Using Art to Boost Your Mental Health with Kayla Mento
Chatham alumna, adjunct Chatham professor, and art therapist, Kayla Mento, MA, ATR-P is teaching Chatham’s first ever course on art therapy this semester. After discovering the intersection of art and psychotherapy during her undergraduate career at Chatham, Kayla now regularly helps clients work through trauma and difficult emotions by employing art as a therapeutic modality. We caught up with Kayla to learn more about art therapy, art as a therapeutic tool for self-care, and her recommendations for maintaining your mental health throughout college. Read on for her insights—
Art therapist, Chatham alumna, and adjunct Chatham professor, Kayla Mento
What constitutes art therapy?
Kayla Mento: Art therapy is loosely defined but understood across the mental health profession as a therapeutic modality that [consists of] both the artistic, creative process of the client and psychotherapeutic approaches to promote growth and healing. It's also well-known and understood that it is another vehicle for communicating. It's really good for clients that might be suffering from trauma or something where they can't verbally express what's going in that moment; [they can use] art as a vehicle for communicating.
What inspired you to become an art therapist?
KM: I've been interested in art since I can remember. My first aspiration in life was to be a cartoonist. I was always doodling, coloring, painting, or doing something creative as a child. I ran with that and it never really went away. Honestly, I had no intention of becoming a therapist until I went to Chatham. After high school, I knew I wanted to continue my passion for art, I just didn't really know which route to go. I started at Chatham majoring in visual arts with a studio arts concentration.
Sadly some outside sources were telling me that I could not make a living off of just [art]. I thought, "Maybe I will take my first psychology class," because that wasn't something offered to me in high school. In my first psychology class, we did a house-tree-person assessment, which is a drawing assessment. I had an ‘a ha moment’ as a result of doing this assessment in class and having students be evaluated by what they drew. I looked up art and psychology and the first thing that came up was art therapy. After reading a short blurb about it from the American Art Therapy Association, I felt like this was what I was meant to do. I was meant to see this. I was meant to take this class and have my mind blown. My focus at Chatham shifted to not only art, but to start this new journey alongside it and hone my skills. I ended up doing my tutorial on art as therapy.
What did your grad school experience look like? Did you specialize in art therapy?
KM: Once I graduated from Chatham with a focus on both art and psychology, I created an art portfolio to get into grad school. I initially applied at Edinboro University. Because I had my focus in both of those areas, it was really easy for me to apply, get accepted, and then make art therapy my master's degree. I did go to Edinboro solely for art therapy, and then counseling as well; it was a dual degree.
Can you walk us through an example of how you might use art therapy in a session with a client?
KM: I'm still pretty new to the field. I have had practicum internship experiences, plus counseling and therapy experience up until this point. I started my experience at the Center for Victims, which is a nonprofit agency that serves victims of violence and crime in Allegheny County. With this population, depending on where they are in processing their traumatic experiences, it can be really difficult to put what they're feeling into words. [At the Center for Victims,] I would primarily use art therapy as our form of communication. Not to say we wouldn't talk, but I would use art as the process of them communicating via self expression based on a prompt. For example, if you could label or identify what your grief looks like right now, if it could look like something, whether that's a person or something abstract, what would it look like? Being able to identify that via artistic expression and then verbally processing it afterward can be powerful and promotes growth and healing in the grieving process.
Is there a specific art form that you typically have clients use?
KM: It's really up to what they're comfortable with. Anytime I plan on doing art therapy in a session, I have a wide range of materials available. Therapy is about creating a safe, non-judgmental space where clients can feel comfortable. I would never push any materials on them. If they've verbally or behaviorally expressed concerns with sensory issues, then I would probably withdraw things like clay, paint, or pastels, anything that might damage them and the session. Otherwise, I leave it up to them and what they're comfortable with. Paint, crayons, pencils, any medium you can think of, I have. Mini Michaels art store over here.
What are some strategies you recommend for someone who wants to use art to bolster their mental health?
KM: It's definitely good to recognize that people individually can't do art therapy, however, they can use art as therapy, meaning you can use artistic expression in a safe space to work on things that might be frustrating you or happening in your life. Things may come up that are pretty hard to the point where you might need to seek therapy. Don't do anything too intense with just yourself in case anything does come up.
I use art as therapy with myself in the form of drawing mandalas. Mandalas are usually circular shapes that include symbols like flowers, butterflies, and anything that brings you peace. The process of drawing and spending time with yourself is healing on its own. It might feel therapeutic to color or to draw a mandala, but it is not art therapy. That is art as a therapeutic modality to promote relaxation and calm anxiety.
If someone wants to do actual art therapy with a therapist, how would you recommend they find an art therapist?
KM: There are a lot of art therapists in this area. Because of the pandemic, art therapy can be done virtually. You can go on websites like Psychology Today and Therapy Den, and use filters for art therapy. You can also look within your general region and in other states.
What would you say to someone who wants to use art as a therapeutic tool but doesn't feel artistically talented or creative?
KM: I get this all the time. There's always going to be a general anxiety when you're faced with a blank page, even when you are creative. There's just something about staring at a blank page and worrying what it's going to look like. That's the thing about art therapy though—it doesn't matter what the product looks like. We're not asking anyone to be Pablo Picasso, it's really based on the process. If there is anything that I try to console people about, it's always about being artistic or able to draw. We're not asking for a masterpiece. Most of the time our anxiety surrounding this is that I'm not creative and what if this looks like crap? Well, that doesn't matter. You're not making art for anybody but yourself.
What other mental health advice might you offer specifically for current students and the struggles that they may face during college?
KM: Having been there not so long ago, I wish I followed my own advice. Make sure that you're checking in with yourself, in terms of, am I putting too much on my plate? In college, there are so many classes you're taking and a lot that's expected of you. That can eat away at your confidence and psyche. Take it one step at a time. If you're feeling too overwhelmed, give yourself grace and take care of yourself. I’m stressing self care in whatever form that takes. Laying in bed and staring at the ceiling; if that's self care for you, then that's self care for you. [It might also be] making art by yourself or journaling for 15 minutes a day, anything to do with taking a break and taking a step back.
Special thanks to Kayla for highlighting the world of art therapy for us. For more information on our counseling and health services offerings, click here.