2B — Thursday, March 23, 2017
the b-side
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Sibel Ozer’s smile is warm 

and genuine, conveying a calm, 
collected kindness that belies some 
of the darker experiences she’s had 
over the course of her 15-year-long 
journey with art therapy.

At a hefty 7.4 on the Richter 

scale, 
Turkey’s 
1999 
Izmit 

earthquake claimed thousands of 
lives and left even more injured, 
along with destroying several 
hundred thousand properties and 
buildings. Ozer, who had worked 
as a clinical psychologist in Izmit 
prior to the quake, had her first 
experience with art therapy when 
a group of Israeli volunteers, one of 
whom was an art therapist, came 
to help train local therapists in 
trauma intervention methods.

“We 
don’t 
have 
master’s 

programs (for art therapy) in 
Turkey, so the work she did with 
us was definitely very intriguing,” 
Ozer, 
a 
board-certified 
art 

therapist and a licensed, certified 
professional counselor, said. “She 
worked to support us as we went 
into the field, so that we weren’t 
traumatized ourselves, but also 
showing some of the work the 
children would do, how to look at 
the art, how not to interpret.”

In 2000, Ozer and her family 

moved from Istanbul to the United 
States, but it wasn’t until several 
years afterward that she decided 
to go back to school to pursue 
art therapy instead of repeating 
clinical psychology schooling. Art 
therapy is much more prevalent in 
the United States than it is in most 
countries. It calls the American 
Art 
Therapy 
Association 
and 

several major art therapy journals 
home, but it’s also a licensed and 
regulated profession in the United 
States, with master’s programs 
available and specific steps that 
must be undertaken in order to 
become credentialed and board 
certified.

The process is not one to be 

taken lightly. Apart from receiving 
a master’s degree and partaking 
in 
supervised 
internships, 

students are required to complete 
at least “1,000 hours of direct 
client contact” to even apply for 
certification. The AATA site has 
a 
page 
specifically 
dedicated 

to 
helping 
people 
determine 

whether someone is a qualified art 
therapist.

Ozer though has experienced 

art therapy beyond her role as 
a therapist. In October, she was 
diagnosed with Stage 1 breast 
cancer, which set about a rapid 
progression of appointments, and, 
eventually, surgery. Throughout 
the process, she relied on art 
therapy as both a source of insight 
and self-care. Today, she is cancer-
free.

“One of the things when you 

become a patient is that suddenly 
you’re diagnosed and you have no 
choice in what has to unfold — I 
think the definition of a patient is 
that things are done to you — and 
so being able to exercise choice and 

agency and bringing myself into a 
position of doing was really helpful 
in undoing some of the effects of 
that choicelessness,” Ozer said.

Ozer 
doesn’t 
necessarily 

consider herself an artist, even 
though art is so central to what 
she does. In the field, art therapists 
tend to come from one of two paths: 
an art background or a psychology 
background. The difference may 
be hard to distinguish at first, but 
makes sense once it’s more closely 
observed. Art, in itself, has its 
own structured techniques, rich 
history and movements, and the 
approach of an artist is likely to be 
drastically different compared to 
that of a psychologist.

“I’m always more looking from 

the lens of a psychotherapist; it 
was after I’d gotten my degree that 
I really started to develop my artist 
self” Ozer said. “And to this day I 
really don’t consider myself an 
artist but more an art therapist.”

Linda Adamcz, a Kalamazoo-

based 
counselor 
and 
mental-

health therapist who uses music 
and art therapy in in her practice, 
also emphasizes the distinction 
between 
structured 
art 
and 

art therapy, though she is not a 
licensed art therapist. For many, 
it can be difficult to fully embrace 
free flow painting and let go of the 
idea that art has to be perfect or 
have a specific technique.

“Sometimes people have a hard 

time not letting themselves have 
an agenda or plan and be open to 
receiving intuition and trusting 
themselves,” Adamcz said.

During 
her 
14 
years 
of 

experience working in a traditional 
mental-health setting, Adamcz saw 
patients experiencing blocks while 
talking about issues. She was first 
introduced to working with art 
through integrative breathwork 
training, which involved utilizing 
breathing techniques and music, 
then 
creating 
art 
afterward. 

Adamcz has a master’s of social 
work, is a certified practitioner 
of Integrative Breathwork and 
Psychospiritual Integration, and 
has been working in the mental-
health field for more than 28 years.

Unlike other forms of cognition-

based therapy, art therapy utilizes 
the 
emotional, 
creative 
right 

hemisphere of the brain instead of 
the analytical left.

“Sometimes, when emotions 

are stuck deep inside the body, 
both music and art are helpful,” 
Adamcz said. “With children, for 
example, who can’t necessarily 
verbalize 
trauma, 
nonverbal 

types of therapy are a good way to 
express that.”

Adamcz looks to art for deeper 

personal 
spiritual 
fulfillment 

and guidance, but emphasizes 
that while art therapy can indeed 
be very powerful, it should be 
considered an alternative to more 
mainstream forms of therapy, 
not necessarily a replacement, 
especially if someone is completely 
closed to the merits of art therapy.

“If you’ve got the mindset that 

there’s no value in it — you need to 
have at least a little bit of openness 
to it,” Adamcz said. “I’d suggest 

Creative healing: the restorative 
power of art, music and drama

In the face of negative stigmas and a lack of mainstream exposure traditional means of 
therapy grounded in art pose themselves as meritable means of approaching mental health

COURTESY OF SIBEL OZER

Her art therapy studio in Ann Arbor

more authoritarian culture, an art 
therapist might be more directive 
in how they offer knowledge.

“What I’m saying is just a 

general statement,” Ozer said. 
“Given a situation with the right 
person, I might choose to be 
directive because that might be 
what that situation demands. It’s 
very flexible.”

—

Today, the biggest obstacle to 

art therapy’s proliferation is not 
the negative stigma around the 
profession, but rather its lack of 
widespread exposure. For the 
most part, people don’t know 
what it is or what it does.

“If there’s only one position 

for somebody in the helping 
field, it’s going to start with a 
social worker,” Ozer said. “To be 
hired purely with an art therapy 
degree continues to be a challenge 
around the U.S.”

And the difficulties also apply 

to other non-traditional forms 
of therapy, like drama therapy, 
which aims to accomplish the 
same goals as art therapy, but 
utilizing a different medium. 
According to the North American 
Drama 
Therapy 
Association, 

drama therapy “is the intentional 
use of drama and/or theater 
processes to achieve therapeutic 
goals.”

Like 
art 
therapy, 
drama 

therapy isn’t necessarily about 
creating a flawless product to be 
consumed by an audience. These 
“drama and theater processes” 
take the form of “storytelling, 
projective 
play, 
purposeful 

improvisation, and performance,” 
which help participants “rehearse 
desired behaviors, practice being 
in relationship, expand and find 
flexibility between life roles, and 
perform the change they wish to 
be and see in the world.”

For Kristi Davis, a registered 

drama therapist, one of the 
hardest parts of practicing drama 
therapy is convincing people that 
they don’t actually have to be 
partaking in a stage performance 
in order to participate.

“You’re not trying to be an 

actor, you’re just being real,” 
Davis said. “You’re not trying 
to act like you’re auditioning. It 
sounds scary, I think, to a lot of 
people. Art sounds easier, music 
sounds easier, but drama therapy 
sounds scarier.”

Drama therapy differs from 

art therapy in that it is an 
embodiment technique; clients 
will use their entire bodies 
as a part of the process. With 
talk 
therapy 
alone, 
defense 

mechanisms might unconsciously 
prevent someone from reaching 
repressed emotions, but through 
drama therapy, new information 
can rise to the surface, bypassing 
blocks that may have been in place 
for years or even a lifetime.

“That’s like when people see 

things in their art that come out 
that were unconscious — same 
with the drama, the unconscious 
things that were suppressed come 
out and it’s just really amazing to 
see,” Davis said.

Drama therapy relies heavily on 

imagination and the connection 
between thoughts and physical 
symptoms. For example, someone 
in a profoundly stressful situation 
might have trouble sleeping or 
could suffer from headaches.

“With 
anxiety 
and 
worry, 

you’re thinking about something 
bad that could happen, but your 
body is experiencing it as if it were 
real,” Davis said.

The distinction from traditional 

forms of therapy is that drama 
therapy can use this connection to 
help people change for the better. 
Sometimes, physically acting out 
a positive outcome can be more 
permanent and powerful than 
simply imagining it.

“You 
could 
imagine 
good 

things happening, how you want 
things to be and start acting 
that way,” Davis said. “(Drama 
therapy) gives you a viscerally 
real experience; it’s super healing 
and helpful, almost like you’re 
developing new neural networks 
in the act of pretending and 
imagining.”

This technique is especially 

useful 
for 
interactions 
that 

might no longer be possible. For 
example, if a client recently had 
a loved one pass away, but they 
still had unresolved issues with 
the deceased, a drama therapist 
might roleplay the situation by 
reversing positions back and forth 
until the patient feels at peace. In 
addition, role reversal can help 
with conflict resolution, or to help 
someone practice their verbal 
skills during a difficult situation.

“Role reversal is a favorite 

technique, because it’s really like 
you’re stepping into someone 
else’s shoes,” Davis said. “When 
you become them and say what 
you think they would say, and you 
start to feel their perspective, it’s 
easier to understand and accept.”

Such understanding is more 

important than ever in the midst 
of the current polarizing political 
climate.

“It’s a great way to facilitate 

understanding and know how to 
have a positive, helpful discussion 
with them,” Davis said. “It 
helps a lot with forgiveness too, 
especially now, with political 
forgiveness.”

Drama therapy can also be 

used artistically, in the form of 
transformational theater. If a 
client chooses to, they can work 
with a drama therapist, take an 
issue they’ve struggled with and 
create an actual theater piece out 
of the issue. During the creation 
of the piece, the client would 
have some sort of transformation 
take place and theatrically show 
how the change develops. The 
finished production might have 
the creator as the only performer, 
or it might star a complete cast, 
and depending on the producer’s 
wishes, it might only be performed 
for a private audience or a larger 
group of public viewers.

“That becomes a real artistic 

endeavor,” Davis said. “You’re 
doing it for yourself first, to heal 
whatever your issue is, but then 
you’re taking it to the next step, 
and then you’re giving it away so 
that it also benefits other people, 
because a lot of people are helped 
by seeing someone else transform 
something 
they’re 
struggling 

with.”

An important aspect of drama 

therapy is that it’s usually done 
in groups, which can create a 
fun and exciting atmosphere 
(something that usually isn’t 
associated with therapy) and 
facilitate group bonding.

“There’s tremendous power 

in the group working together to 
help each other — a lot of people 
would recognize that if the had 
been in a musical, you end up 
developing a bond with your 
fellow actors,” Davis said.

In 
the 
end, 
it’s 
the 

unconventional nature of drama 
therapy that makes it stand out.

“Being able to use your body 

and sound that isn’t language, 
per se, gives you another way to 
express what you’re feeling, just 
like art and artwork,” Davis said. 
“Therapy can be scary, and if you 
can approach it in a different way 
using the arts, it gives you more 
tools.”

Non-traditional 
forms 
of 

therapy 
are 
still 
a 
largely 

untapped source of healing. It 
is only with increased public 
awareness, education and time 
that artistic therapies can reach 
broader populations, and perhaps 
even help people all over the 
world.

they give it a try and see what it’s 
like.”

Ozer 
agreed, 
citing 
the 

complexities that make up the 
human consciousness.

“We’re highly mental beings, 

but we’re simultaneously deeply 
emotional, 
completely 
illogical 

and spiritual beings as well,” Ozer 
said. “And sometimes those deeper 
parts of ourselves really know 
what we need more than we are 
able to figure it out with our minds 
— art sort of bypasses all the noise 
and goes right to where some of 
the wisdom is.”

There’s no limit to who can 

use art therapy; basically, anyone 
who wants to engage with it can. 
It can be used for a variety of 
demographics and settings, from 
a traditional client and therapist 
setting to more trauma-based 
therapy, like with those affected 
by the Izmit earthquake.

“Any population that you can 

think 
of 
that 

needs 
help, 
it 

can bring things 
that the verbal 
modality 
just 

doesn’t 
have,” 

Ozer said. “So, I 
would think of it 
as a wonderful, 
necessary 
adjunct, 
additional, 
not 

something 
to 

replace 
… 
it’s 

a 
wonderful, 

additional, 
enriching 
addition to the 
general field of 
psychotherapy.”

When 
Ozer 

talks about art therapy, she breaks 
it down into three main parts: 
the materials, the process itself 
and the product. Materials can 
include pencils and finger paints, 
one offering a lot of control and 
the other offering much less 
control; the abundance of different 
material qualities available allow 
an entire, multifaceted spectrum 
of expression. Ozer believes that 
the specific materials a person 
chooses in art therapy are an 
important 
window 
into 
their 

deeper thoughts, pointing to the 
concept of isomorphism.

“So what isomorphism means is 

that what ends up happening with 
your hands here in the art, very 
often, but not always — sometimes 
the cigar is just a cigar, not a 
symbol,” Ozer said. “It’s connected 
to what’s going on inside of us 
both internally and psychically; 
when you have an abundance of 
materials and you let the person 
choose, there’s information there 
with regards to what might be 
going on.”

Sometimes, isomorphic patterns 

are easier to recognize after the 
artistic moment has passed. Back 
when Ozer was completing her 
internship at a hospice center in 
Denver, she took up wood burning. 
Before, 
her 
primary 
medium 

was painting, and it wasn’t until 
looking back that she realized the 
connection between the material 

and her surroundings at the time.

“It occurred to me that it 

captured the experience of death 
so much better than painting 
because in painting there’s this 
possibility to do, undo, change 
and shift, bringing things back, 
whereas once you burn into the 
wood, that dent — you will not be 
able to get that wood back,” Ozer 
said. “That wood is gone for good 
and the mark is permanent.”

Art 
therapy 
highlights 

sublimation, 
which 
is 
the 

conversion 
of 
unacceptable 

emotions 
or 
ideas 
into 

constructive, 
more 
socially 

acceptable forms. Instead of acting 
upon angry or even destructive 
thoughts, art therapy provides an 
outlet for a person to undergo a 
full, transformative response to a 
problem; after creating, the pent-
up feelings usually disappear.

Art therapists might differ on 

how they approach a finished 

product, 
depending 
on 

what 
school 
of 

thought they come 
from. A classically 
Freudian therapist 
might tend toward 
a more intellectual 
interpretation 
according to their 
knowledge 
of 

symbology, while 
a more Gestalt-
oriented therapist 
might work more 
collaboratively 
with 
a 
client 

to 
uncover 

information.

“The way I was 

educated, I’d never 

interpret based on what I think I 
know, because that’s bound to 
include more of my projections,” 
Ozer said. “So I would go about 
interpreting through a lot of 
asking 
of 
questions, 
getting 

ultimately to where we’re going 
through what you see, what you 
feel, what your association are.” 

Differences arise because of 

culture, too. The United States’ 
heavily 
individualistic 
society 

tends to result in a much more 
client centered approach, but in a 

COURTESY OF SIBEL OZER

Ozner’s art studio in Ann Arbor

She breaks it 

down into three 
main parts: the 
materials, the 

process itself and 

the product

LEAD

SAMANTHA LU
Daily Arts Writer

