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Art as therapy. The use of art as therapy for
the treatment of depression, anxiety and other mental illnesses are becoming
more and more popular. In art therapy, clients, facilitated by the art
therapist, use art media, the creative process, and the resulting artwork to
explore their feelings, reconcile emotional conflicts, foster self-awareness,
manage behavior and addictions, develop social skills, improve reality
orientation, reduce anxiety, and increase self-esteem. The
purpose of art therapy is to improve functioning and restore a since of
wellbeing.
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So
how does art therapy work? Art therapy engages the creative process through art
making, which can be healing, enriching and pleasurable. You don’t have to be
an artist to benefit from art therapy. The process of making art and exploring
the art visually, as well as talking about it with an art therapist helps
promote personal growth. Art therapy can catalyze change and provide coping
skills with much more clarity than words alone could have provided. The art
therapist provides a safe, non-judgmental environment for the clients to
express themselves through a variety of art media. Sometimes the art making is
spontaneous and other times it is directed by the facilitator, with the
emphasis on empowering the participant to self-interpret their non-verbal
expression, with the guidance of the art therapist.
In this short video we can see the affect art has on the brain and how it can be used in therapy!
Art serves many purposes and is helpful in many different ways. Because of art therapy, many people have been able to overcome certain mental health issues and cope with certain problems. Without art I think the world would be a dull and dreary place. Through art and creation many people are able to live a little easier in our hectic and stressful world.
These are the links to my previous post:
Art therapy works, doesn't it, by releasing creativity and revealing one's own deepest insights, yearnings, aspirations, and powers. Approached rightly, philosophical reflection can do the same for some of us. Many of us, if given proper encouragement early on. Sadly, too many of us are discouraged from this kind of "therapy" by older non-reflective types. So it gets harder to reap the therapeutic rewards of thinking collaboratively and in public, as time goes by. But I say it's never too late to try.
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