By Alexandra Brewer | Arts & Life Intern

Trauma rarely announces its presence — it lingers quietly in the shadows, gripping its chilling hand on the puppet strings that control the monsters that lurk beneath the surface. Yet even in this haunting cavern, a kindling emerges. A paintbrush bristles softly with a stroke of color on an empty canvas full of possibility, a melody weeps a calming tune into the silent night and a spotlight casts a soft, glowing silhouette on the vast expanse of darkness.

For many individuals, art becomes more than just an expression — it’s a lifeline.

“Creative expression can be so healing because it allows people to tap into not just their mind, but also their body and their emotions as well,” said Kelly Chittenden, an English and medical humanities lecturer. “Whether that’s creative writing, poetry, art or drama, [art] can allow people to process through their experiences and attempt to make sense of their experiences.”

Trauma finds its voices in many mediums and transforms invisible pain and agony into something tangible. In visual art forms, pencil marks and paintbrush strokes become a vessel for emotions that are too complex to be spoken aloud and translate pain into a living, breathing work, Chittenden said.

“I think that [art] can help strengthen empathy for those who have not experienced something particular because art does a great job of allowing the audience into someone else’s perspective,” she said.

Kylie Towne, a fine arts and directing graduate student, gave the example of actors on a stage, entering into the rawness of stories that are rooted in themes of grief and despair so that audiences can witness and cope with it.

“Something in us wants to be able to relate to someone or to feel fearful of something happening to us … which leads to that cathartic experience that theater does for us,” Towne said. “I think that it is just innate for people to want to feel like they can connect to another person, even if that’s a character in any sort of drama. It makes us feel like we’re not alone.”

Towne said theater is like therapy because it allows individuals to step outside of themselves and take on the role of a character, which allows them to escape reality for a while. However, this can also help them process their emotions, as actors can often find similarities between their own struggles and those of a work of fiction, leading them to find relief by living through it in another medium.

These personal and creative experiences are mirrored in scientific research. According to an article from the National Library of Medicine, which detailed interviews with veterans, art therapy aided the veterans in expressing emotions in a safe way.

Media sources offer lenses for understanding trauma and offer an opportunity to sit front and center to some of these issues. In the play “Gruesome Playground Injuries,” the audience follows two characters across the decades and watches their trauma unfold. The story delves into the discomfort of trauma, as it depicts how it seeps into every aspect of life and shapes identities and relationships rather than neatly resolving the pain.

Towne said this production highlights how people process trauma in different ways and what behaviors they choose to engage in to self-soothe.

“Even though those behaviors are unhealthy, when people process trauma, we don’t always do the most healthy thing for us in that moment,” she said.

Chittenden said another valuable source that depicts trauma is Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s story, “The Yellow Wallpaper.” The short story approaches trauma by immersing readers in the oppressive and claustrophobic world of a woman deeply intertwined with medical and societal control. Here, Gilman portrayed how psychological trauma can distort perceptions of reality and make the impact much more significant.

“The story is so powerful because we see as audience members how the narrator is struggling with mental health and how the medical system, which is exemplified by her husband, is really actually contributing to her mental health issues, rather than helping her,” Chittenden said.

Trauma doesn’t disappear, but art makes it visible and shareable, which gives room for healing and growth. Whether it’s the haunting imagery of “The Yellow Wallpaper” or the gritty realities of “Gruesome Playground Injuries,” these works depict trauma in all its messiness, confusion and all-consuming nature. More than that, though, it can connect individuals and remind them that no one has to go through and carry the hurt on their own.