What is Art Therapy?
“...Art is like a wordless story, it enables people to express themselves and often find words to things that they couldn’t put words to before” (Queensland, 2020).
”Art therapy is a mental health profession that enriches the lives of individuals, families, and communities through active art-making, creative process, applied psychological theory, and human experience within a psychotherapeutic relationship.”
— The American Art Therapy Association
Have you ever felt stuck? Stuck beyond words? Something is just missing. Art Therapy provides the client with tools to express their inner states through images and visuals. The creative process is prioritized over the product itself, empowering the client to reflect what they need from session to session.
The client leads the discussion in what meaning comes from the art making. The therapist may ask questions to support the verbalization of inner states. As stated in UQ Faculty of Medicine (2020) “...if they don’t talk about it, the therapy still works because it’s such a deep unconscious process.”
Benefits of Art Therapy
Process over Product
“In Art Therapy, the focus is on the process of art making, not the art itself. So it doesn’t really matter how good you are at making art, it is more about how it makes you feel and the process of making it and the insights you gain from the creation process.” (Queensland, 2020).
Be Yourself
“It can benefit a lot of people - in particular people who may have felt stuck in traditional talk therapy. I think it’s easier to sensor yourself when you talk. But with art, who you are comes out.” (Art Therapy: The Movie, 2021)
Multidisciplinary Healing
“Participating in creative work within the medical setting can help rebuild the young patient’s sense of hope, self esteem, autonomy and competence while offering opportunities for safe and contained expression of feelings.” (Council, p. 222, 2012)
Beyond the Diagnosis
“Art helps people express experiences that are too difficult to put into words…” (Tuckey & Nobel, p. 256). The visual arts can provide both a container for difficult emotions and a sense of release. Participants in case studies have reported an ability to re-connect to oneself pre-diagnosis.
Nourish Yourself
“The arts help us. They are soothing and nourishing and nurturing. It actually helps us be healthier and be happier.” (Art Therapy: The Movie, 2021)
Autonomy & Growth
“...art therapy allowed for bolstering of positive emotion, complex layers of representation and symbolic expression, and the ventilation of negative feelings. These students were able to identify the ways that the artwork express feelings about self, others, and relationships…art therapy allowed for an initial sense of ownership and increased introspection over time, as well as providing a form of catharsis” (Ramirez & Haen, 2021, p. 7).
References:
[Art Therapy: The Movie | Documentary]. (2021, September 1). Art therapy: The movie | Documentary [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CA6RAlXP-zA
Councill, Tracy. (2012). Medical art therapy with children. In Malchiodi, C. A. Handbook of art therapy, second edition. (pp.222). The Guilford Press.
Queensland, University. [UC Faculty of Medicine]. (2020, June 30). What is art therapy? [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BZynyGzyow
Ramirez, K., & Haen, C. (2021). Amplifying perspectives: The experience of adolescent males of color engaged in school-based art therapy. The Arts in Psychotherapy, (75), p. 1 - 9.
Tuckey, Heather, L. DEd., & Nobel, J. MD, MPH. (2010). The connection between art, healing and public health: A review of current literature. American Journal of Public Health, 100 (2), p. 254-263.
[UQ Faculty of Medicine]. 2020, June 20. The why and how of art therapy. [Video] YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8QOTzjLP-4
What To Expect
Join Dr. Ramirez, executive producer, on his film to explore a variety of approaches and populations experiencing art therapy. In its parallel process, you will also witness the value of the education of the art therapist themselves.