How Art Heals Survivors Of Abuse: Restoring The Brain, Body And Self
- Patricia
- Jan 8
- 2 min read
Updated: 5 days ago
Survivors of all types of abuse including emotional, psychological, financial, physical, sexual and narcissistic often carry wounds that go far beyond memory. Abuse reshapes the nervous system, disrupts brain function, and fractures identity. Its not a weakness, its simply biology. It doesn't have to be life long though.
The Impact of Abuse on Survivors
When someone lives in chronic threat, control, or violation, the body adapts to survive. Over time, this can lead to:
PTSD and complex PTSD
chronic anxiety or hypervigilance
depression and emotional numbness
difficulty trusting or forming healthy relationships
people-pleasing, self-abandonment, or loss of boundaries
low self-worth and identity confusion
addiction, eating disorders, or compulsive behaviors
chronic pain, autoimmune issues, and fatigue
disconnection from joy, creativity, and purpose
Abuse often silences voice, choice, and agency. Many survivors feel cut off from themselves, their intuition, their communities as a result of the abuse they endure/d. When trauma is not safely processed, it stays stored in the nervous system and the subconscious.
Why Art Is So Powerful for Trauma Healing
Across cultures, art has always been used to process grief, restore identity, and reconnect people to spirit. Long before talk therapy, there was drawing, dancing, drumming, storytelling, and ritual. Modern neuroscience now confirms what ancient cultures always knew:
Art rewires the brain.
Through neuroplasticity, creative expression helps:
calm the amygdala (fear center)
strengthen the hippocampus (memory + learning)
activate the prefrontal cortex (clarity, self-trust, decision-making)
regulate the vagus nerve (safety and connection)
lower cortisol (stress hormone)
In simple terms: art helps the brain learn safety again and make sense of the past.
How Art Heals Survivors of Abuse
1. Releasing Trauma Without Re-Telling the Story
Art allows expression without forcing verbal disclosure. The body can release what the mind is not ready to name.
2. Rebuilding Identity and Self-Trust
Abuse often erodes a person’s sense of self. Creating restores agency, voice, and authorship.
3. Reconnecting With the Inner Child
Play, color, and imagination gently access parts of the self that were frozen or silenced. This is essential for emotional repair.
4. Healing the Subconscious
Art communicates directly with the subconscious and body memory, where much trauma is stored.
5. Supporting Brain Health and Neuroplasticity
Each creative act builds new neural pathways, strengthening emotional regulation, focus, and resilience.
6. Restoring Joy, Meaning, and Faith
For many survivors, art becomes a bridge back to wonder, spirituality, and trust in life.
Outcomes Without Care vs. With Art-Based Healing
Without trauma-informed care, survivors often experience:
repeated abusive relationships
chronic illness and pain
emotional shutdown or chaos
addiction and self-sabotage
isolation and hopelessness
With art-based healing, survivors often experience:
improved emotional regulation
reduced PTSD symptoms
increased confidence and self-worth
healthier relationships
nervous system stabilization
renewed creativity and purpose
reconnection to their inner child and intuition
Art does not bypass the healing process. It is the healing process.
Art as Medicine at Invocation Healing Arts
At Invocation Healing Arts, art is not an add-on. It is core to our work.
Every retreat includes guided art play — held gently, trauma-informed, and invitation-only. No experience needed.
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