Art-therapy
Art therapy, also known as expressive therapy, uses art as a means of communication and lets people explore and express their emotions and thoughts. And the good news is that one doesn’t need to be very creative or artistic to take up this therapy.
Benefits of Art Therapy
– Adults experiencing severe stress.
– Children experiencing behavioral or social problems at school or at home.
– Children or adults who have experienced a traumatic event.
– Children with learning disabilities.
– Individuals living with a brain injury.
– People experiencing mental health problems.
There are three main ways that art therapy is employed. The first one is called analytic art therapy. Analytic art therapy is based on the theories that come from analytical psychology, and in more cases, psychoanalysis. Analytic art therapy focuses on the client, the therapist, and the ideas that are transferred between the both of them through art. Another way that art therapy is utilized is art psychotherapy. This approach focuses more on the psychotherapist and their analysis of their clients’ artwork verbally. The last way art therapy is looked at is through the lens of art as therapy. Some art therapists practicing art as therapy believe that analyzing the client’s artwork verbally is not essential, therefore they stress the creation process of the art instead. In all of these different approaches to art therapy, the art therapist’s client goes on the journey to delve into their inner thoughts and emotions by the use of paint, paper and pen, clay, sand, fabric, or other media.