First of all, I want to say that I am not any kind of certified art therapist (at this time) and am not an expert on art therapy or the best art therapy books or exercises. I am only sharing ones that I have actually read and currently enjoy sharing with others who are also interested in art therapy. I am still looking and reading through many book related to art therapy because I enjoy the subject so much.
Art therapy has been an extremely comforting way for me to handle my grief, which is why I am venturing out to share some of it with you, too. If you have troubled emotions from such a devestating life changer, and I’m willing to bet that you do, art therapy is a wonderful way to pinpoint and label those feelings and thoughts. What’s more, it’s a great way to find out what it is you might be needing and wanting in the present moment which can lead to more clearly figuring out how to manage things in your new normal.
So, below, I’m going to add a couple of books that I really enjoy looking through and using for myself and also with my family. As I mentioned above, I am still going through books that I find about art therapy so I will most likely add to this list in the future. Since all of my family members also suffer from grief, it’s been really nice to find out exactly what each one of us thinks and feels and how we can help ourselves as well as each other. It’s not always successful because what in life is? But many times, the information we gain from the art therapy exercises is still helpful in some way, whether it’s very big or very small.
Essential Art Therapy Exercises by Leah Guzman, ATR-BC
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This book was published in 2020 and the author is a registered, board-certified art therapist who runs a private practice both in person and online. She also has experience in using art therapy as treatment for conditions such as anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Essential Art Therapy Exercises is pretty much exactly what the title claims it to be. You can expect many different types of activities in this book that help with self expression and insight into your thoughts and feelings. And the author very neatly categorizes the activities by chapter like this:
- Painting and drawing
- Digital and photos
- Sculpting and textiles
- Writing
- Collages
Dividing up the exercises into these sections will help you choose more quickly based on your personal interests. So, if you don’t consider yourself a painter or sculptor in any form and would rather work with photos or writing, you can easily skip to those chapters and find an exercise that suits you. Many of the exercises are very simple and far from intidimating enabling readers to relax and enjoy the process.
The book also has descriptions of what exactly art therapy is, why it is used and how it can help with any number of emotions or even improve physical well being by decreasing cortisol. There’s also some suggestions on how to interpret your own responses and what supplies you might want to have on hand to do the activities.
I use this book a lot when my family and I are doing art therapy together. Sometimes, I will adjust some of the activities just for fun, depending on what I know my family would prefer. But I usually stick to the main idea. I really like that the book is divided up into sections so I know what to expect going into an exercise. For example, I know that my family doesn’t really prefer working with clay all that much. So, if I’m picking out an activity, I tend to leave the sculpting section for last because I’m likely to find activities that use that.
Another thing I like about this book is that each exercise shows the benefits and purpose behind it, allowing you to decide if that’s what you want to tackle at this moment. So, if you see that one art therapy activity purpose to have you spend a lot of time recalling a trauma and processing the emotions, but you’re not ready to do that just yet, you can skip to someplace else.
One extra benefit of using this book, or any art therapy book for that matter, is that if you are in traditional therapy for grief currently, you can do some of these activities at home and then show them to your therapist later, especially if you find yourself uncovering thoughts and feelings that you weren’t aware of or sure of.
But overall, I just like the warm, fun and friendly feeling that this book approaches the reader with. It doesn’t feel cold and clinical like some art therapy books I have read before. This one treats everyone with kindness and friendliness and makes it easy for everyone to participate. Also, there are a number of beautiful pictures in the book that showcase examples of art therapy results.
250 Brief, Creative & Practical Art Therapy Techniques by Susan I. Buchalter, ATR-BC, CGP, LPC
This book was published in 2017 by another board certified art therapist who introduced art therapy to the staff at the University Medical Center at Princeton in the 1980s. She has a private practice and is the author of a few other books that focus on the benefits of art therapy.
There is less talk in 250 Art Therapy Techniques on what art therapy is or how it benefits others because this book, as seen on the cover, is geared towards clinicians and clients. It dives straight into various art therapy exercises with only a brief heads up on materials and how to use the book in order to create connection and self awareness. Chapters are divided into emotional categories such as:
- Mindfulness
- Self awareness
- Self Esteem & Self Compassion
- Connections & Relationships
- Change & Problem Solving
- Anxiety & Stress
- CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy): Thought, Emotion, Behavior
- Stimulating & Thought Provoking
The book definitely presents art therapy a little more coldly than my previous example which I imagine is because it’s more for clinicians to use for their group settings or clients. However, the reason I like this book is because it just goes straight to the activities of which there are a significant amount. And because there are so many to choose from, I frequently find ones that are interesting and simple to try.
The other thing I really like about this book is that under each activity, the author presents a real life example of how a client responded to that particular activity. And because there are 250 exercises, that’s 250 real life stories that we can read as well if we need some extra encouragement. They are not long stories, each page covers the exercise plus the example. I found myself enjoying reading another person’s response and how it helped them or at least enlightened or comforted them in some way. I think showing another person’s actual benefits from the exercise helps others just as much as the activity itself. Sometimes, seeing or reading about a real life example is comforting and gives us courage to try it out for ourselves.
On some of the pages, there are some art examples of that particular activity but they are in black and white only.
Conclusion
So, if you would like to try out extra art therapy activities and would enjoy looking some art therapy books, I hope I provided you with a good start. Depending on your individual needs, hopefully I reviewed enough of these two, to give you some idea of which one might work better for you. So, if you prefer something more conversational, warm and to feel a sense of rapport, then you might like the Essential Art Therapy Exercises by Leah Guzman. But if you’d rather skip over all the what and why and prefer something more straightforward with real life examples, then you’d most likely enjoy the second book, 250 Art Therapy Techniques by Susan Buchalter.
And of course, if you happen to know any art therapy books you’d like to suggest or are searching for one with other approaches, please let me know in the comments below. Always looking for supportive, kind responses for visitors!