Art Therapy for Mental Health Services
Mental health has been under the spotlight in Singapore recently. With the Covid-19 pandemic and increased isolation, statistics from a Singapore mental health study have shown that 21.5% of respondents in the 18-29 age group struggle with concentration and feel low self-worth.
Globally, the World Health Organisation has even designated 22 October as World Mental Health Day. This day reminds everyone that we must strive to normalise talking about such issues to support mental well-being.
Persistent feelings of helplessness and frustration have no easy fixes. While certain good habits such as physical activity and taking breaks can help alleviate some tension, coping with poor mental health requires professional help. In the long term, seeking professional aid improves mental wellness so that you can lead a better quality of life overall. Discover what psychotherapists at Solace can do for you.
Why Your Mental Health is as Important as Physical Health
When we fall sick, we visit a doctor. Physical symptoms of ill-health are usually visible and others can tell whether we are physically able to keep up. However, mental health issues are invisible. But that does not mean mental health is any less important. Just as you might see a health specialist for physical health issues, mental healthcare requires specialised services.
A person may struggle with intense negative feelings but still perform normally at work or school. Since mental illness is not apparent, we might not know when a person is suffering and requires help. On our own, we might not even think we need mental health professionals' help.
In fact, many in Singapore dismiss the notion of seeking professional mental health services when in need. There’s a certain stigma around the topic in our community, and Singapore’s youth are afraid of having the label of mental illness placed on them. They are so afraid that they often refuse to seek help.
But poor mental health can lead to many adverse outcomes. It can affect sleep and appetite. With prolonged suffering, the sufferer may feel less motivated to work or lose interest in living their lives. As a result, they may start to neglect their responsibilities and feel helpless or purposeless.
These overwhelming feelings can result in depression, self-harm, suicidal attempts, substance/alcohol abuse and even eating disorders as unhealthy coping mechanisms for some people.
Some other signs may include sleeping longer but still feeling tired all the time. Some people might even have physical symptoms such as headaches or nausea. For others, it can aggressively vent their frustrations on their family. In the long term, this might lead to strained relationships. Seeking professional help with a trauma trained professional at Solace can help you tackle these issues and improve your quality of life.
Increase of Mental Illness in Our Community
The ongoing pandemic in Singapore has resulted in a high degree of mental health conditions surfacing. In addition, the increased isolation and abrupt changes caused by the epidemic have led to huge uncertainty for many.
For some, lifestyle changes such as working from home or spending more time at home result in more tension. Perhaps it is a blurring of work-life boundaries as one struggles to manage professional and domestic life. Or maybe it's a loss of jobs as the economy slows down.
Either way, these stressors at home can build up. When people cannot cope, they might resort to extreme reactions such as lashing out at their loved ones. These acts of aggression are mental health-related issues. Indeed, the news has reported a higher incidence of domestic violence with the Covid-19 pandemic in Singapore.
We might not even know that our mental well-being is suffering until our loved ones point it out to us. So, it's essential to check in with ourselves.
According to HealthHub, signs that you need help include negative thoughts and mood swings. Unfortunately, a negative stigma surrounds getting help for mental health conditions. Education regarding mental health is improving, as is community care, and it’s an ongoing battle to increase mental health awareness in Singapore.
However, seeking professional help from the right therapist should not be seen as a sign of weakness. Instead, it is about building a resilient mindset to cope with feelings of negativity. It's just like going to the clinic or hospital when you are ill. Mental disorders are medical conditions that require proper support for recovery.
You can live a more fulfilling life and support your loved ones with better mental health by embarking on your mental wellness journey at Solace today.
How Art Therapy Can Help
The difference between normal counselling sessions and art therapy is the creative process of artmaking that facilitates non-verbal communication. For some people, seeking help from a mental therapist one-on-one can feel intimidating. Verbalising emotions takes an emotional toll as you might not have the mental resources to explain your thoughts.
Art psychotherapy is an evidence-based mental health service that facilitates non-verbal communication. It benefits emotional, physical, spiritual, and mental health through the creative process of artmaking in a safe space.
You do not need artistic skills to get started. Each session in Solace involves sensorial and kinesthetic experiences that let people open up, providing new insights to understanding their lives better.
Art therapy sessions allow trained professionals to assess and identify underlying root causes of known and unknown difficulties that people might face. These might be past trauma experiences that sufferers are unaware of and are affecting them.
Engaging in visual expression through a multi-sensory experience offers a form of self-expression that can be cathartic, revealing, and meaningful.
Solace Art Psychotherapy provides a gentle way of surfacing emotions or experiences that may be difficult to verbalise. Visual expression allows the emergence and re-framing of difficult experiences and feelings, guiding the client to a clearer understanding and path to resolution and healing.
With art therapy, you can start expressing your challenges with the art psychotherapist in a safe space at Solace.
Art Therapy for Mental Health
You do not need artistic skills to have art therapy sessions. At Solace, art therapy does not just help you understand the stress triggers in your life. You might also experience these sessions for personal development and growth. Youths and adults alike are welcome to try these sessions.
In an art therapy session, clients will make art in any form, whether they consider themselves artists or not. Artmaking is part of a process of self-discovery in a safe space. The creative process also lets them feel more in control over their lives. This process is pleasant on its own, but this is not the only activity in an art therapy session.
In an art therapy session, an individual may engage in any of the following art making processes:
- painting
- drawing
- stitching
- sculpting
- doodling and scribbling
Although our trauma-informed, registered art psychotherapists at Solace guide these processes, what may emerge is the client's unfiltered visual response to an existing struggle that they may be experiencing.
The client and their art therapist will discuss the artwork to unpack this visual reference. For example, they may explore what objects, people, and images that do and do not appear in the artwork. Understanding the final artwork can externalise difficulties that the person is facing. Seeking care and treatment for mental health issues is the first step.
The sessions also equip clients with grounding techniques using art, which can help them cope with anxiety or overwhelming emotions. Ultimately, this training will improve mental wellness as a person develops healthy coping mechanisms.
Session Rates
Each session is up to 90 minutes long. Absolutely no artistic skills or prerequisites are needed for our psychotherapy sessions.
Art Psychotherapist:
Senior Art Psychotherapist:
Principal Art Psychotherapist:
Reach out to us via WhatsApp or our Contact Form to start your healing journey with our experienced art psychotherapists today.
Mental Health Services: The Road to Recovery
At Solace Art Psychotherapy, our team of registered art psychotherapists offers insightful sessions, ensuring privacy, ethical practices, and competent mental health services. We take pride in empowering clients, helping them heal from their past complex trauma. We provide care and support through our services, to fulfill our vision of establishing art psychotherapy as an integral means of maintaining psychological well-being for all in Singapore.
If you think you or your loved ones need art trauma therapy, reach out to us via WhatsApp, send us an email, or contact us through our online Contact Form to let us join your healing journey with our experienced art psychotherapists today.