Medical Art Therapy

Art therapy is a psychotherapy where free expression through art materials is used and works as a stress-relieving activity or to help the therapist in finding a diagnosis. Medical art therapy is used specifically for people who are undergoing aggressive medical treatment, are physically ill, or are experiencing trauma to the body. In children who have cancer, art therapy can be especially beneficial. Often, children do not understand what is happening to them or why it is happening to them, and they become very scared. This can also place stress on the parents, who want to console their child but do not know how to do so. Luckily, the use of art therapy in the medical setting can help not only the child undergoing treatment, but also the patient’s

The child gave a story about the picture: “…the singer had been kidnapped and held captive deep in the woods. She was singing as loudly as she could so her lover would come and rescue her” (Councill, “Medical Art Therapy with Children”, 227). With the picture and the story that the patient gave, Councill could determine that the child was not faking her seizures, and her picture showed a cry for help. Through the artwork, the patient was subconsciously trying to tell the medical team that she needed and wanted their help. After further research into the medicine the child was taking, doctors found that the seizures were a rare side effect and, upon switching the medicine, the seizures stopped. Medical art therapists who are integrated into the treatment team are also able to help parents’ understanding of medical information, by communicating in non-medical

During a cancer diagnosis, siblings often have these medical issues: “hepatitis requiring hospitalizations, multiple knee injuries requiring multiple surgeries, emotional symptoms requiring psychiatric care, fighting and other disruptive behaviour at school, and a death resulting from an automobile accident” (Koch, 67). Siblings, especially younger ones, also have the fear of contracting a life-threatening illness and dying, and are also forced to mature faster due to their sibling’s illness. Similar to the parents, having access to an art therapist could reduce these risks. Especially with children who are not getting the attention they may need from their parents, art therapy gives them a safe place to be a child and get much needed attention from the therapist. Another helpful situation would be doing family art therapy, so that the parents are aware of how the sibling is feeling. Siblings often feel that because their parents are giving their brother or sister more attention, that the brother or sister’s life is more important than theirs. Art therapy would be able to help these children understand that their sibling’s life is not more important than theirs and help explain while the parents may seem to be giving a bit more attention to the ill child, the parents still love and care for