What is Art Therapy?

Art therapy is an experimental type of therapy that assists patients in making progress toward recovery. This type of therapy helps create a safe space for them to express their creativity as well as their complicated emotions that they are unable to verbalize. Furthermore, it can help people process challenging feelings and experiences, gain new insights, and create new coping mechanisms. This kind of therapy can be a game-changer for people who struggle to talk about difficult moments in their lives or communicate their deepest emotions. Depending on preference and rehabilitation needs, it can be done either individually or in a group. Moreover, enjoying art in itself can help patients unwind, reduce stress, and feel more mindful of themselves and their surroundings.

Although there are many types of art forms that can be explored in art therapy, here are just a few of the most common examples:

• Drawing
• Painting
• Sculpting
• Music
• Dancing
• Poetry

History of Art Therapy

Although art has been used throughout history for healing, self-expression, and conflict resolution, art therapy was not developed as a distinct and widely recognized treatment approach until the middle of the 20th century. Adrian Hill, a British artist who discovered the therapeutic value of painting and drawing while battling tuberculosis, invented the term “art therapy” in 1942. Several writers in the mental health sector started referring to their work with patients as “art therapy” in the 1940s. These care providers frequently had backgrounds in other fields. They were under the supervision of psychiatrists, psychologists, or other mental health care specialists at the time because no formal art therapy courses or training programs were available.

How Art Therapy is Incorporated During a Therapy Session

Art therapy can be incorporated in various ways depending on the facility. This being said, there are different factors that the majority of facilities keep in mind. First, the time of day when the art therapy session should take place is crucial if we want to give people the best chance of reaping the numerous benefits. Most patients may feel worn out after a morning filled with emotionally-draining therapy sessions. For this reason, most art therapists advise scheduling art therapy for later in the day. An afternoon art therapy session aids individuals in creatively processing the events that happened that day by stimulating the brain’s creative areas.

An art therapy session is significantly more complex than many people may have encountered in an arts and crafts class. During an art therapy session, a professionally trained art therapist may offer different art forms or pick out one they believe is suitable for the individual. Depending on preference and rehabilitation needs, art therapy sessions can be done either individually or in a group. Each person may reap different benefits depending on their situation, willingness to accept this type of therapy, and motivation to push through.

Types of Art Therapy Techniques and Exercises in Addiction Recovery

As previously mentioned, art therapy can be used in a variety of ways for people dealing with all sorts of issues. However, where this therapy form seems to be helping the most is addiction recovery. Although visiting a gallery can be beneficial, this is not art therapy. Professional art therapy sessions consist of various techniques and exercises that are utilized to best help recovering addicts.

Art Therapy Techniques

The most common techniques in art therapy are:

• Gestalt methods: Using this technique, a licensed specialist helps an individual express and understand their feelings and experiences through words. The artwork itself can lead to a deeper conversation or can be used so the individual can describe their emotions by describing the art piece.
• Active imagination: This technique allows the individual to think freely, using his artwork as a starting point so they may dig deep into their feelings and experiences. They find associations that stick out to them and voice them out. In most cases, this leads to deep introspection and further talk about their feelings.

• “Third-hand” approach: A practical approach that necessitates the help of a therapist. The recovering addict is still overseeing the artistic process, but they are doing so with the therapist’s aid. They must guide them into producing the art they want, compelling them to express their thoughts and emotions. This approach is convenient for reclusive people.

Art Therapy Exercises

Depending on the facility, there are various exercises that individuals will take part in. Some such exercises in art therapy are:

• Painting your safe place
• Drawing a self-portrait of your future self
• Writing a story about your struggles
• Writing poetry about your feelings
• Creating music that inspires you

Art Therapy Post-Addiction Recovery

The benefit of using art therapy in addiction recovery is that you can apply the lessons you learn from it wherever you may go. It will allow you to face your fears, feelings of guilt, and blame while also allowing you to understand your inner critic and live fully. Many individuals might even discover a fulfilling hobby they can devote their time to and return to whenever they need assistance expressing and understanding themselves. For addicts in recovery, it can also be an excellent coping technique that results in fewer relapses and a better quality of life.

Author Bio: Jesse Fuller, an addiction-recovery consultant for Bright Futures Treatment Center Boynton Beach, FL, has always been interested in the way art can heal the soul. This interest has even led him to become an artist himself and help those around him recover from addictions that have also plagued his family. Driven by this, he has helped countless addicts by writing blog posts intended to lead them to recovery.

The post The Role of Art Therapy in Addiction Recovery appeared first on Art Business News.

Art therapy is also called expressive therapy. Can you imagine it was launched in the 1940s? It was determined that creative expressions were one of the best ways to get into people’s thoughts and emotions. Since people were not burdened by the internet, computers, and smartphones, art was the best way to distract their attention from annoying routines and just relax.

Art therapy is often combined with talk therapy. It helps people cope with their emotions and increase their self-confidence. It decreases anxiety and stress. Art therapy includes a variety of activities. For instance, painting, sculpting, drawing, etc.

If you haven’t tried art therapy yet, you definitely should because it has a wide range of benefits and positive effects on your mind and body. Researchers say that art therapy can treat a number of health issues. Let’s take a closer look at the biggest advantages of such therapy.

STRESS RELIEF

The first and foremost benefit of art therapy would be its ability to reduce the level of stress. This is, actually, the goal of all types of therapy. When you attend yoga classes or sing, your main goal is to get rid of the accumulated stress. Art therapy is not an exception. You should do it to relieve stress.

Art therapy alone may not play the role of full-fledged mental treatment and it should be used in tandem with traditional therapy. However, it can be used quite successfully without any other components to reduce stress. The greatest thing about art therapy is that it is not for artists. You do not have to be really talented or gifted to get rid of stress with its help.

Creating art makes you forget about the situation or people that caused stress to you. Your mind is fully focused on the process. Moreover, it is quite peaceful and makes your mind distracted. Psychologists say that women need endorphins to get rid of stress while men need testosterone to do this. Since the process of creating art is more peaceful, it cannot cause the production of testosterone but endorphins. Therefore, to reduce stress, it is more suitable for women. However, the production of endorphins makes people happy, thus, men can also benefit from art therapy and become much happier.

SELF-ESTEEM BOOST

Art therapy is one of the best ways to boost self-esteem and self-confidence if that is what you struggle with. The feeling of self-accomplishment is something that you experience when being involved in art therapy. This activity makes people appreciate their own selves and increase their self-confidence.

Although you are not doing anything special while drawing or sculpturing and you do not even have to possess any specific skills, you still feel that you are complete. When making even the smallest progress and succeeding in the process step by step, you subconsciously reach certain goals and are happy about that.

The fact that you reached even the smallest goals makes you proud of yourself and increases your confidence and self-esteem.

RELEASING EMOTIONS

Both men and women need to get rid of their emotional baggage from time to time. One of the ways to do it is to talk. For example, communication and active discussions with your friends can help you get rid of your emotional luggage. Not everyone has such friends though and if you are one of those lonely people who do not have anyone to share your emotions with, art therapy is the best method of doing it.

All of your fears and emotions can go away through art therapy. Why is that? Sometimes, it is quite difficult to express certain emotions like anger, fear, sadness, etc. with words. You can easily do it in art though. When drawing or sculpting, you can express all of your feelings and emotions, and this way, release the emotions that are bothering you.

ANXIETY REDUCTION

Anxiety is certainly not a rare thing in today’s world. Lots of people, regardless of their age group, experience this issue. Anxiety, stress, and depression are very common, and fighting them is often very difficult. Art therapy helps do that in combination with other types of mental therapy.

Anxiety is a very dangerous condition that requires specific attention. Students who constantly work in terms of pressure and lack of sleep often have anxiety followed by depression. Art therapy reduces anxiety a lot and helps fight it.

BOOST LEARNING CAPACITY

Art therapy is also good or people experiencing learning difficulties. It is especially common for children or students. If you are a student who cannot focus on certain things or the learning process or your child has problems at school, you should try to correct this with the help of art therapy.

It is crucial to choose the art that is the most suitable and enjoyable for your child or you personally. Through deep concentration on the process, you will be able to increase your learning capacity and studying ability. Researchers say that art therapy boosts the academic success of children and students.

COMMUNICATION SKILLS IMPROVEMENT

Although you do not communicate with anyone while creating art, it helps boost your communication skills. Art therapy is very helpful for people within the autistic spectrum. Therefore, if you struggle with your communication skills, do not rush to attend oratory classes and try to get involved in art therapy first.

Art therapy may not be a very common treatment for various mental disorders, however, it is one of the greatest ways to get rid of the burden of emotions, boost your self-esteem and academic success, fight stress, anxiety, or depression, and just spend an enjoyable time. To get the best result from art therapy, you should choose something you really enjoy. This could be anything — from drawing to photography or collaging. There are multiple ways to find yourself in art and you do not have to be a great artist to make it happen.

Author’s Bio: Vanessa Morgan is a SEO writer for FreeEssayWriter who helps businesses boost their Google rankings successfully. Vanessa also writes amazing essays for students on various topics. She holds an MBA degree, however, is interested in versatile topics and fields. This allows Vanessa to create top-notch papers for students that make them happy about their degrees.

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Art therapy has long left the office of a physician-psychotherapist or a physician-rehabilitation therapist and becomes important to expansive masses of people. It diagnoses a person’s condition, and heals, and brings that deep positive feeling of oneself, which is called happiness. And all because art therapy satisfies the most basic fundamental human need. This is the need for self-actualization. It is no secret that many people, living outwardly quite successful lives, neglect this basic need, which causes chronic dissatisfaction with their being in the world and makes us unhappy.

But the most striking results of art therapy (visible immediately with the naked eye) help relieve a state of severe stress. There is no equal among other psychotherapeutic techniques. We all know that art and creativity have a positive effect on human consciousness. But what happens inside the human brain, and how does art therapy generally affect a person? Find out below!

Things to Consider When Undergoing Art Therapy 

Art therapy should be used regularly as an ongoing stress prevention technique. And even better, having previously turned to a psychotherapist or psychologist, it can help solve problems comprehensively.

Why is that? Quite simply, creative activity has a unique property. It brings to the surface (a sheet of paper or canvas, for example) everything hidden that we are unaware of and that is latently suffocating us. Right-brain drawing, sculpting, etc., cleverly bypass the censorship of our consciousness, which bypasses negative thoughts, genuine experiences, and in general, everything related to deep unconscious processes. The censorship of consciousness does not let words pass, but it is powerless over images, over the choice of color spots, over scribbles.

First and Foremost Commandment

You must forever forget any comment or thought that you are not an artist or that a cow you have drawn is easily confused with a dog! The task of drawing beautifully is not a consideration and is even contraindicated. Here we are faced with a completely different task. Here we splash out, drawing out all the accumulated stress to improve your health.

Second Commandment 

Drawing art therapy (or sculpture or installation) should be analyzed primarily by the author himself and not by the psychotherapist. If you work alone, there can be no talk of a psychotherapist and his interpretations. Why is that? The fact is that art therapy is an insight-oriented technique. That is, it is aimed at achieving insight.

This means that when analyzing his creation, a person himself understands something about himself and his problem, which no one, even the most sophisticated psychotherapist, will tell him for any amount of money. Moreover, it is believed that the patient is obliged to come to this understanding himself. This does not happen the first time and never immediately after the completion of the drawing. But it always happens.

Third Commandment 

In any case, even if you hardly understand what and why you are doing, even if you are still far from insight, just remember that art therapy heals by the fact that you are doing it. You may not understand the mechanism, but it will become easier for you after creating the art. Remember this always.

What are the General Art Therapy Exercises and Recommendations

First, if aggression and other very negative, destructive emotions choke you, you should always prefer modeling. In this case, art therapy and, in particular, drawing will only irritate you, but modeling, on the contrary, will calm you down.

Second, always and especially at first, prefer drawing art therapy to pasting collages cut from magazines. Collage making is the last, highest, and final stage of art therapy work when all the main work has already been done, and you can enjoy pure contemplation with a minimum of creative effort. Start with a drawing.

Third, always have the widest selection of color palettes for art therapy — pencils, paints, or markers. However, you might prefer paints because the brush is more flexible and accessible. The force of pressure and the severity of the line, which a pencil requires, are less conducive to liberation, especially at first.

Fluid Art and How it Heals

The first thing that most people think of about art therapy is drawing, displaying their feelings on the canvas with the help of paints. In 2021, fluid art is gaining momentum as an avenue for art therapy. What is it? It’s the art of flow, the flow of fluids and images.

An abstract painting is created using acrylic or other paints. Each participant in the class uses a set of paints from 6 to 12 colors and creates a picture using flows of paint, mixing them with the movement of the canvas or paper.

In general, fluid art therapy has a very positive effect on a person since immersion in the process and flow is somewhat similar to meditation — creating a sense of calmness, without assessing what is happening, and just observing the process. After their creations, each participant may share their own experiences and what they saw in their picture. Often, paintings can have both whole images and abstract ones. For example, with the help of blue colors, images of water and sky are created, then when mixed with green, images of our planet are added, and more to tell the image’s story.

Author Bio: Jane Travis is a renowned psychologist in Great Britain. She has a higher philological and psychological education. She works as a writer for the BestCustomWriting.com service. She also regularly conducts master classes and speaks at various psychological conferences throughout England.

The post Art Therapy Still Matters appeared first on Art Business News.

Where to start? Well there’s Odin.

They say that having children changes you. Well, my son, Odin, flipped us around 180 degrees!

Odin surprised us at birth by having Treacher Collins Syndrome (TCS). It affects the development of the bones and soft tissues in the face. For Odin, this means underdeveloped facial bones, a very small jaw, and no outer ears.

How the hospital became our home.

The early days of Odin’s life were dark, scary and confusing for us.

Odin was rushed to Children’s Hospital Colorado at three days old so that he could get an emergency tracheostomy and spent the next three months in the hospital.

We lived in his hospital room, his nursery at home empty. His room was a revolving door of specialists, flooding us with foreign medical terms. Despite constant information, everything that mattered was unknown—can he breathe? Can he eat? When will he go home?

Everything tracked towards that simple, simple act I took for granted before Odin—going home. To get there, we spent 77 days in the hospital learning about equipment, practicing emergency scenarios, and getting comfortable with what seemed preposterous routines like changing his trach and G-tube…at home, by ourselves!

“When everything seems as if it is hopeless and going nowhere…trust the process.” Shaun McNiff, Trust the Process

This all sounds overwhelming, and it was. But, my dad, the one who taught me the power of trusting the process, was right. Odin brought a big ole’ bag of challenges into the world, but he also brought meaning, light, beauty and joy. And something unexpected that he brought into my life is a new relationship to art.

“Art is a wound turned into light.” — Georges Braque

I’ve already spoken to the ways in which Children’s Hospital Colorado’s art collection helped me stay sane when Odin was an in-patient. Art let me bring the outside world to my son when he couldn’t leave the hospital grounds. You can read the article on Artwork Archive’s blog.

After Odin was discharged, our story with the hospital art collection did not end. We still visit our “home away from home” weekly. Odin sees dozens of specialists, receives weekly therapies and undergoes quarterly procedures.

That’s a lot of time within one space. Thankfully Children’s Hospital Colorado has an extensive and thoughtful collection to distract when we’re overwhelmed, calm when we’re stressed, and entertain when we’re bored. Our weekly visits to Children’s can be less about the medicine and more about new discoveries—like walking into an art museum every week.

I look at art differently now. 

I see the art in Children’s Hospital Colorado through the eyes of a one-year old. The hospital’s collection is a feast for Odin’s aesthetic appetite. I marvel at his awe of colors and shapes, watching his eyes dart around the canvas. He stares intently and I can see the gears in his brain moving as he processes the lines and brush strokes.

Because Odin has a conductive hearing loss and limited smell and taste, Odin over-indexes on visuals. His world is silent when he isn’t wearing his hearing devices, but visual art brings vibrancy to his mind and spirit, bouncing energy around in his tiny little body.

I also see the world, and thus art, differently because my son looks different. 

Odin’s craniofacial differences have taught me to look beyond the normal and pleasant. I find beauty in unexpected places. Asymmetrical forms catch my eye; conflicting patterns and colors arouse my senses. My eye has shifted, and thus, my perspective and mindfulness has shifted. My mind has been trained by my eye.

Waiting rooms become exploration rooms, for wandering and discovery.  

As I mentioned, Odin sees multiple specialists so that means we have appointments that last hours. We wait, a lot. Ever had to preoccupy a one year old for four hours? It’s brutal. So, we walk down the hall of the Special Care wing. Nurses and attendings see a ginger head pop out of room 462 and bob down the hallway looking at the artwork lining the walls. Some stop and look at the artwork with us.

We see new specialists (last week it was cardiology), visit new wings of the hospital (next week it will be radiology), and travel to different campuses (ophthalmology is an hour away). Each space provides us with surprise and delight as we discover new artworks. In our most recent appointment, we found paintings of farm animals. Odin traced the spots of a cow with his finger as I told him about contrast and startled the nurses on the hall with a vociferous “Mooooooo.”

Dogs are Odin’s favorite animal, so he always seems to lead us on a scavenger hunt for the furry canines in every space we occupy. He’ll find the dog in the background of a photograph or in a menagerie of other creatures. I’ll hear the excited slap of his tiny baby palm against his thigh (the ASL sign for “dog”) and see his eyes glue to the work of art.

It’s nice to remember the art, not the prognosis.

Mundane visits are the best. You don’t really want memorable ones. The art brings levity, light, and importantly, distraction. The best days are when we walk out of the hospital chirping away about the shining mosaics we saw in the main lobby rather than the bronchotomy results that say Odin’s trach can’t be removed, yet, his airway is still too small.

Art will help heal us when we return for procedures.

Odin has a long road of surgeries ahead. Kids with TCS can have up to 20 surgeries before they are 16. Fourteen months in, Odin has already had four procedures.

When we return to the 9th floor for his next major surgery, a jaw distraction, I will find comfort in the familiarity of the dog painting down the hall. It is an old friend. I showed Odin that painting when he was just weeks old, when we were living in the room down the hall. I told him about his dog, Juno, who he had yet to meet in front of that painting. Maybe that’s where his love story with dogs began?

And, I’ll show Odin the llama that captivated him at only two months old. We’ll talk about the artworks in a new way. He will point to things that grab his eye. He’ll tell me what he sees—signing colors, animals. We’ll converse in ASL, hands flying.

And when I’m exhausted, art will help me find the way. 

Hospitals are exhausting places. Being a parent is exhausting. Medical complexity doesn’t help said exhaustion. Most visits are dreary and sleepy, fueled by coffee in my to-go mug. When I bleary-eyed approach the lobby, I ask myself, “what floor?” And grumble to myself, “we were here last month and the month before, how can I forget what floor occupational therapy is on?” Then it will hit me as we walk towards the elevators, “it’s on the bird floor—where Odin always looks at the eagles.” Art helps me find the way.

Art and Odin have taught me to trust the process.

Sometimes, I’m cranky about an upcoming appointment knowing that I won’t get as much work done for my job at Artwork Archive. But then, I always remember, when sitting in the lobby looking at the other bleary-eyed parents walking through the temporary art exhibit space, that THIS is my work.

My life’s work has been to make art accessible. Odin, daily, viscerally reminds me of how important it is to make the creative process accessible to others. I see David Hayes’ Harlequin being installed in the hospitals sculpture garden, and it reminds me of the work I did back in Boston—running a public art program. I see grandmothers knitting in the lobby, reminding me of the crafting company that brought us out to Denver years ago. Above all, Odin grounds me in the work we do at Artwork Archive—helping institutions and artists manage their art, including some of my favorite partners, hospital art collections.

Odin has reminded me that the universe is small. That art connects us. That art heals. That art is part of the process, and that process, I have to trust.

The author is the Head of Growth at Artwork Archive. Artwork Archive provides artists, collectors, and organizations with powerful tools to manage their artwork, career or collection. You can find additional art news, resources, tips and advice here. 

Before Artwork Archive, Elysian ran a public art program for New England Foundation for the Arts, made online art classes for Craftsy (acquired by NBC and now Bluprint), and received her Masters in Public Humanities from Brown University. She is also a contributing writer to Art New England, Public Art Review and Americans for the Arts.

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What is Art Therapy?

Although the term “art therapy” was coined in 1942 by artist Adrian Hill, it is only very recently that it has become a serious profession in psychotherapy. Like other forms of therapy, it is a means for patients to achieve certain goals, such as expressing emotions, improving self-awareness and reconciling conflicts. Communication between psychiatrist and patient happens through the medium of art, rather than through verbal communication alone. Researchers Haeyan, van Hooren and Hutchemaekers were able to prove the effectiveness of art therapy. They found that it strengthened identity, improved impulse regulation, created positive behavior patterns and boosted comprehension levels.

Art as Meditation

It is estimated that you have between 50,000 and 70,000 thoughts a day. This constant internal chatter from the moment you wake up to when you fall asleep again is a common cause of anxiety. Especially if your brain is wired to focus on negative thoughts over positive ones. In order to relax and become calm, you need let your mind go quiet every once in a while. 8% of Americans mediate, but the fact that over 90% don’t shows how difficult it is.

Art can be a way to easily distract yourself from your thoughts. It gives the mind something to focus on. Observing the way the paintbrush drags a wave of colors across the easel can be deeply calming and relaxing. It’s almost a form of hypnotherapy, slowing the breathing and heart rate so that stress can melt away.

Enhancing Neural Communication

Mental health is all about caring for the brain. When something goes wrong and the brain isn’t working as it should, it is rarely the case of dead brain cells, but rather a failure of those cells to communicate with each other. Creative activities such as art provide a way to solve problems in a new way and strengthen neural pathways that were previously left unused. Art, by forcing the left and right brain hemispheres to communicate with each other, helps to improve mental cognition and clarity.

This form is mental stimulation was coined as “neurobics” by Dr. Lawrence Katz. It is a way of improving the performance of the brain by giving it novel tasks to grapple with. This might seem at odds with meditation. However, it is a way of stimulating the brain which is healthy and not distracting. At a conscious level, you will still find yourself becoming lost in the artwork, with less inane mental chatter. On the unconscious level, new neural pathways will be forming as a different part of your brain deals with processing unknown tasks. This can ultimately help to improve the efficiency of your thoughts and the clarity with which you think them. This will enhance communication skills, leading to better relationships and an increased resilience in the face of hardship.

Providing Purpose and Accomplishment

Art is a truly inspiring and amazing thing, which has a spiritual dimension. In a sense, you are creating something out of nothing; a blank piece of paper can become something beautiful and valuable. The Statue of David started life as a solid block of marble but fro

m within this rock, a masterpiece emerged. Now you may not be the next Michelangelo, but you are probably far better at art than you think you are. While you may begin your therapy sessions with simple sketches, you will improve over time. It is this sense of progress that is so essential to mental well being.

By putting together a portfolio of your artwork, you can’t help but feel a sense of achievement. In Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, self-actualization is the ultimate goal of human beings. This requires the fulfillment of personal potential. Beyond all basic survival and social needs, self-actualization is the one thing holding you back from true happiness. Art is a way to instill a sense of meaning in your life, which gives you a purpose and identity. This will stop you from feeling lost, confused or inadequate.

Making Sense of Internal Experience

Art therapy is different to conventional art in a few key ways. While artists may simply observe the world around them and try to represent as best they can on a canvas, art therapy is more interested in representing your inner thoughts and feelings. It is a way of t

aking the internal and making it external. In a metaphorical sense, it is taking your depression or anxiety and creating a visual representation of that, as opposed to a bowl of fruit. This allows both you and your therapist to make sense of what you are feeling.

Words are only one way through which we can represent our inner thoughts and language can be quite limiting. Have you ever observed a painting such as ‘The Scream’ by Edvard Munch or listened to a stunning music composition and found that it expressed emotions in a way words would fail? Through your art therapy sessions, you are finding a way to represent inner turmoil and trauma, so that you can understand it and overcome it.

Art therapy is here to stay and has been shown to have a major impact on mental health. It can calm the mind by producing a meditative state; it can strengthen and build new neurological pathways; it provides a sense of life purpose and it is an alternative way to make sense of psychological issues. This can give a profound boost to anyone’s mental health, regardless of creative talent or experience.

MORE READING:

Bureau of labor Statistics, Career Outlook:
https://www.bls.gov/careeroutlook/2015/youre-a-what/art-therapist.htm

Fix My Mind – Normal Levels of Anxiety:
https://www.fixmymind.co.uk/normal-level-anxiety/

National Institutes of Health:
https://nccih.nih.gov/research/statistics/NHIS/2012/mind-body/meditation

Jane Tanner is a freelance writer interested in art and the impact of art therapy.

The post Creativity is the New Therapy appeared first on Art Business News.