How to Improve Your Body Image: Art Therapy Activities
“Our bodies tell our life story. They are portraits of our journeys and experiences. Knowing that our body is beautiful just as it exists is a message more people need to see and hear.”
- Cheryl Ann Webster
Art therapy is a form of psychotherapy that utilizes creative expression as a means of communication and exploration of emotions, thoughts, and experiences. The client and therapist work together using different materials and techniques to help the client gain insight into their feelings, improve self-awareness, develop coping skills, and facilitate personal growth and healing.
Art therapy is often used to address a wide range of psychological, emotional, and behavioral issues and in this post specifically, we will be examining the healing power art therapy has in relation to body image.
Art Therapy and Body Image
Perception of body image is significantly impacted from our earliest experiences of interpersonal relationships, cultural standards, social media, societal views, comparison and more. Body image is not just something a person creates through looking at themselves in photos and mirrors but is “a reflection of the interactions and attitudes of other people to our body” (Hunter, 26). There are many different words and diagnoses that can be used to describe concerns people experience in relation to body image including body dysmorphia, eating disorders, OCD, appearance dissatisfaction, size perception inaccuracy, etc. These experiences of low self image can lead to feelings of depression, self-loathing, anxiety, shame, and more.
Art therapy can allow one to reflect on the ways in which they have been impacted since childhood, see what parts of themselves are holding these self critical thoughts, and create images that reflect this along with images that are positive and self-affirming, and focused on embodiment. Art therapy uses relaxation and guided imagery, combined with diverse, multi-media art processes to “help [people] deflect these projections, strengthening the connection to the core self that lives beneath the skin” (Hunter, p. 13). Images created in therapy can help one recognize and appreciate the body we have. We can recognize our strength, bring in metaphors and symbols to showcase what our bodies represent, and bring appreciation to the things our bodies can do for us.
How Art Therapy Helps Those With Eating Disorders
Eating disorders can result from trauma, interpersonal experiences, negative body images and more. With eating disorders and low self image, art therapy can be an effective treatment to address the levels of shame associated with these things. Shame is deeply rooted and sometimes this means we can’t access or fully process things verbally because it might feel difficult for the client to bring up.
Art therapy allows one to explore their experiences on a visual, sensory, and symbolic level promoting the active use of the body in therapy. This can lead to empowerment because the client is exploring what their body can do and create. Art therapy also allows a client to tackle the root causes of eating disorders and body image by exploring deep memories that might feel vulnerable or protected by or guarded parts. Art making allows us to approach these roots carefully and work with vulnerability so that we may slowly process what these roots mean to us. Lastly, art therapy allows us to address the inner critic and bring compassion to our inner space by allowing our inner nurturer to come forward. We can start to bring imagery to these parts and understand why they might be present. Addressing the inner nurturer and giving them a voice through art making allows one to carry the nurturer with them as they try to understand their eating disorder and what it might be attached to, therefore hopefully lessening the shame we feel associated with the eating disorder.
Art Activities for Body Image Improvement
Inner Nurturer
Materials: paper, drawing materials
Activity: Close your eyes and look inward. Start thinking about the concept of an inner nurturer. This is a part of yourself that only has kind words and compassion to offer. Their love is unconditional and promotes self-love and understanding. Start to bring an image to this part of yourself. What do they look like? What are they wearing? What do they emulate? Draw this image on the paper in front of you.
Purpose: Bringing imagery to a part of yourself that promotes compassion. When experiencing low self-esteem this part of us can get buried under criticism. This activity gives space for our inner nurturer to talk to us and bring imagery to what this part looks like so we can call upon them when the inner critic might be feeling strong.
The Mind-Body Connection
Materials: paper, drawing materials, paints
Activity: You will be creating a piece where you feel your sense of “you” in your body. This activity is similar to a body scan because we are coming down from our minds and sitting in our body. Optional instructions: draw a shape that symbolizes your body and then identify the area where your sense of “you” sits. Don’t think about it too hard, trust your instinct. To identify this you can close your eyes and scan the different areas of your body. Pay attention to the different sensations you feel as you move from top to bottom. Illustrate this on your shape picking a material, texture, color that best represents this radiation.
Purpose: Brings insight to the mind-body connection and learning the ways in which our bodies speak to us. We can start to bring an appreciation to what our body does for us and what areas of our bodies we might be more disconnected to.
Altering Advertisements
Materials: magazines, scissors, glue, paper, paint, drawing materials
Activity: Find an advertisement that evokes feeling. Notice how you feel looking at this image and notice if it is influencing your thoughts in any way. Spend some time thinking about how the image could change to feel empowering or a way you could change the message or feel more encouraging. Spend time redesigning through painting, cutting, drawing. Purpose: this is an activity that allows us to look at cultural influences and how they affect body image and body standards. It can feel empowering to transform and bring alteration to these images. It allows one to change the narrative being pushed and bring new and different representation to advertisements.
Taking Up Space with Bold Impressions
Materials: large paper (bigger than our body) or canvas, paint
Activity: paint without boundaries, spread out, choose colors you love and enjoy, use large movements and notice how this feels in your body.
Purpose: Oftentimes people feel like they have to remain passive, small, and unseen. Shame makes us feel like we need to hide away or shrink. This activity emphasizes that it is ok to take up space as a human being. Our bodies and voices have value and we deserve to be seen, loved, and acknowledged. With this activity we are practicing and accepting that it is ok to take up space. There is joy in pushing outside of ourselves and making large, big, bold marks.
Conclusion
Overall, these are just some activities that allow us to explore body image, feel empowered, and address shame. Art allows one to challenge beauty standards and stereotypes, accept ourselves and learn that we have value, promote self expression, and recognize that our bodies have purpose and strength in the ability to create.
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