Benefits of Doing Art Therapy
Art Therapy has been around for ages, but many people are not completely sure of what it is and how it can help them. There are a lot of benefits to it that will be discussed in this article. And, why should you give it a go if you need to. But, speak to a professional first.
What is Art Therapy
The idea behind art therapy is that it can help treat psychological disorders, as well as help improve mental health and well-being. It is the idea that expression is expressed through creativity and that this is all about healing.
Art has been a tool used to communicate emotions that are often difficult to put into words. It has been around since about the 1940s when doctors noticed that their mentally ill patients would express what they feel and think through drawing and other types of art. It is from there that they witness the potential of using art as a tool for healing.
What It Could Help With
There are different types of methods that an art therapist can use such as drawing, making a collage, finger painting, photography, working with clay, painting, coloring, even doodling and sculpting. They can help people from all age groups from children to adults and even the elderly.
It can help those that have experienced depression, emotional and/or physical violence, anxiety, or domestic abuse. It can be an outlet for them to come to terms with these issues under an experienced and guided hand of an art therapist.
Art therapy can also help people who experience an extreme form of stress, someone who had a traumatic event happen to them, and even people who have experienced a brain injury. Plus, it can also help children who have learning disabilities or suffer from social or behavioral problems that they show at home or school.
When the patients create their artwork, they can analyze what is in front of them. Through this, they can find conflicts, as well as themes that are affecting their behaviors, thoughts, and even their emotions.
What It Can Do
Art as a source of therapy can help treat a range of mental disorders as well as psychological distress. It can often go hand in hand with other methods such as cognitive-behavioral therapy or even group therapy.
It is said that art therapy can help to treat cancer, eating disorders, emotional problems, family or relationship issues, PTSD, substance abuse, and other types of medical conditions or psychosocial issues.
How Effective Is It
While the research on the effectiveness of doing art therapy is small and sometimes inconclusive there have been some positives that come about using these methods. However, further research is needed. But, what we have so far seems promising.
For example, art therapy was found to decrease trauma symptoms in adult trauma victims. Plus, it is also said that they lower their levels of depression. Another review found that cancer patients were able to improve their life quality and make their psychological symptoms less severe. And another study showed that art therapy did decrease low self-esteem elders’ depression while also improving their self-esteem in the process. And this was while they were living in nursing homes.
What You Should Know
Art therapy is not the same as art classes. Classes have students that want to learn art techniques and often to show the exterior world. Art therapy on the other end wants their patients to express their interior feelings throughout the art. They are not focusing on the technique in the artworks. Rather, what it says about what the patients are feeling and experiencing. And you do not have to be an artist or have any “talent” to do art therapy. It is about expressing what you cannot say or what you did not know you wanted to say, not about how it comes out.
Therefore, if you feel this is something for you, we would highly suggest that you seek it out. It could help you a lot.