How Art Therapy Helps You De-Stress (Even If You Don't Think You Need It)

There were eight of us around the table. We’d signed up for a two-hour workshop with Madison, Wisconsin, art therapists Mary Williams and Kelly Toltzien, who together founded Madison Art Therapy in 2015. Our number included seven women and one man, mostly in our 30s and 40s. We were there to reconnect with our artistic sides—and our feelings. Williams and Toltzien sat at either end of the table. Williams had silver bands on her fingers and a contagious grin. Toltzien’s blue eyes seemed to take in the entire room at once. The two have known each other since college, and they chatted easily like the friends they are. First they spread postcards across the table, and we sifted through them to select one that introduced both ourself and our state of mind. Carrie considered a photo of a nude woman in a field, but instead chose an image of Yosemite’s rugged landscape. Ellen, fresh from work in a dress and a cardigan, chose a picture of children on bikes. “It’s been a shitty week in the news, and I chose this because it’s a happy image,” she said. I’d just returned from a long work trip and thrown a birthday party for my 5-year-old, and I was miffed at my husband for suggesting we keep it smaller next time. I picked two cards: a Picasso Mother and Child and a Cartier-Bresson photo of three people in Spain looking suspicious and defiant. Sitting and talking may be the typical way of expressing your feelings, Williams said, but art...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news