Benefits of Art Therapy in Supporting Parents

This article discusses the benefits of art therapy in supporting parents in their journey, and creating deeper connections with their children. Please find below three ways it has been shown to help:

1. Connection with your “inner child” and our children. Zeevi (2018) discusses how the art materials foster connection to creation and play key languages of children. When we engage in these languages, we support ways of reconnecting with our own inner child. The more able we are to connect and nurture ourselves the more we are able to build deeper connections with our children.
2. Greater confidence. Armstrong and Ross (2022) share their findings of parents experiencing more confidence in their ability to engage in art and their ability to use it as means of connection with their child. The more we are able to connect with our children the more they are willing to take our lead and our guidance, when we feel our kids are listening, we tend to feel more confident in our parenting abilities. Shukla (2022) found that art therapy in general has shown to reinforce emotions of self-worth and competence. It is so helpful as parents to feel like we are showing up the way we want as parents because this reinforces our belief in our capabilities.
3. Improved wellbeing. Engaging in art therapy has been shown in numerous studies to foster and support improved wellbeing and mental health. One of the key outcomes in a dyadic mother and baby art therapy group was better wellbeing, with mothers reporting feeling happier, improved mood, and starting to look forward to things (Armstrong & Ross, 2022).

If you need additional support reach out to me, I am Nicole Levy, and I am here as your helping hand, let’s get started, book your complimentary no pressure initial consult today https://www.mindfulhealingjourney.ca/#/