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5 Tips for Reducing Chronic Pain Using Art

1/22/2021

By Nimuë (Angie I. Cruz, MAE, LMHC, MHP, R-DMT)

Sara was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia six years ago. She had told the doctor right off the bat that she didn’t want to go on pain meds. Her family history included addiction, so she didn’t want to “temp fate” by going on heavy pain meds, so she decided to do everything within her power to learn how to live with chronic pain without medication management. Sara read everything she could on “Fibro” and made diligent efforts to eat healthy, do gentle exercise (mostly swimming and yoga) and basically bought stock in “Icy Hot” and other over-the-counter liniments. However, she still didn’t feel as good as she wanted to. “Is this as good as it gets?” She dishearteningly asked herself. And yet, she continued to seek the answers she sought.

One day, Sara had her niece Alice over who loved to paint. “Grab those watercolors and the paper, I’m going to get the oil pastels and draw over here.” She excitedly giggled to her niece. Suddenly Sara was flooded with memories of doing art when she was young and felt inspired to remember to “play” again. While Sara and Alice did their art, something unexpectedly moved Sara. She noticed she was starting to draw a “pain monster”. Her monster had red spikey horns throughout its body, with a ball and chain attached to it. The eyes looked sad and misunderstood, and tears streamed down its scaly face. “Ohh, your pain monster looks so sad! Why is he sad?” Alice inquired. Sara intuitively said, “It’s sad because on the outside it looks mean and threatening, but on the inside it’s hurting and sad because it feels so misunderstood.” Sara bravely answered. “Hmm, sounds like your pain monster needs compassion” Alice squealed with joy. “Hmm, I think you’re right, Alice!” Sara responded. Suddenly Sara had an inner “knowingness” that she herself needed this hug and felt sad that she judged her own pain so harshly.

Later that night, after Alice had gone home, Sara sat with the drawing of her pain monster “Harold” she had created. She closed her eyes and went into a meditative state to address Harold and let him know that she “saw” him and felt immense love for him (which in reality Sara knew that she was coming to terms with her own body). By externalizing her pain, addressing it, and listening to it, she came home to herself to learn how to be gentler and more appreciative of her body and all it did for her, despite her chronic pain. She started to address herself in a more understanding manner, and practiced listening to her body’s needs, on a daily basis without judging herself as harshly as she did before. While her pain did not necessarily shift, her relationship with herself did. Which in turn, led her to ways to be more patient with herself. While this is a fictional story with fictional characters, many clients have reported this type of response to me when working with them through the creative arts.

Can doing art help you reduce your pain levels? Absolutely! As an Expressive Arts Therapist and Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) I enjoy teaching my clients how to develop “tools” for their “toolbox” to reduce their pain, anxiety and depressive symptoms naturally, by engaging in activities that may help distract them from their pain and actually close the “pain gates” in order to experience pleasure. How does this work? Well psychologists posit that the perception of pain and pleasure run along the same neural pathways, that is why when we are feeling something pleasurable our pain is dulled, and vice versa. If a person enjoys doing art, it can act as a pleasant distraction from our pain, increase our ability to feel pleasure, and help us process what we are feeling leading us on our journey to healing! Neat, huh? Here are five tips to help you reduce your chronic pain, while having fun experiencing the creative arts.

Express your pain thru splat art: Have you ever had one of those days when you feel so out of sorts you just wish to scream? If so, try this fun intervention. First get your hands on some butcher paper (large wide paper that is typically used by butchers to wrap meat in). You can purchase this anywhere (craft stores, Walmart/Target or even Home Depot) or maybe your local butcher would even be willing to gift you some. Then get some washable paint such as Crayola Washable Paint or any other kind that you would like to do. Line the floor with some newspapers or plastic and throw the butcher paper on the floor. Open your paints and have lots of paper towels at the ready. Next, set an intention to connect with your paint and really feel what is going on with your body. Next, put globs on pain on your hands and use your hands/fingers to throw and smear paint all over the butcher paper. Allow yourself to scream, cry and really let go of all that pain that is preventing you from living your best life. After you have created your “Pain Masterpiece” allow it to fully dry then you may add as much to it as you like, words, symbols, affirmations, be creative. You will be surprised how cathartic it is to do this activity, and how freeing it feels afterwards.
Inspire others with rock art: Remember when painting rocks was all the rage? Have you yourself ever found a rock that was painted with something inspirational on it and immediately felt better? Well now is your chance to do the same for yourself and someone else! Start off by gathering some smooth river stones (these can be purchased thru craft stores, but often it's more fun collecting them oneself), buying some acrylic paint and using your imagination! When doing this activity keep it simple, use one to two word phrases and use bright bold colors to inspire you. Common phrases such as “Be Love” “Smile” “Health” “Joy” “Heal” Flow” “Let Go” can really pick someone up. Then once the paint has dried, keep a few your yourself and go around your neighborhood “hiding” them in plain sight for someone to find. This can also be used as a wonderful “random act of kindness” to pay forward for others to also feel inspired. Doing things that brings others joy has a two-fold effect, as it brings the artist joy as well!
Create and destroy: This is another cathartic activity that can help one express their pain effectively. Grab some Play-Doh, clay or Plasticine (polymer clay) and play music that inspires you to create and move through stuck emotions. It’s also fun to experiment with different kinds of music when doing this. Perhaps listening to classical music while you are creating your piece, then rock music when destroying it. Get the picture? Yes, use your medium to create what you envision your “pain monster” to look like. Add as many details as you like, such as horns, sharp teeth, scales for skin or however you imagine your pain monster to look like, then once it is all created, use your energy to destroy the pain monster. Use your voice to verbalize that you will no longer allow your pain to ruin your life and dictate what you can and cannot do (within reason) or anything else you wish to externalize to begin the healing process.
Write it out: While Journaling isn’t technically art, it is a way to creatively externalize one’s pain whilst processing it. Remember your “Dear Diary” days? Well current research suggests that journaling can reduce your pain, depression and anxiety! According to an article posted from Psychology Today on April 22, 2020:
“In 2005 Australian researchers looked at a body of evidence on a practice called expressive writing, which entails writing about the effect that traumatic events have on physical and mental health. Their paper included a meta-analysis of 13 studies that found expressive writing carried a health benefit similar to other psychological interventions, such as talk therapy. On the whole, the researchers found that expressive writing led to reduced blood pressure, improved immune system functioning, fewer visits to the doctor and shorter stays in the hospital, reduced symptoms of depression, memory and more.”
Shake your booty: Movement and music therapy also have a tremendous ability to reduce one’s pain simply by the pleasure that they produce. Remember that pleasure and pain signals are processed on the same neural pathways? Yep, you guessed it! If you are the type of person that enjoys belting out your favorite song while stuck in traffic, or find yourself bopping around the house while cleaning because your favorite music is playing on the radio then this modality may be your favorite yet. While it is typical to play music that matches one’s mood (happy uplifting music when you’re happy, or sad sappy love songs after a break up), it is not therapeutically in alignment with changing our pain. Next time you feel sad, try playing the most uplifting music you can and move your body to the beat. Be mindful of any injuries you have and while some mild tenseness is ok, please use common sense to not further hurt yourself (meaning no jumping in the mosh pit, ok?). But seriously, playing music, listening to the words that resonate with you, moving in ways that feel good to you, all increase our body’s natural ability to reduce pain. How? Well when we feel good and exercise, sing and breathe deeply, our brain produces “feel good” chemical and will increase our serotonin and dopamine output, reduce our cortisol levels (the stress hormone) and help us feel more relaxed. Not to mention all the extra oxygen our bodies get by singing our hearts out! Try it! This is especially fun to do with one’s kids or grandkids, as little children delight in moving their bodies, which in turn causes us to enjoy ourselves and not take ourselves so seriously! Laughter, after all, is the best medicine!

So there you have it. Now you have some extra “tools” to play with. Now go out there and sing, dance, paint and sculpt! I can’t think of a more enjoyable to way to lower one’s pain while increasing one’s general feeling of wellness! Happy Healing! Note to the reader: Sara is a fictional client representing a blend of clients we see at PRA.

Angie “Nimuë” Cruz, LMHC
Pain Counselor at PRA Vancouver

About the Author:
Nimuë wears many hats as Licensed Mental Health Counselor, Expressive Arts & Movement Psychotherapist and Reiki Masters Practitioner. She loves using holistic and expressive modalities to empower people through their own healing journey. Bringing over ten years of experience to Progressive Rehabilitation Associates (PRA), she is ready to roll up her sleeves and get to work~ teaching, advocating and helping folks learn to embrace life once more even after a serious injury, trauma or accident. Nimuë offers her clients several modalities to chose from, including: traditional Person-Centered talk therapy with a focus on CBT/DBT/ACT/MBSR or Expressive Art therapies: art, movement, writing, play, Sandtray and psychodrama. Additionally, she leads groups that focus upon pain and brain injury rehabilitation through the use of biofeedback, movement and psychoeducation. During her spare time, Nimuë enjoys spending time out in nature with her family, reading a good book by the fire, or simply napping with her cats.

Learn more about the Pain Rehabilitation Program and Community Acupuncture located in Vancouver

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