Culinary art therapy is a relatively new method used by some residential recovery facilities and counselors to treat diverse groups of people. Some groups who have been helped by culinary art therapy include individuals with eating disorders, depression, addiction, and anxiety.
Culinary art therapy has been shown to reduce stress, allow one to gain insight about their own behavior, increase self-esteem, and increase brain development. Besides the mental health benefits, culinary art therapy can have a positive impact on the entire body.
At The Recovery House, our patients participate in cooking activity overseen by our specialists. Since we offer a multicultural team of experts, we are happy to introduce fine European cuisine, as well as sitting around an outside firepit while sharing stories and past experiences.
So what is the advantage of Culinary Art Therapy?
Improve Your Senses
Cooking is a great way to engage all of your senses. While you cook, your sensory awareness is increased through physically touching ingredients, inhaling smells associated with cooking, tasting prepared food items, and visually experiencing foods.
Improve Your Social Skills
Because cooking is a relaxing activity, it allows people to open up about serious topics and feelings. Our guest patients are more easily able to communicate in a group session with each other in order to prepare a dish. Outside of sessions, clients may be inspired to cook meals with people in their personal lives and share feelings with them after the treatment program is completed.
Improve Your Body
There are even physical benefits to culinary art therapy. Recipes prepared during a culinary art session can be nutritious and can contribute to long-term physical health.
Muscle coordination is improved through honing knife skills and learning how to navigate the kitchen. Lifting heavy kitchen objects and ingredients can also increase strength.