Emotional Release: Benefits of Art Therapy  Essay

These include scenic or graphic media, plastic-sculptural designs or photographic media. Through them, patients can express inner and outer images under therapeutic guidance, develop their creative skills and develop their sensory perception. Recently, different forms and approaches of art therapy have developed. These have been established in clinical, educational or social fields of practice. It attempts to alleviate psychological and psychosomatic ailments without the use of drugs or physical methods. Several symptoms can be identified and treated using this

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.

question, here is a definition “Art therapy is the application of the visual arts and the creative process within a

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 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.

The person can look at the art in see the meaning, confusion and sludge they are going through. In the study she focuses on is over a six week period with a hospitalized girl who had been sexually abused. This child had been having problems with aggression. A approved by her art therapy was something the children would look forward to and run into the room with excitement.

As a trainee art therapist, I feel a shift within me, from the position of a self-loathing artist to a purposeful explorer wanting to steadfastly immerse in every learning opportunity that finds me. Reflecting back, I concur it is the experiential process of witnessing the group communally support HB and CF to process distressing emotions, that subconsciously informed me of the group’s non-judgemental ability and the substantial capacity to hold, which in turn sparked this shift (Haynes, 2012; Learmonth, 1994). Gaining inspiration from Brooker’s (2010) reading, I sent out subconscious invitations for objects to find me. I felt intrigued by the connections I made with my found object; my pup’s hair shedding’s and the subsequent art response that emerged (Figure 5). I know hair shedding’s are often considered repulsive in most cultures, however these shedding’s felt special as connecting with my pup’s fur symbolically represented “finding unconditional love and acceptance”. Reflecting back I concur the art response served as a tangible object that provided evidence of my internal shift. It was also in this session, through JZ’s powerful found object art response (figure 6), I was able to resonate with the “sense of loss and grief” that I had to deal with when sorting my father’s belongings after his death.

emotions (Lister et. al, 2008, p. 248). The role of the art therapist is not to prohibit the

From my perspective, my impression of what art therapy stood for, was very vague. When I used to think about art therapy, I thought about it as a form of communication for distressed or abused children trying to tell a story through pictures or drawings, and although art therapy is a form of therapy in which creating visual images (paintings, drawings, models, etc.) in the presences of a skilled art therapist, can contribute to the externalization of thoughts and feelings which may otherwise remain unexpressed, art therapy is much more than

Not much has been written about the use of expressive arts in existential practice. “Pat Allen, one of the founders of the open studio approach to art therapy… decided to experiment with having people make art alongside each other and be of service to each other during the process, hence the Open Studio Approach” (Story, 2007). This approach is based upon three elements; intention, attention and witness (Story, 2007).

In Cathy Malchiodi’s book, The Art Therapy Sourcebook, she, rather humorously, explains how many people have asked her what art therapy actually is. For example, one man asked her if art therapy was fixing bad art pieces, as

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.

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

Almost every theoretical orientation has adapted the use and techniques of expressive arts therapy in some way. Humanistic psychology, for example, emphasizes the importance of play, creativity, and spontaneity. The creative process is intrinsic to self-actualization. Self-actualization makes life more meaningful and enhances abilities,