Art Therapy And Graphic Design

The consensus regarding art is art is for artists, or it’s merely a hobby. But, what if art could alleviate symptoms of depression, or help those with PTSD? All of us has had to deal with some form of psychological issues in our lives. Whether causation of the problem is stress from work, caring for children or parents, cognitive decline, illness, depression, death, trauma or violent crime, these issues have affected us all. “… art can engage the mind and emotions more effectively than other forms of therapy” (Habib & Ali, 9). Society should implement art therapy in conjunction with traditional treatments in the above mentioned psychological issues and instances of nonverbal or closed-off patients.

What is art therapy and does it really work? When one thinks of a therapist and an artist you think of two

Art therapy is a Multi-Functional Psychological therapy that helps the mental mind in connecting things that are disconnected like a patient with alzheimer's where the patient's medial temporal lobe that’s the part of the brain that controls memory. The medial temporal lobe is vital in the brain because that is where the brain recollects the memories and stores them. When you get older the lobe gets weaker in which causes it to disconnect thus causing “memory loss” or dementia. In art therapy we like to cause a visual reconnection of that nerve so in which a patient then can remember more but in a visual stance as in some people like to look at photographs to visually which allows memories to reconnect. These programs are put into place to help anyone with mental issues they are put in place just to help.

It has been discovered that, “Nearly three decades ago, 61.1% of workers said they liked their jobs. That number has slid over time, reaching an all-time low in 2010 following the Great Recession, when only 42.6% of workers said they were satisfied in their jobs,” due to the findings of The Conference Board Job Satisfaction survey (Adams). As an achiever who strives to experience excitement and adventure in life, I find the lack of job satisfaction for most Americans to be disappointing. Having more than a job—having a career—in life is essential to maintaining happiness and allowing self-growth as an adult. It is necessary that every person does something they wish to accomplish during their life or feel the need to do to satisfy the means of their existence. After months of remaining undecided on my desired career that would necessarily fulfil my personal means, I have directed my studying toward the goal of being an art therapist. This uncommon occupation is described as, “An integrative mental health profession that combines knowledge and understanding of human development and psychological theories and techniques with visual arts and the creative process to provide a unique approach for helping clients improve psychological health, cognitive abilities, and sensory-motor functions” (“About us”).

According to the test I took, the top 3 careers I would be great at based on my personality was Art Therapist, Area, ethnic, and cultural studies teacher, postsecondary, also Advanced Practice Psychiatric Nurses.

I found the article  "The expanding reach of art therapy: though it's a relatively new approach to mental health treatment, art therapy is gaining traction and making a difference in people's lives." on the Gale Group website.

Art therapy for dementia is typically provided by art therapists, artists, or facilitators to small groups of patients in a clinical or care setting. Art therapy has traditionally emphasized qualitative over quantitative evidence. Observationally, art therapy engages attention, provides pleasure, and improves behaviour and affect in patients with dementia. Other benefits include enhanced self-esteem and improved communication and reduced anxiety, agitation, and depression.

Urban teens experiencing traumatic grief and loss from gun violence are voiceless and forgotten in communities, schools, families, and even within themselves. How can urban teens dig deep into themselves in order to process and share their own inherent experiences of loss and grief to other teens, which exemplifies healing? A non-profit group in Chicago called Art Therapy Connections goes into urban communities and implements art therapy practices with teens to creatively process, cope, and share deeper feelings in regard to grief and loss. However, every child is not given avid attention, and there is little built rapport with the students. So, by examining the benefits of school social workers implementation of art therapy practices with

Like the case example of Bridget in the article, “Art Therapy: A Proposal for Inclusion in School Settings” where she was assessed by the school art therapist, Marie learned to also use art to process her inner physical and emotional pain in an environment where she felt safe. Since the beginning of Marie’s assessment and interaction with the art therapist she began showing baby steps and signs of progress. With that being said, Marie’s trauma was so severe and had been going on for years, therefore it became clear that her need for continued art therapy was necessary and

Art therapy is based off of experiential family therapy which emerged from the humanistic approach of existential psychology. Gladding (2014) says that The foundation of experiential theory is that the individual within the family are unaware of their true emotions and if they are aware of them they suppress them. Experiential approaches incorporate family play into session which is good because it helps,

In this section of lectures in Introduction to CHHS, Health Care and Rehabilitation were the main topics that were discussed as well as different organizations that worked in this specific section of health and human services. The lectures included: “Psychiatric Nursing”, “Crisis Intervention”, “Medical Yoga Therapy”, “Art Therapy”, “Therapeutic Animals.” Although this may not have been my favorite section overall, this segment did include my new favorite lecture, Art Therapy. A few new terms that were introduced to me during these lectures were: the occupation of an Art therapist, the art spectrum, the domination versus partnership system for collaboration, the BPS pentagon, and the concept that yoga medicine is not the same as a yoga class,

I have come a long way on my life journey to be here in New York to study art therapy. Prior to this study, I was a graphic designer. Today, I introduce myself as an artist and a prospective art therapist. I grew up in South Korea, that is mono-cultural, and spent my first 25 years in Seoul, the capital city, having an ordinary childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood. Although my life is not remarkable like that of many artists, some distinct features nurtured me as an artist and a prospective art therapist.

Art therapy, the use of creative processes as a means of aiding one’s well-being. Art therapies allow individuals to express themselves through creative means. Often the process of making art is the core of the process of art therapy: through the work, individuals can experience themselves as empowered, valued, able to achieve, and able to deal with a task. Art can articulate deep feelings and can bring unconscious issues to the fore. Group art therapy approaches can also foster social interaction. Kruppers (2014) (para. 1).

Art-based interventions use the creative process to help clients communicate and understand their thoughts and feelings (Case & Dalley, 1992). There are a variety of approaches one can take when using art in interventions, as it is a versatile technique. It can be combined with other forms of therapy, such as rational emotive behaviour therapy (Roghanchi et al., 2014) mindfulness training (Coholic, 2011

Art therapy is a mental health profession in which 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. A goal in art therapy is to improve or restore a client’s functioning and his or her sense of personal well-being.