Art Therapy and Addiction with Samantha Davis

Tribe Sober - inspiring an alcohol-free life!

This week’s podcast guest is an Art Therapist.   Just as I didn’t realise how important yoga could be in recovery I also had no idea that Art Therapy had a role to play..

I interviewed Tribe Sobers yoga teacher Tamsin on episode 69 and today I’m chatting to Art Therapist – Samantha Davis

Sami has operated a private Art Therapy practice for the past 18 years. She’s worked with people who struggle with stress, addiction, depression and also people wanting to discover more meaning and purpose in their lives.

 

In this Episode

Sami began by defining Art Therapy which involves “using art materials to help a client to communicate and express themselves with the guidance of a qualified therapist".
We discussed how as adults many of us have lost the ability to play – we tend to get caught up in productivity and ticking boxes. We need to get back in touch with our creativity and art therapy can help us to do that.
Some people feel intimidated at the thought of Art Therapy thinking that they need some artistic skill. This is not true at all and in fact Sam loves clients who come to her with no knowledge or aptitude for “art” – Art Therapy is in fact a way of getting in touch with our creativity and playfulness.
Art therapy can play in important role in our recovery – it can help us to reconnect with ourselves and better understand who we really are. It can help us to decrease our reliance on alcohol and build new and different pathways and coping mechanisms.
As drinkers some of us spent years numbing our feelings. Art therapy will help us to get back in touch with our feelings - and to express ourselves creatively.
Sami sees the Art as the Bridge between what is inside and what is outside – it’s simply a way to express ourselves.
We discussed the fragility of early sobriety where Art Therapy can play the role of holding a safe space where we can “check in”. We talked about the power of vulnerability and how art therapy allows us to express our vulnerability
Sam explained the concept behind the vision board sessions which help us to reconnect with our passions using images, art materials etc – I’ve done one of these sessions and can really recommend it – a vision board allows us to express ourselves and then the power of manifestion will come into play. Our subconscious will register our vision and help it to become a reality.
The vision board workshop is particularly useful for people in sobriety as it helps them to get back in touch with what they really enjoy doing. We have extra time on our hands when we stop drinking so we need to find constructive ways to use that time.  Sam is quite happy to run a group vision board session for people in recovery so do get in touch with myself or Sam if you are interested.
Sam explained that addictions mean that we are always busy focusing on our next fix which prevents us from being in the moment. Art Therapy can help with mindfulness and mental health generally – focusing on a creative project will enable us to get “in the flow”  which can give our minds a welcome break from stress and anxiety. 
Art therapy can help us to build resilience and help us to recognize our triggers – all of which will help to prevent relapse.
We often say that “connection is the opposite of addiction” here at Tribe Sober and we are referring to community. Sam helped me to realise that we also need to connect with ourselves – to get to know who we really are.
Understanding ourselves better means that we can find new ways of coping – instead of using alcohol.
At Tribe Sober we love learning about neuroscience, happy brain chemicals and our Lizard Brains – our gurus have been neuroscientist Staci Danfield who you can hear on episode 67 of this podcast and author of the Happy Brain, Loretta Breuning who is on episode 55.
Sami explained that Art Therapy will also trigger our happy brain chemicals and will give us a boost in early sobriety when we can be plagued with a low mood. Loretta Breuning explained to us that we need a project in early sobriety to stay happy and focused.
That’s why we have designed our 7 step program – to give you a project – the project of self discovery, so sign up for our Art Therapy, Hypnotherapy, Coaching and Root Cause Therapy. Just throw the book at it!
Sam and I both run our workshops on Zoom these days and agreed that they work really well and we enjoy opening them up to people all over the world.
Sam works with individuals and with groups. Sometimes an individual will need personal attention for their growth, healing or recovery.
However the group sessions can be special – she believes that groups come together for a reason – they bring their life experience and of course a key part of the workshop is about sharing our stories. Jung calls this the “collective unconscious” – the people who need to be together come together.  I loved that and it made me think of our workshops and the synergy and bonding that I’ve witnessed during the 6 years of running workshops.
For more info about Sam and her courses just go to her website which is arttherapy.co.za https://www.arttherapy.co.za/about-samantha-davis/

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Till Next Week

Janet x

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