Creative Art Therapy: Essay

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.

Art as a therapeutic method was my primary focus throughout the psychology program at Ryerson University. I am familiar with much research regarding art therapy for mental disorders such as depression

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.

When children are presented with Art Therapy, it may be geared towards creative style and imagination.

Art therapy is said to use “three levels of intervention.” These levels include engaging in the clients senses through the physical manipulation of art materials, using the client’s art as a “symbolic container of their traumatic memories, and “cognitive reflection” guided by the art therapist. The therapist helps to “guide” where the client’s focus lays in terms of their traumatic memories; the goal of the therapist is to help the client integrate elements of their experience, other than the extremely negative, into their

Art heals the soul. The shared emotional experience of creating art together provides a sense of closeness and purpose for those involved. The bond between the patient and therapist grows with each stroke of the brush, line on paper, clay on wheel or chisel to stone. The potential for truly impacting the lives of others in a meaningful way is empowering. The people that could be helped by art therapy walk all streets of life – traumatized youth, new mothers, inmates, dementia patients and special needs

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,

My senior art therapy capstone class gave me the tools not only to understand my personal art making process, but the benefits of artistic creation for other individuals as well. Through this final project, I was able to therapeutically process a traumatic event in my life and turn something negative into a positive light. Process-based art therapy highlights the educational and transformative properties of art making and natural creation.

I was so impressed that well performed art therapist with good counseling skills during the processing of art therapy, the people improved their emotional, behaviors and self-esteem after taking art therapy. I found that my creativity and skills could be used in a more rewarding way to contribute to the community. These experience inspired my decision to pursue my further study in Counseling, and hopefully to become a professional counselor one day in the future.

harnessed by the art therapist to allow the client a creative outlet to express intense and changing

Art therapy includes diverse components, such as artistic activity, relationship between client and therapist, and emotionally safe space, which assist clients in growing internally and influences their inner world in many ways. In a single art therapy session, the artistic activity might be the fundamental tenet that is most influential. For those who are hospitalized and have emotional distress, creating art can be a mood regulation strategy that helps patients to better deal with the stressful life event.

The use of art therapy in the mental health setting has received mixed acclaim due to inconsistencies in the evidence supporting its efficacy

Most forms of therapy are centered on verbal communication. Art therapy, however, breaks that mold and introduces a more creative means of both communicating ideas and learning to grow. The American Art Therapy Association defines art therapy as:

Expressive arts therapy is the use of art modalities, creative process, and aesthetic experience in a therapeutic context. It is a therapy of the imagination (McNiff, 1992). Effective communication is an essential element in therapeutic relationships and, although verbal language is the most conventional means of conveying information, other forms can convey just as much as words. The arts are an alternative form of communication that has recently received recognition for their value in therapeutic settings. There is a long well-established connection between the arts and psychology. Expressive arts therapy builds on a natural, complimentary relationship between the two disciplines. As a formal therapy, this form is relatively new with its

Creativity and creative process figure prominently in the theories of both Freud and Jung. Freud considers the source and motivation for creativity while Jung focuses on creative process. According to Freud, creativity is rooted in conflicts. The creative process is a response to the need to resolve conflicts. Freud includes daydreams and fantasies in the realm of creative works. They are inner desires, frustrations, or discontent transformed into art, literature, or music. Jung also believes human consciousness provides the content for art, literature and music. He identifies two types of creative processes: psychological and visionary. The psychological mode originates out of the collective unconscious and archetypes. Visionary creative processes are transcendental and universal in both meaning and response. This visionary mode is limited to the gifted few being capable of its expression (Malchiodi, 2007).