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Healing Beyond Words

  • Writer: Rykie Smith (MA AThR)
    Rykie Smith (MA AThR)
  • Sep 3
  • 5 min read

Integrating Science, Creativity and Connection


After decades of seeking help, she was still waking up in terror. On our first meeting, she sat nervously in my office, her wariness palpable after decades of untreated trauma and countless failed attempts at healing.

Like many survivors, she had endured layers of pain - abuse, betrayal, religious trauma, relationship violence. Her hesitancy spoke volumes - another practitioner, another fragile hope that might be shattered…

She had tried everything. Traditional talk therapies, meditation, breathing exercises, multiple practitioners.

Still, her symptoms remained relentless: panic attacks lasting hours, constant hypervigilance (that exhausting sense of always scanning for danger), and self-loathing so deep it felt like “darkness pooling in her centre.”

This isn’t rare. I witness this pattern repeatedly. Clients arrive having spent years, sometimes decades, in therapy or searching for answers. They’re not lacking motivation, dedication, or insight. They often understand their trauma intellectually.

Yet they remain stuck.


Why Words Alone Can’t Heal Trauma


When we rely solely on talk therapy, we primarily engage the analytical, language-based regions of the brain.

As trauma expert Dr. Bessel van der Kolk explains, talk therapy often isn’t enough because trauma fundamentally changes how the brain processes information.

“Trauma is stored in the body, not just in the mind.”

Research shows that trauma rewires the brain’s alarm system - the brain regions that detect danger and trigger survival responses (the parts of the brain that set off the fear response). These areas can become hyperactive, constantly scanning for threats even when none exist.

Meanwhile, the prefrontal cortex - the part of the brain responsible for rational thinking and emotional control - can “go offline,” making it harder to think clearly, stay calm, and regulate emotions.

It’s like a smoke alarm that keeps blaring long after the fire has gone out. The mind knows you’re safe, but the body refuses to believe it.

This helps explain why purely cognitive approaches can feel insufficient. Talk therapy speaks to the thinking brain, but trauma lives in deeper survival systems.

Neuroscientist Dr. Stephen Porges developed the polyvagal theory to describe this process. In plain terms, it shows how the body’s autonomic nervous system - our built-in “safety detector” - can become stuck in protective mode. The body keeps behaving as if danger is present, even when we’re objectively safe.


When Words Fail, Art Speaks

My client’s body held decades of terror that words couldn’t reach.

During our work together, we turned to creative materials to externalise her internal experience. These weren’t “pretty images.” They were raw marks - symbols of terror, anxiety, frustration, anger, fear, grief and self-loathing.

“When words cannot reach the pain, creative expression can.”

Science increasingly supports what trauma-informed practitioners have long recognised: creative expression opens a doorway that words cannot.

For example, a controlled trial in Frontiers in Psychology (2021) found that adding art therapy to standard treatment significantly reduced depression and anxiety symptoms.

Larger reviews echo this. A meta-analysis found a moderate impact on anxiety symptoms overall, and an even stronger effect in studies focused specifically on anxiety. More recently, a 2025 meta-analysis in BMC Psychology showed a significant decrease in PTSD symptoms when creative arts therapies were used.

We also understand more about why it works. Neuroscience demonstrates that art-making activates sensory pathways deeply linked to emotion, memory and regulation. In other words, it speaks directly to the parts of the brain where trauma lives.

For my client, the transformation was profound. After decades of unsuccessful treatments, she now experiences calm and peace.

She sleeps through the night. The darkness in her centre transformed into lightness and connection. She likes herself and feels confident. She maintains healthy relationships.

And, importantly, when dysregulation occurs - those moments when the nervous system is thrown off balance, leading to panic, shutdown, or overwhelm - she now trusts her ability to recover.


Healing Through Safety and Connection

Creative methods can access brain regions talk therapy alone cannot.


While creative therapeutic approaches demand rigorous training and skill, true transformation arises when that skill is combined with trust, relationship and attunement. Nowhere is this clearer than in the role of co-regulation.


Many trauma survivors missed critical co-regulatory experiences during childhood. Co-regulation simply means the ability of one nervous system to soothe another. Think of how a crying baby calms when held by a steady caregiver - the baby learns safety through that connection. Adults, too, need these kinds of experiences to feel secure.


“Safety is not taught by words but experienced through connection.”

This is why the therapeutic relationship itself is not just supportive, but healing.


As a therapist, I must embody safety - staying regulated while holding space for whatever emerges: panic, grief, rage, terror, despair. My nervous system communicates calm to theirs through what researchers call “neural resonance.”


Clients discover - sometimes for the first time - that they can fall apart in front of someone and not be abandoned. That someone can witness their pain without being destabilised or rushing to fix them.


This isn’t just emotional support. It’s neurobiological healing. Through repeated co-regulation, clients’ nervous systems gradually update their threat-detection systems. They begin to believe, viscerally, that safety and connection are possible.


Blending Science and Creativity for Deeper Healing

Recent research suggests the best outcomes often come from integration, not replacement.

For instance, a comparative study showed that art therapy significantly reduced depression and anxiety, while CBT remained highly effective for developing cognitive tools.

This highlights a powerful truth: it’s not about discarding talk therapy, but about broadening the toolkit. When cognitive approaches are skillfully combined with methods that directly engage the body and deeper brain systems, healing becomes more comprehensive and sustainable.


Beyond Illness: Rediscovering Wholeness


Rather than pathologising mental health, we must recognise clients as complex beings - woven from stories, beliefs, experiences, and neurobiology.


A holistic, trauma- and science-informed approach doesn’t treat symptoms in isolation but supports the whole person in reclaiming their capacity for safety and connection.


“If talk therapy has helped you understand your past but not freed you from it, your body may be waiting for another pathway to healing.”

When I integrate talk therapy with expressive arts and body-based approaches, I see clients progress quickly. Healing becomes not only possible, but lasting - even after decades of suffering.




References

All hyperlinks cited in the article are represented here as full references:


 
 
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