The power of art to transform people’s lives is well known. Art has been used as a breakthrough technique to reach a patient’s deepest fears, and their most closely guarded emotions. By representing emotions wordlessly, a barrier is lowered, allowing patients to express things that they cannot bring themselves to say, either due to the pain it would evoke, or because of shame. Visual journals are the latest way for those undergoing addiction or psychiatric treatment to find a route through their pain, and here we look at the way these journals can be used to combat stress.
What Is A Visual Journal?
Visual journals are a combination of art and diary writing – an art diary in effect. The idea is to use them to document events and feelings through the days, in the way a traditional diary does. Some days the entries will be well worked through, other times more difficult to complete. The fact that something is being noted down, however little, is still helpful in looking at a patient’s progress. The focus can be both on the details of the worked through pieces and on what was happening on the days when the patient didn’t feel able to express themselves at all. As a means of exploring feelings and providing a structure through with to do so, Visual Journaling is extremely helpful to both therapists and patients.
Research
The University of Texas has been the leading research organisation involved in looking at the therapeutic effects if putting pen to paper, and the combination of writing therapy and art therapy is a logical step on from here. There are some indications that drawing in a visual journal, even for a few minutes a day, has some health benefits, too. Elizabeth Warson, professor at George Washington University’s art therapy program, the regular practice of creating via an art journal can have a powerful effect on the body. Those who are experiencing stress will find that their responses are lessened – an increase in the flow of serotonin to the brain has been demonstrated, and an increase in the number of immune cells flowing through the blood. Lucia Cappachione is an art therapist who specializes in the Visual Journal as a means to wellness. She was the first therapist to formalize ‘Visual Journaling’ in the art therapy field, and her emphasis is on words, collage and drawing with the non-dominant hand.
Therapeutic Settings
Visual Journaling can be used in any therapeutic setting. As an adjunct to general psychotherapy or counselling it has proved highly effective. Drug Rehabilitation Counselors in New York have taken a keen interest in developing its use with young drug addicts, and have found it the most effective form of additional therapy they use. Addicts can document, through both writing and words, the physical difficulties they are experiencing with drug withdrawal and the emotional stress they are experiencing and the rehabilitation program progresses. Visual Journaling has been shown not just to increase serotonin levels, but also levels of self-esteem. Much as with traditional art therapy, some patients find that they are more artistic than they believed possible, and continue with the journals after leaving, or go on to use them as a basis for further artwork. James Pennebaker is Professor and Chair of Psychology at the University at Texas at Austin. He has a special interest in expressive writing and its power to heal those in mental distress. His research clearly demonstrates that the use of expressive writing and journaling can relieve the pressure and unhappiness felt by those in psychiatric treatment.
How To Make A Visual Journal
If you want to try making your own Visual Journal, it’s extremely easy to do. Simply purchase a journal or art book with blank pages. Either use the journal as it is, or work on separate pieces and paste them into the journal at a later date. If you do this then make sure you keep your work in the correct order. Then simply begin to build up layers of pictures, words, and ideas inspired by what you are feeling when you sit down. If it’s at the end of the day, reflect upon how you feel it has gone. If it is early morning, express how you feel about what is to come, whether good or bad.
Some people like to use a huge range of textures in their journals, pasting in photos from magazines, napkins, scraps of fabric – anything that catches their eye and helps express what they feel. Words can form the centerpiece of the journal page, or be added round the edge or as single words. The scope for creativity is huge, and in a therapeutic setting it really does take patients into a deeply relaxed state to work imaginatively on their journal pages. One (non-therapeutic) Visual Journal artist is Teesha Moore, whose work can provide artistic inspiration and ideas on technique. However, therapeutic journaling is less of an artistic endeavor than an expressive one. Lucia Cappachione's book The Creative Journal is a great place to start for those who are interested in using Visual Journals in their treatment of themselves or others. Have a go yourself, and see if you can sense your own stress levels dropping and emotions being expressed on the page that you might never think to say out loud.
