Although art therapy is commonly used for treating people with psychological disorders and people who experience traumatic events, it is also beneficial to ordinary people who are just experiencing stress and depression and those who want to develop themselves..
Our world is a dynamic place always welcoming changes. Due to modernization and globalization, people tend to adapt to our fast-changing world. Every individual is facing a stressful day giving them reasons to surrender.
Family problems, relationships, traumatic experiences cause people to be involved into situations they do not expect. They lead to uncomfortable conditions such as stress, depression and even allow it to disturb their mental capabilities resulting to psychological problems. These paved the way to the discoveries of different techniques on how to treat mentally disturbed patients. Several strategies such as medicines and therapies aroused to resolve clients who experienced traumatic events.
Using art in treating patients awakened in the early years. Art making engages mental, physical and emotional reasoning that utilizes brain structures allowed the therapists to use it to let the client recover from painful incidents. It aims to make invisible visible in terms of unwillingness of the psychologically disturbed patients to express themselves verbally.
Though commonly attached to the thinking that using art in therapy is only on people with mental disorders, this kind of therapy is also beneficial to ordinary people to lessen stress and depression. Art lets every individual to cope with stressful situations and using art as a means of treating ones health is very applicable that lead to the discovered way of stimulating mind and body, the Art Therapy.
Art Therapy combines traditional psychotherapeutic theories and techniques with an understanding of the psychological aspects of the creative process. Art therapy is used to help people manage physical and emotional problems by using creative activities to express emotions. It provides a way for people to come to terms with emotional conflicts, increase self-awareness, and express unspoken and often unconscious concerns about their illness and their lives. “Expressive arts therapy” or “creative arts therapy”, other names for art therapy, may also include dance and movement, drama, poetry, photo therapy and others (“Art Therapy”, [online]).
According to the American Art Therapy Association, art therapy is based on the belief that the creative process of art is both healing and life enhancing (“Art Therapy”, [online]). Creative processes and issues that come up during the therapy are used to help clients increase insight and judgment. It helps to cope better with stress and traumatic experiences. It also increases cognitive abilities and building better relationships with family and friends to be able to enjoy the life-affirming pleasures of the creative experience. (“Benefits of Art Therapy”, [online]).
Paula Ford-Martin says, “Art therapy can be a particularly useful treatment tool for children who frequently have limited language skills” (“Art Therapy”, [online]). Through drawings and other visual means of expressing troublesome feelings, younger patients can begin to address issues, even if they cannot identify or label these emotions with words. It is also applicable for persons of any age who are unwilling to talk about their thoughts and feelings.
“Art Therapy”, added by Paula Ford-Martin, “is also used with traditional medicine to treat organic diseases and conditions” (“Art Therapy”, [online]). The connection between mental and physical health is well documented, and art therapy can promote healing by relieving stress and allowing the patients to develop coping skills. Greenwood explains that “ Art Therapy gives a different way of communicating, sense of control, manage pain, relax, build community and develop new skills and personal qualities such as patience, persistence and acceptance” (“What is Art Therapy?”, [online]). Thus, it is clear that art therapy helps to improve or maintain mental health and emotional well-being.
The art therapy involves a simple process which uses art materials like paints, chalks and markers. This art therapy is a form of expressive therapy. This therapy is a two part process that involves creation of art and discovering its meaning. Art therapy is based on the assumption that states that the most accessible and natural form of communication to the human experience are the use of visual symbols and images. This assumption is rooted in the theory of subconscious and unconscious by Freud and Jung. Patients are encouraged to visualize, and then create the thoughts and emotions that they cannot talk about (“Process of Art Therapy, [online]). The finished artwork is then review and the patient share his own interpretation.
Introductory session is used before the art therapy so the client-artist can understand the techniques and the client can ask questions regarding the process. The therapist makes sure that proper materials and space are presented for the client-artist as well as a sufficient amount of time for the session (Fausek, 1997).
An ideal workspace available for the client in creating his art should be bright, quiet, comfortable place, with large tables or other suitable surfaces. Giving enough time in exploring the creative process is needed for those persons who do not consider themselves as an artist. The art therapist should be ready to answer the questions given by the client about the materials and/or the creative process; however, the therapist should be careful not to influence the creation or interpretation of the work (Fausek, 1997).
