Everyone feels a bit down sometimes. How you handle this differs per person. For one person, it might be nice to spend an hour at the gym to relieve all the stress, while this may not work as well for the other person. Finding an outlet that suits you can help you in dealing with unpleasant situations or feelings. Who knows, you may find this outlet in your creativity. Are you curious how to do this? Keep on reading!

Creative therapy?

There are several theories in psychology, such as the creative-process theory, that indicate that being creative can work therapeutically. Expressive therapies have emerged from this idea. The main difference between expressive therapies and ‘normal’ psychotherapy is the non-verbal aspect: you do not communicate your feelings with words, but with creativity. This can be done in various ways. Expressive therapies therefore consists of various types, such as music, visual arts, dance or drama.

Some inspiration

You do not necessarily have to go into therapy, you yourself can also feel better and happier by being creative. You can learn to express your emotions yourself in a creative way that suits you. Do not be afraid to try different things! Below are a few examples:

1. Go write. The easiest thing to start with is perhaps to write down how you feel in a story or in a poem.
2. Making music. Some people like to express their emotions in music. Whether it’s behind the piano, the guitar, the turntable, singing in the shower or hitting a couple of pans in the kitchen. Try to write your own song, or make a cover of your favorite artist. It does not matter if it sounds beautiful, the most important thing is that you feel good doing it!
3. Dance! Is making music yourself too much for you? Put your favorite music on, and dance through the room! I bet that you will feel a lot better immediately!
4. Painting, drawing or sculpting. You do not have to have a studio to express your emotions and thoughts in visual art. Pencil and paper or a piece of clay is enough to create your own artwork. Even online there are several tools that you can use for this, for example: https://sketch.io/sketchpad/.
5. Handicrafts. Even handicrafts can be very nice to manage your thoughts, to process your feelings, or just to relax. With knitting or crochet you can even make something beautiful and useful for yourself or someone else. Another idea is to for example start embroidering. Making something yourself with your hands can be very satisfying!
6. Woodworking. You can also make beautiful things with wood. Start small: it is, for example, quite easy to put a stool together. Who knows, maybe someday your house will be full of furniture that you have made yourself!
7. Photography. You can also use photography to express your emotions. You do not have to have an expensive SLR camera for this, your mobile phone works fine too. Photograph a beautiful sunset, a still life, or your friends, and see how you feel about it.

NiceDay app: Plan a creative activity in your Daily Planner. Write down how you felt about it.