Art Recovery

NorthShore's Recovery Through Creativity program utilizes diverse artistic mediums to aid in self-expression and healing. By integrating art into the recovery process and incorporating the 12-steps, this approach fosters communication, reduces denial, and promotes positive images of the recovery journey, encouraging acceptance and self-discovery.

Art-Recovery-2-2012x2048

Art Recovery

NorthShore's Recovery Through Creativity program utilizes diverse artistic mediums to aid in self-expression and healing. By integrating art into the recovery process and incorporating the 12-steps, this approach fosters communication, reduces denial, and promotes positive images of the recovery journey, encouraging acceptance and self-discovery.

Art-Recovery-2-2012x2048

Recovery through creativity

According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information, utilizing art in recovery can help patients express themselves in a non-verbal, imaginative, and creative manner. Activities with art can include incident drawings or drawing/painting your emotions. These techniques help patients achieve a creative process. Viewing, discussing, and interpreting the art in sessions can help motivate patients to change by moving them away from reflecting on the past and into a state of action. Integrating art into treatment encourages active mind-body strategies. Patients can be motivated to change internally through the creation of imagery. Incorporating the 12-steps of recovery can help break down resistance and facilitate acceptance of recovery.

NorthShore recognizes the role that art and other creative outlets can have on the recovery process. Everything from pastels, oil painting, graphic design, and writing will be used to encourage self-expression and artistic ability.

Benefits of art recovery include:

  • Decreasing denial
  • Reducing opposition to treatment
  • Providing an outlet for communication
  • Lessening shame
  • Creating positive images of recovery