Individuals with eating disorders often struggle to verbally express themselves. In Adult Art Psychotherapy: Issues and Applications [Psychology Press, 1991], authors Helen B. Landgarten and Darcy Lubbers describe art therapy as an often-welcomed relief for eating disordered patients because it is a break from the constant demand to talk about themselves in counseling. Art Therapy is an opportunity for patients to express themselves through a creative, healing outlet.
What is Art Therapy?
The American Art Therapy Association describes art therapy as a belief that individuals can resolve conflicts, develop interpersonal skills, and gain self-esteem and insight through the creative process of artistic self-expression. According to the Continuum Center for Health and Healing, the benefits of art therapy have been known and practiced for centuries, but the integration of Art Therapy as a human service profession in the field of psychotherapy is a relatively new development.
Art Therapy for Bulimics
The purge of the binge/purge behavior in bulimics can be a way of “getting rid” of unwanted feelings, emotions and situations. In Karen Hardess’ article, “Eating Disorders and Art Therapy - Communicating without Words,” she writes “Obsession with food and weight are often attempts to cope with unresolved emotional issues such as depression, rage, powerlessness, and loss. Art therapy is a special tool that can help provide access to those hidden feelings that contain the key to our struggles.”
Incorporating art therapy into a bulimic’s treatment could help with the purge symptom. According to the website of a top inpatient treatment center for eating disorders, Casa Palmera, eating disordered patients are able to tap into their unconscious through art therapy. Bulimics’ creations in art therapy could become a metaphor for a purge. This allows them to explore and express what they are actually trying to get rid of through purging.
Art Therapy for Anorexics
While bulimics purge out emotions, anorexics starve them. Art therapy provides an outlet for anorexics to explore buried feelings as well as communicate emotions that they label “bad” or “off limits.”
According to the Center for Eating Disorders at Sheppard Pratt, one technique used in art therapy is to have the patient draw a life-sized outline of their perceived body size. The patient then lies down on that same piece of paper, and the actual body size is traced. This allows the anorexic to see their actual size, compared to how they view themselves. They then use this drawing in various ways to work through body image issues.
Art therapy can be a beneficial addition to a comprehensive treatment plan for individuals suffering from an eating disorder. To learn more about art therapy in eating disorders and find a credentialed art therapist in your area, visit the Art Therapy Credentials Board’s website.
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