Friday Mar 10, 2023

Making Art From Anxiety With Megan Mitts

“I like to give people as many choices as possible, and I always want to make sure that you feel like you're in control,” explains Megan Mitts, registered art therapist and founder of Art From Anxiety LLC. Megan created her art therapy business as a way to share low risk, high reward therapeutic art activities in a more accessible way that focuses on an artists’ success while also aiming to improve their mental health. The methods she shares are safe for anyone to do on their own and to share with others, and they help people gain more tools for being able to cope with difficult emotions like grief. Today, Megan discusses her professional journey and shares how she uses art therapy to make art from anxiety.

Art therapy is a fantastic method for coping with difficult emotions and regulating mental health. One of Megan’s go-to methods to redirect people and give them a reprieve from their emotions is called mega-grounding. For this she asks people to name an animal, an action, and a place. The answers can be rather silly and help take people out of their distressing mental state. Megan chooses her art tools based on emotional need, such as using more rigid tools for a sense of control when overwhelmed and making reconstructive art when dealing with grief.

Channeling anxiety into art is a constructive way of redirecting emotions. Through art therapy, people can learn coping mechanisms that empower them to take control over their own mental health.

Quotes

• “There's a caterpillar dancing in Egypt. Like, oh, okay. It's silly, but it's okay, and these little tools of using our brain in different ways are what can be so helpful in the moment.” (9:15-9:27 | Dr. Lara)

• “Ultimately, my goal is just to help people make art and feel better.” (15:54-15:57 | Megan)

• “I like to give people as many choices as possible, and I always wanna make sure that you feel like you're in control.” (17:31-17:36 | Megan)

• “A lot of people think that grief is something that you only experience when you do lose someone, but a lot of times it is a change in your role. It's a change in someone else's role.” (29:53-30:04 | Megan)

Links

Connect with Megan Mitts:

Website: ArtFromAnxiety.com

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@art_from_anxiety

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@art_from_anxiety

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/art_from_anxiety/

Connect with Lara:

Website: https://drlarasalyer.com

Instagram: @drlarasalyer

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drlarasalyer

Linked-In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drlarasalyer/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/DrLaraSalyer