, metal hammer. She repeated these movements in sequence for 15 to 20 minutes at a time several times a week, or whenever she felt the victim mentality taking hold of her again. She found it helped her move from a place of fear into a sort of dance that tells a story, the way a ballet does. You do not need to have special training to do this. It is your story. As a whole being, body, mind and spirit, you can express your experience with yourself as the only audience. Creative movement is different than expressive dance. It can be one, simple, repetitive movement or a series of movements that have symbolic meaning to you.
Creative Visualization is another tool, a sort of art form in your mind, which you can use. You can pretend that you are a lion ripping up the person who hurt you, or you can imagine a cleansing fire burning away all the evil in a person and leaving behind only that which is good and worthy of remaining. Use your imagination and visualize symbolic scenes which will help you heal.
Here’s a great idea for a fun way to use creative visualization. Find a metaphor that works for you and visualize yourself rising above your current problems. You can pretend that you are hiking on the path of life and your particular problems are vines trying to grow around your ankles and keep you from climbing to higher ground.
Visualize yourself overcoming that challenge by stomping on them, hacking them up or simply climbing over them.
Any number of art activities or creative visualizations can serve as Anger Work for you. Relax and let yourself go. Experiment until you do find one, or many! What is important is that you do find effective ways to do your Anger Work so that you can live a more peaceful, joyful life.
Dr. Robert Puff is a Newport Beach psychologist and international business consultant who has given over a 1000 media interviews, including TV and radio talk shows. This article is taken from his critically acclaimed book, Anger Work: How to Express Your Anger and Still be Kind. If you would like either a free unabridged download or free unabridged audio recording of his book, go to www.doctorpuff.com/
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