Creative Art Therapy: Essay

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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 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.

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

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

Before we can understand what expressive art therapy is, however, an understanding of terms, like imagination and creativity, is necessary. There is a lack of consensus about how imagination and creativity are defined and who is capable of it. In therapeutic contexts, the essence of imagination is the substance of dreams. Dreams, however, are not just images. In dreams, sounds, rhythms, acts, etc. can be perceived in a sensory or experiential way (Levine & Levine, 2004). Creativity springs from imagination and is understood in terms of its qualities and characteristics: spontaneity, playfulness, motivation, originality, self-expression, inventiveness, divergent thinking, and intuition. Creativity pushes limits, breaks down barriers, and

According to the definition of the International Expressive Arts Therapy Association (n.d.), “Expressive Arts combine the visual arts, movement, drama, music, writing and other creative processes to foster deep personal growth and community development. It evolves multimodal approach within psychology, organizational development, community arts and education. By integrating the arts to our inner resources for healing, clarity, illumination and creativity.” As to provide quality and ethical Expressive Arts Therapy, only Registered Expressive Arts Therapist who received professional training and supervision can practice Expressive Arts

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

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.

According to the American Art Therapy Association, art therapy, an expressive therapy, is using art as a therapeutic treatment for various illnesses and challenges, all within a professional setting. Art therapy has been shown as a way to both detect and treat depression. It can be in group settings or individualized.

Among the fields of psychology there are different areas that can help people. One of the categories is therapy which is intended to relieve and treat disorders. A form of therapy is art therapy where people can express themselves by drawing, singing, dancing, poetry or acting. Art therapy is an interest to me because I enjoy expressing myself through art.