Art, SEX & healing

The association of sex with art, artists and glamour is not a new concept, and apart from the idea of artists and high sex drives, people are often surprised - and confused - when I say that I’ve used theatre arts to teach science or math. The prevailing notion is that artistic events and activities in education are only for ice-breakers, bonding activities and for fun – they are not often thought of as intellectual or healing activities in and of themselves. Attention follows emotion, and the arts often stimulate the emotional areas, thereby creating natural conduits for remembering and connecting information. Sexuality certainly stimulates many emotional responses, so clearly the arts fit nicely in this domain. So can you image what arts-based sexuality learning and healing looks like? Tons of fun and play, lots of catharsis, and maybe even the discovery of unknown skills (not necessarily erotic, but then that’s quite acceptable too).

Expressive and creative modalities, include all forms and elements of the arts: movement/dance, drama/theatre, drawing/painting, sound/music, expressive writing, storytelling, ritual and other related forms and activities. Each of these, provides opportunities to practice skills and behaviours, as well as to explore attitudes and feelings. Creativity, when used in education and healing, is the practice and ability to reframe, re-work and re-present views, problems and perspectives in novel and innovative ways. So while artistic endeavours are involved, it is not about creating works of art or beauty (though that may very well be an unavoidable, and indirect or secondary result of the process). In fact, many skilled visual artists are deliberately asked to draw or paint with their non-dominant hand, so that the focus is on the intent to educate or heal, and not on aesthetics.

Using the arts, provides an opportunity for you to pace your learning, to take responsibility for and an active role in your growth, to empathise with ‘the other,’ and keeps your focus on the issue much longer than conventional talk-only methods. It allows you to see practical and emotional issues, helps you to imagine what will happen to you, and also allows you to imagine and practice how you might change an outcome in a situation. This is a wonderful way to deal with sexual decision-making, and couples’ communication and negotiation.

For those who have experienced sexual violence or trauma, and the arts, particularly visual journaling, creating mandalas, creative writing and movement or dance, can be indirect, non-invasive and nonconfrontational ways of helping persons to: A - Access emotions R - Release them through imagery T - Transform stress and pain to assist the body in its own ability to promote wellness This acronym (A.R.T.), developed by art therapist Barbara Ganim, is used as a guide to create artbased learning and self-awareness activities, that incorporate visual art along with movement/dance, creative writing and story-telling, drama and music.

The first stage involves accessing emotions through body-centred awareness and guided visualisation, about things such as the unresolved issues from sexual trauma, body dysphoria, a cheating partner, infertility etc. The next stage or step involves releasing these emotions through an artistic medium, such as drawing, painting, sculpture, mask-making, writing, dance/movement or sound and music. The third stage involves transforming the image or artistic work in stage two into a new one that expresses the way one would like to feel or react as a way of managing or dealing with a stressful or painful situation or one of ill health. This final stage is not meant to solve the issue, but rather, it is a way to help one reframe and adopt a new perspective that is encouraging and empowering. This work produces tangle forms that persons can see and touch, which chronicles their healing and growth.

When the expressive and creative modalities (visual and performing arts) are applied in educational and therapeutic contexts, it is not meant merely to be watched. This art, is meant to and expected to change how we engage with the real world; it is expected to change one’s perception of reality. When used sagaciously it can enrich one’s learning and healing experiences in profound ways.

Onika Henry is a Sex Educator and Sex Coach who consults and designs presentations, workshops, training and psycho-educational counselling, to address sexual health concerns. 381-3049 onikahenry@gmail.com