JANUARY • CathARTic Creations: Art as Therapy

Name: JANUARY • CathARTic Creations: Art as Therapy
Start: 2025-01-15T18:00:00-05:00
End: 2025-01-15T20:00:00-05:00
Location: 71 Pine Street, East Aurora, NY, United States, New York 14052

Schedule

Wed Jan 15 2025 at 06:00 pm to 08:00 pm

UTC-05:00

Location

71 Pine Street, East Aurora, NY, United States, New York 14052 | East Aurora, NY

You don't have to be an artist to benefit from therapeutic art activities. Any person, regardless of artistic skill, can engage in art as therapy to help facilitate creativity, access a meditative state, and find solace in self-exploration and self-expression.

In this class, students will use vibrant watercolors and drawing pens (yours to take home) to create a reverse coloring, a popular therapeutic art technique that encourages you to zone out, work from intuition, and let go of perfectionism. NO artistic experience is necessary! The focus of this class is on the process of creating.

Therapeutic art has been found to lower stress levels and activate the body’s relaxation response. When we engage in the creative process, our focus shifts from things that are causing us stress, towards the act of creation. It’s hard to be focused on creative expression and hold equal focus on stressful things. This shift allows for the nervous system to recalibrate, take a breather and restore balance and as a result, calm the autonomic nervous system, decrease heart rate, decrease cortisol levels and increase a sense of calm and well-being.

Start your new year with a new creative habit!
Notes
This class is taught by Jenny Licata of Magnolia Fine Art Studio, a local artist, art educator, and certified art therapy practitioner. While therapeutic art techniques can be extremely beneficial, they are not meant to replace any form of traditional therapy, including traditional art therapy. For a list of certified Art Therapists, please visit the American Art Therapy Association www.arttherapy.org.