Relaxation Therapy Through Art, Dance and Drama

Some people often find that therapy through art, drama or dance is very useful in helping them not just to relax but in enabling them to work through problems or emotional issues they may have in their lives.

Art Therapy

Art therapy is often practised in a group setting although you can also participate on a one-to-one basis. Through things like painting, drawing, sculpting and pottery, for example, it can be an effective way for people to come to terms with issues like emotional conflicts or loss and can help them to resolve other predicaments they may be faced with or heighten their sense of self-awareness.

It works by allowing you to express your thoughts and concerns in such a way whereby it’s easier to transmit your thoughts and feelings in a less self-conscious manner to enable therapists to talk about your art and what it represents to you.

It can help you to release traumatic emotions and can simply become part of the healing process. On the other hand, the creative aspect of it can often lead you to finding solutions to problems which you may have struggled with using other more conventional therapies.

Dance Therapy

Dance therapy involves group exercise so it is good for your physical well-being as well as helping you on an emotional level too. It has been found to help people resolve a number of issues including:

• Improving self-esteem and developing a positive body image
• Relieving body tension and chronic pain
• Increasing your communication and interpersonal skills
• Reducing psychological symptoms if you suffer from anxiety, depression or stress

As with any exercise, dance therapy increases the amount of endorphins in the brain which result in you experiencing a sense of well-being and the rhythmic movements can also help you feel calmer.

As a direct consequence of that, it improves your circulatory, respiratory, skeletal and muscular functions. If you suffer from any physical or mobility problems, however, you should check with your GP to establish whether or not dance therapy is right for you.

Drama Therapy

As an expressive medium, drama therapy can help with your personal growth and it’s used in a multitude of settings, including hospitals, schools, prisons and also in business.

Psychodrama (which is discussed in another article on this website) is probably the most recognised form of drama therapy but it can also involve mime, puppetry, group games and other improvisational techniques as well as the role plays more associated with psychodrama.

The ways in which drama therapy can assist in personal development can include:

• Unearthing truths about oneself
• Exploring unhealthy patterns of social interaction
• Achieving a cathartic resolution to a problem

All of these different forms of therapies share a common bond of allowing people to gain a firmer understanding about themselves and of the problems and issues they might be faced with. This might be related to certain problems or emotional traumas they’ve yet to resolve or how they relate to people around them.

Because all of these therapies allow you to express yourself creatively and imaginatively in a spontaneous manner, it can lead to personal transformation and fulfilment as well as helping you get over an emotional crisis whereby you can finally leave the problems of the past behind you and move on to enjoy a more fulfilling and meaningful life.