Torn paper. Glue and glitter. Jars of paint. Crayons, pencils, and markers. A room full of art supplies.

Certified Art Therapist, Nora Swan-Foster asks the small group of pregnant women to choose a piece of paper. Then they introduce themselves.

“Why did you choose this piece of paper,” Swan-Foster asks one women,” What feeling is it based on?”

Today’s assignment is to work with the women’s fears around pregnancy and birth using art therapy. Art therapy is not very well known. For many it conjures up bad memories of grade-school art. But art therapy isn’t about creating artists. It’s about using art as a tool to access and illuminate inner feelings. “Art therapy is a non-verbal way to connect with our bodies and souls,” said Swan-Foster. “I don’t analyze the art itself, rather we talk about what you put out there.”

Swan-Foster is a Nationally Registered Board Certified Art Therapist. She has a Masters Degree in Expressive Therapy. Counseling is as much a part of her practice as making art. “I choose art materials to match the therapy,” she explained. “Different materials illicit different feelings.”

In the pregnant women’s group, she used paper and paint. Crayons can encourage a childlike approach and bring back memories. Pencils tend to be a tight tool that clients often find narrow and fearful. If a client needs to feel abundance, Swan-Foster pulls out lots of materials. Tearing paper is a metaphor for feelings of loss and anger.

Art is healing. It’s been used for thousands of years in most cultures. Our society did not invent it. But we can use it.

Swan-Foster’s clients are mostly women in their childbearing year. She works with them through their pregnancies into their post-partum period. “I believe in early intervention,” she said. “By working with their fears and beliefs during pregnancy, their journey into motherhood gets off to a good start.”

Art therapy provides women a way to connect with their bodies and own inner wisdom. Swan-Foster finds this especially helpful for women who’ve experienced a pregnancy loss or miscarriage. “It gives them a place to express all their feelings," she said. “Sometimes a women has paradoxical feelings of both happiness and sadness about a loss. Society might label her crazy. But here, those feelings are acknowledged.”

Back in her studio, the women have painted their fears silently. Swan-Foster compares the process to breathing. “We breathe in and go inside ourselves and do the work. Then we come back out together and talk about what came up for us.”

One woman shares her fear that something is wrong with her baby. Another fears she won’t be a good mother. The other women understand. It is a relief to know they are not alone. Then Swan-Foster asks them to go back inside, ”When you go inside yourself and connect with your fears and anxieties, you also connect with your own resources for healing and solutions.”

The women paint over their fears. One adds a heart. They choose brighter colors.

The process of making art takes feelings like anger, sadness or guilt, out of the body and puts them down on paper. It is a way of documenting experiences and feelings. Art therapy, as practiced by trained professionals is a legitimate and valuable counseling tool.

As the women left Pomegranate Studio, they hugged each other and exchanged phone numbers. With bits of torn paper, paints and glue, they created something special.

To find an art therapist in your area, visit:

www.arttherapy.org

www.baat.org

Nora Swan-Foster, Pomegranate Studios, 303-595-1006.

Copyright © 2002 Anna Stewart. All rights reserved worldwide.