How therapy can help clients manage frustrations with the medical system
Whether it’s dealing with chronic pain, trying to find answers for mystery symptoms, or actually receiving a chronic illness diagnosis – the entire process can be life-altering. You have a list of symptoms, and doctors gather information and run tests to determine what’s going on with you physically. Many times repeatedly. This process, while necessary, can also be really stressful and overwhelming. Sometimes medical professionals forget how to talk to us like people and consider how this info is actually impacting us in real time. I’ve learned firsthand just how important it is to be our own, loud, advocates to make sure we understand what is going on in our body, what the best course of action is, and to make sure we aren’t the only ones feeling a sense of urgency to find answers and begin treatment. Talking with a therapist and engaging creatively with our emotions can help us to manage the stressors and frustrations of dealing with appointments, medication, the insurance company, and of course, the logistics of how our lives will change as a result of the diagnosis, or non-diagnosis as the case may be.
How therapy can help clients cope with pain
Chronic pain or pain associated with a specific diagnosis can add to the frustrations of having the chronic illness to begin with. Pain can alter your personality, disrupt sleep, interfere with your performance at work, and negatively impact relationships. Therapy can help us manage the difficulties we’re facing when we’re in pain and adapt our lives to better manage our symptoms. A large part of using therapy to help treat pain is through psychoeducation, helping you acquire skills to manage what is a very difficult problem. An art therapist can teach you focused breathing, ways to get into a flow state by creating mandalas or coloring, and healthy distractions by providing drawing prompts. All of these activities can help manage pain, improve mood, reduce stress, and increase overall quality of life.
how therapy can help clients manage affiliated anxiety and depression
Art therapy can also help you by learning how to cope with the anxiety and/or depression that may follow a chronic illness diagnosis or when we’re experiencing a bunch of symptoms and we’re trying to figure out what that diagnosis may be. For example, sometimes anxiety can manifest as anger, so keeping an “Anger Journal” to write in when we’re feeling heightened or dysregulated can help release those strong, unpleasant emotions. For those who are more visually creative, drawing or painting “what our emotions look like” can help us process those feelings in a productive, directed way. Art therapy can provide a healthy outlet for all of the emotions we’re experiencing when going through the difficult physical journey that is chronic illness.
how therapy can help clients reduce pain
Just like how everything seems worse when you’re hungry physical pain is intensified by emotional and mental stress. While new research is coming out all the time, there’s still a relatively poor understanding of the mind/body connection especially around the intersection of trauma and chronic medical conditions and/or chronic pain. Improving the resiliency of your nervous system will not make your condition go away, but it can take the edge off and help you take action towards the things that give you purpose and meaning.
Therapists who specialize in chronic pain and medical conditions can help you discover “what works for you.” For some people it may be a mindfulness activity like guided meditation, for others it may be stimulating the vagus nerve by humming/singing, yoga, or exposure to cold. For others, it may be a creative endeavor like journaling or making art. All of these activities can help manage stress/anxiety by reducing heart rate, activating our relaxation response, and/or providing a distraction.
Shawn Shannon-Missal, LCAT-P is provisionally licensed in New York State as a creative arts therapist. She has a degree in creative arts therapy from PennWest/Edinboro University. Shawn has been practicing art-based psychotherapy since 2024 and currently sees clients at Spotted Rabbit’s Pittsford, NY studio.
Shawn is herself a cancer survivor and has worked with clients with diagnoses like Lyme disease, endometriosis, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, and Elhers-Danlos syndrome.