Feeling Down? Sad? Irritable?
Despite our hope to have a stress-free life, stressors are a part of our life. We have disagreements with friends, coworkers, spouses, kids and neighbors, financial strain, car problems, high medical bills or losing a job. Even happy events such as graduating and starting college, moving to a new house, or the birth of a child can be very stressful and overwhelming. The important question is what we do when we are strained and overloaded. If you don’t have an answer for this question, you may want to consider finding a therapist who will administer anxiety and depression treatments.
Art Therapy helps you to maintain good emotional health. It helps you discover and define the source of stress, sadness and anger. We use drawing, painting, clay work and collage to visualize the source of your distress. After defining the source of your problem and underlying difficult emotions, Art Therapy will challenge your thought pattern and help you to cope with daily stress effectively and productively. Art Therapy is relaxing and calming, which also helps you to relax and think about your problems objectively.
Depression
Clinical Depression is a common illness that affects millions of people. You may feel extremely sad, despairing, or feel worthless, hopeless and guilty. Your sleep and appetite may be affected, making you tired and depleting your energy. If you feel depressed, it is best to consult with your primary physician.
Depression is a complex illness with many contributing factors. You may have a genetic pre-disposition to depression. Life transition, conflict, abuse, loss and grief, chronic illness and pain, and medication are some of the contributing factors. Once depressed, your brain chemicals are changed. Some research has found a decrease in serotonin receptors, which are supposed to help your sense of well being. Neurotransmitters are not working well, so your brain resembles a malfunctioning phone with a bad connection.
After diagnosis with a medical doctor, depression is best treated with medication management and therapy(talk and/or art therapy and other forms of therapy).
In art therapy, you are encouraged to identify your overwhelming feelings and depression contributing factors and are guided to overcome the difficulties and regain better emotional well-being. Some people think of depression as anger turned inward. In art therapy we practice relaxation and anger management.
Emotional Intelligence
Emotional Intelligence is an ability to recognize and regulate your emotions effectively and differs from cognitive intelligence (IQ). You can learn to recognize your emotions and learn positive ways to express your feelings. You will learn to understand other people’s feelings (empathy). This will help you to improve your communication/relationships with other people.
I have created a workbook to identify different emotions and learn, through Art Therapy, how to deal with those difficult emotions that occur daily.
Things You Can Do to Maintain Good Emotional Health
- Connect with your family and friends (if they are not a cause of your stress)
- Find friends with similar interests by joining volunteer groups and social groups. I prefer you meet real people and not social networking through websites.
- Eat healthy - it is very important to keep your blood sugars steady. Eat every 4 hours (breakfast, lunch, light snack and supper). Go organic as much as possible and avoid processed food. Watch what you eat. Avoid fatty, salty and sugary food. Choose nutritious, low calorie and balanced food. Avoid alcohol, drugs and excess caffeine.
- Exercise – daily exercise. Make it a part of your daily schedule and find an exercise that you enjoy! Joining an exercise class is helpful to gain friends and establish routine at the same time that you improve your physical health.
- Relax – meditation, yoga, gardening, taking a bath , art and craft, music and other hobbies
- Sunshine!
