Making Art Can Help Teens Understand Their Mental Health

The benefits of art in a child’s education are widespread. Art can help kids express themselves and understand the world around them, and it is usually a fun, hands-on experience. For low-income students, studies show that kids who have more arts education in school see long-term benefits by both academic and social standards. Additionally, art can help students with their mental health.

Tori Wardrip, an art teacher at Lewis and Clark Middle School in Billings, Montana, wanted to explore the benefits of art more deeply while addressing some of the mental health issues she saw students experiencing. Last year she launched Creative Courage, a school-based support group for students struggling with mental health concerns. Similar to individual counseling, support groups often encourage individuals to speak about their struggles. Talking about mental health can make people feel vulnerable, however, and this is especially true with adolescents. This is why Creative Courage uses nonverbal tools like mindfulness, journaling, and art activities to help kids identify and express their emotions.

“Students can be closed off, especially if they feel like outcasts,” says Wardrip. “I wanted to create a ‘safe’ space where they could express what they’re going through.”

While the creative process in Wardrip’s group is an open canvas, each self-expression exercise teaches the students an emotional skill, like self-awareness, social skills and self-acceptance. For example, students may create “mood mandalas” by drawing and coloring symbols to convey their inner worlds. They can also paint their worries on small “comfort” boxes and fill the container with personal items that bring solace. Others list their insecurities in journals alongside healing words, like “Learn to accept your flaws and learn to accept beauty.”

Many of the kids in Wardrip’s 10-week group struggle with depression, anxiety and gender dysphoria. Others feel lonely and out of place. All of these students are searching for someone who can understand their suffering. Although they’re not required to participate, most of them do. For many students, being surrounded by a community of nonjudgmental listeners helps them open up, and kids who once felt afraid begin to feel brave, according to Wardrip. To help create a safe space, Wardrip begins each meeting with a wellness check-in, followed by a guided meditation and an art-related activity. Her group combines creative process with psychological theory.

“Art teaches kids problem-solving and decision-making skills,” says Wardrip. “Creativity also promotes identity development, helping students find their ‘place’ in the world.”

Wardrip finds that by the end of the 10-week course, students begin to heal. Her data from last year’s group suggest participants’ symptoms of anxiety and depression lessened by 40 percent. To measure this change, each group member completed an anxiety and depression questionnaire: one before the group began, and another after completing the course. For many of these kids, art becomes a tool helping them to share their authentic selves in a community that understands.

The artwork featured in this article is by Destiny Blue. To see more of her work, please click here.

Allison Green
Boston Tutoring Services