In an individualized, alternative form of therapy, Licensed Graduate Professional Counselor Daniela Wolf combines art and psychology to facilitate patients’ gaining insight into their problems and finding resolutions.
According to Ms. Wolf, “art therapy is a form of therapy that can incorporate many approaches, but what distinguishes it from other forms is the fact that [art therapists] also can, at times exclusively and at times just in addition, use art as an important part of the therapy in terms of the person’s way of expressing themself and in terms of our way of connecting and relating to the person who seeks therapy. We are looking at how the art can facilitate the therapeutic process which is gaining insight, gaining skills, and making healthier choices and connections. It’s very individualized.”
Wolf, who sees clients at her private practice and in various hospitals throughout Maryland, became interested in combining psychology and art at an early age. “As a young child,” Wolf recounts, “in my neighborhood...was an artist who provided after school art for children and I loved going there and it felt very soothing to me and it felt like a special space where I could...express myself freely. She was intuitive enough to allow us to be [ourselves] and I started to feel that I wanted to study psychology and art and combine the two.” Inspired by her neighborhood artist, Wolf works with patients to facilitate the same kind of creative, transcendent, and individualized healing. While she does work with clients to recognize and resolve problems, Wolf generally tries to let clients come to realizations about their feelings on their own.
“I’m here to facilitate and provide them with basic material as well as...suggestions. Usually I try not to [give suggestions], but if they do need it, I’m also there for that. Sometimes I can see things in the art and then share or...the clients start to see things in their art. I might have a hunch or might even have more than a hunch but I don’t always share it because the person might not be ready for it. Some people don’t want to know...it really depends on the person and their circumstance. But when they’re prepared and that’s the right time, a lot can come out of the art.”
Wolf has employed this technique across a vast range of populations- including the aging and disabled. While she has not worked with any clients who have had caregivers, Wolf shared a tactic caregivers can employ with clients who engage in art therapy. “[For] psychotherapy, a psychotherapist [needs] to be with them, but if someone is benefiting from just doing art...then a caregiver can facilitate art making while they’re at home and the therapist can show how to best line up the material and what art material might be really good for that person while they’re at home. If something comes up...then maybe [they] can talk to a therapist and [the therapist] can go over it.”
While Wolf admits that some might gravitate towards this style of therapy more than others, she believes that, overall, art therapy can be beneficial for many. “I believe that everyone has strengths in them and that when you are working with a therapist that sees your strengths and also sees the difficulties you’re going through...you can experience yourself in a new way. Art that can bring in...conversation [that] is very empowering and can really move someone through difficult times. We know nowadays [through] neurological biology that nonverbal tactile engagement can really promote healing, especially [for] those who have been through trauma. It can’t be simplified but that’s the beauty of art therapy; it has a spectrum of so many areas in which it can really touch and bring forth healing to the individual.”
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