Creative Healing Both Psychologically and Mentally - Essay Example

Creative Healing Healing process is an instrumental period in one’s life as one regains normality and energy both psychologicallyand mentally. For many years, healing process has been thought to be induced by medicine taken by the sick. However, in the recent past many scientific studies have proved that beyond the use of medicines in healing, art can be extensively used to enhance healing. This has been used in human history though in most cases healing takes place in subconscious state, and goes unnoticed. Today, many universities have been using art as a healing process in medical centers, and these utilizes creative spirit in ones healing. Healing can actually take different perspectives. Healing might be from depression, spiritual healing or healing form other diseases. Creative healing is inspirational and describes how arts can be used in the healing proves in the above categories. Creative healing requires one to involve in a creative activity or in creative thinking, and this frees the spirit or plays a psychological role in the healing process. Therefore creative healing is a versatile method that can achieve healing from physical or emotional injuries and happens at a subconscious level. Bolton (2007) argues that the divergent thinking theory of creativity plays a great deal in intuitive appeal. This is more so considering that creativity is enhanced in the process of looking for new ideas or in case one is designing a solution to a problem. In this case, the following may happen according to Baer: one may have a wide range of ideas, one may have many as opposed to a few ideas and one may as well have unusual ideas. Divergent thinking might be considered as a short hand to creativity and colors the way psychologists think concerning creativity Burt (2011) argues that modernism that started at the end of the 19th century has powerful characteristics that have led to a different view on the human thinking. There is a belief of progress in modernism though application of technological advances and other logical principles. The modernism as Burt argues has sought to break from classicism, and stresses on the need of experience as the true source of knowledge. It is also in modernism that the importance of imagination in safe guarding the human freedom and realizing human potential has been achieved (Burt, 2011). This is the aspect behind creative healing as humans realize the power internalized in them and that can be used for their own good. An anonymous report on children healing and play argues that play is an important restorative and healing experience to children. This is also applicable to those who have suffered physical and mental damage. Play as a healing process as explains is rooted in experience and representation of events as well as objects with a family and a community. Such representation of ideas make the child to attache their feelings and psychological orientation towards their families and the community. Such orientation makes them to define their identity. Such a play makes a child to define their abilities as well as developing their creativity. According to this report on children, war, violence and other injustices in a community are injurious to the child. Violence in a community breaks and destroys the social networks that bind a community and this destroys the lives of children psychologically and physically. The only way that such destruction can be healed is through creatively replacing broken community and family links that the child indentifies themselves with. Such children may be healed though creative artistic work. This is achieved considering that any person whet4er trained or untrained in art has a latent ability to represent his inner conflicts into visual. According to the Urantia Foundation (2009) the presence of a strong dominant and living faith in the heart of the human being who seeks healing, together with the fact that healing from any injury is sought due to its spiritual benefit, makes the fundamental thoughts and feelings to be derived from the unconscious. Burt further argues that, if an injured person is offered an opportunity to express their thoughts and feelings freely through artistic work, the individual’s intellectual capacity is portray as the person emphasizes what is really important to them. Considering that thoughts and feelings are derived from the unconscious level and are well expressed in art than words, the symbolic images as many psychoanalysts utilize them reflect the internal conflict which when dealt with will result to healing. Convergent and divergent thinking in the healing process are very instrumental in creative healing process. Convergent skill or making logical thinking and divergent or enhancing creative thinking are all essentials of artwork. Precin (2006) argues that many types of artistic work that include books, music, photographs and other forms of self expression were created and performed by people who sought to heal themselves from different conditions or attributing the healing to others. Precin further elaborates that one year after the 9/11 attack, many people became involved in arts while others became occupational therapists and engaged in many artistic work to get in touch with their feelings and to strengthen the bonds between their communities, families and their lives. As Burt (2011) argues such artistic work enhances the integration of the feelings, intellectuality and other body process in both convergent and divergent thinking to result to a healing process. Carroll (2001) outlines the link between emotional development and autonomic systems. The availability of many motor sensory nerves in the body as Carroll argues send and receive information. These motor sensory nerves influence all body functions. An example is the immune system that responds to changes in the body with the appropriate immune reactions, such as producing antibodies. This loop on the other hand stimulates many signals that influence the individual’s behavior. The situation of injury in the body might be explained to be a breakdown between instinctual survival impulses. The body self regulation is controlled by the brain as part of the larger nervous system from which the above motor systems are controlled. Considering the above bodily information mechanism, creativity in healing plays in that as the brain operates through a series of convergent and divergent process, the healing process is stimulated by the emotional development that is stimulated through creativity in art work or other creative activities that lead to self awareness and expression. Overloading the burden through creative arts makes the brain through emotional development to stimulate the immune reactions, which leads to healing. This is even possible with unconscious people. Bolton (2011) further agrees that Sigmund Feud’s dream interpretation model mean that even the unconscious people have their brain working and creative healing is possible. As in normal beings, most thinking takes place at the unconscious level and one may not have control over such thinking. An unconscious person still maintains their dreams and thinking at subconscious level and through well articulated psychotherapy, such people may regain healing through creative thinking, as in the case with dreams. This can more so be achieved through psychotherapy in neuroscience. The use of sympathetic physiology in increasing energy and readiness of the body for action through creative healing has been known to be effective in stimulating subconscious actions in unconscious people. Creative healing involves the use of artistic work and other activity that requires creativity and the use of one’ intellect. It is through convergent and divergent thinking that individuals are able to portray their intellect and this makes them communicate their feelings effectively. Relieving the burden of feelings through artistic work. Imagination in the modernism art work has been recognized as one of the important ways in which the human freedom may be safeguarded through realizing human potential. Through imagination an individual may express repressed feelings and other images that portray experiences, self image and the conflict within one self. Since thoughts and feelings are derived from the unconscious level, such communion of the individual’s feelings on injury internally or externally, stimulates a reflex action on the body here the brain releases the necessary hormones to the immune system that contribute it the healing process. Considering that the individual’s behavior is controlled by nervous system process, such feelings when expressed will initiate the central nervous system to stimulate and release the required antibodies or hormones that lead to the healing process. Work cited Anonymous, Children and development: the importance of play http://www.mcgraw-hill.co.uk/openup/chapters/0335212999.pdf Bolton, G., (2007) Dying, bereavement and the healing arts.PA: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. Burt, H., (2011). Creative healing through a prism-art therapy and postmodernism.PA: Jessica Kingsley Publishers Caroll, R., (2001) The Autonomic Nervous System: Barometer of Emotional Intensity and Internal Conflict. http://www.thinkbody.co.uk/papers/autonomic-nervous-system.htm Precin, P., 2006. Creative healing through artistic symbols. Occupational Therapy in Mental Health. 21(3/4), p 147-175 Urantia Foundation, (2009). The Urantia book. IL: Urantia foundation Read More