Is art really therapeutic? Art therapy has been said to heal the hearts and minds of those struggling with depression and mental disorders for literally hundreds of years. Does it really? Where did this common consensus come from? Why does expressing ourselves through art or music have such a prolonged effect on our overall psyche? Why can staring at a painting in the Museum of Modern Art make us feel better about what we are going through? Is this effect all in our head, or is there real science that backs up art therapy? Is art therapy really a “no drug” cure for depression? To paraphrase Jerry Seinfeld “What’s the deal with art therapy?” Art therapy is practiced in order to treat mental and biological illness, most notably Depression. Depressive Illness (the term used by mental health professionals) is much more than feeling down. Society often …show more content…
In fact, she is thought to be the very first psychologist to use art and music as a stand alone treatment. “Stand alone treatment” meaning that she did use art therapy as an assistance to any other form of remedy. Naumburg is also credited with coining the phrase “psychodynamic art therapy” in the late 1940s (Dilawari, 81). Psychodynamic art therapy is what comes to the average person’s mind when they think of art therapy in general. It is a non-structured treatment where a patient just draws, paints or creates whatever comes to their minds. After that is done, the therapist interprets their work. This interpretation is then used as the basis for the step in the treatment is. What does this infer about the patient’s mood? What caused this expression? How can this patient be helped? This form of therapy is strikingly similar to how psychologist analyze a patient's dreams in order to grasp the inner mechanisms of his or her mind. This interpretation of art therapy uses the actual body of work itself in order for an analysis to be
This approach she felt was prominent during the art making portion of the session. Besides from the art portion of a session, Riley believed the verbal component of art therapy was important. Riley explored the stigma surrounding art therapy and the client's verbal expressions. From the book, Integrative Approaches to Family Art Therapy (Riley & Malchiodi, 1994), Riley states: “Hearing client’s language does not negate the process of looking at the art product. It is a synthesis of two creative means of communication.” Joining these two stories was key in Riley’s
Rubin, J. A. (2001). Approaches to art therapy: Theory and technique. (2nd ed.). New York: Routledge.
A 6-year-old girl sits next to her therapist, with signs of anxiety upon her face. Pieces of paper, pencil and some markers are placed in front of the girl. She is hesitant to speak out, but these colors do help release some of the tension in the air. She begins to draw and paint, in a matter of fifteen minutes she finishes with a sequence of fourteen pictures:
A systematic search was conducted using the PsychINFO, ERIC, and OneSearch (EBSCO) databases. The following terms were combined in the search: (autism OR autistic) AND “art therapy”. Art therapy was placed inside of quotation marks in order to limit results to those specifically about art therapy as opposed to artistic talent or art education. Searches were narrowed down to only include peer-reviewed articles from scholarly journals. Selecting database-specific options allowed for the further narrowing of results, such as limiting results to empirical and clinical case studies or refining the subject to autism and art therapy. Upon selection of studies, a bibliographic search was conducted in order to identify additional literature that met the criteria for selection. The following parameters wer`2e used for selection:
People from all around the world suffer from many different anxieties and troubles. They turn to things they enjoy so that they can forget reality and be somewhat happy or simply to communicate with one another. Most of the enjoyment is temporary and not sufficient, that is why they continue doing what they do. Creative Arts Therapy, also known as Expressive Arts Therapy, helps those who find themselves completely lost and have nowhere to go or anyone to go to. They can express themselves however they please. In order to better understand arts therapy one must have a knowledge of creativity, emotions and, of course, people.
“Art therapy is a form of therapy in making of visual images (paintings, drawings, models etc.) in the presences of a qualified art therapist contributes towards externalization of thoughts and feelings which may otherwise remain unexpressed”(Walter & Gilory, 1992).
Brooke, S.L. (2004). Tools of the trade: A therapist's guide to art therapy assessments (2nd ed., Rev.). Springfield, Illinois: Charles C. Thomas.
For Act 1 Scene 5, we chose the song Love Story by Taylor Swift. We chose this song because in scene 5, it is where Romeo and Juliet meet. This takes place at Lord Capulet's home at his party. We chose the lyrics "We were both young when I first saw you" because both Romeo and Juliet were young when they fell in love with each other. Act 2 scene 5, we chose the song Marry You by Bruno Mars because in scene 5, Romeo and Juliet got married.
Art can benefit the unhealthy as well. With 34,000 soldiers coming back from Afghanistan as proposed by Barack Obama, there are many who consequently have mental disabilities or post-traumatic stress disorder. To cope with depression, or other symptoms, many doctors have used art programs...
Art therapy began as a natural extension of Freud’s groundbreaking psychoanalytic theories at the turn of the last century. Psychiatrists discovered that visual arts could be used as a tool of assessment, and by the 1940s art was being used not only for assessment, but also in therapeutic applications (Junge, 2010). Two main branches evolved from these early years: art as therapy and art psychotherapy.
Trauma, as defined by the American Psychological Association, is an emotional response to a terrible event like an accident, rape or natural disaster. In order to process and overcome a traumatic experience, most seek a therapist. This is especially true for individuals who have dealt with childhood sexual abuse. There are different types of therapy and therapists that exist that individuals go to. Art therapy is a kind of psychotherapy that uses art as it’s main technique of communications in order to improve the emotional and mental well being of the patients. It combines the areas of human development, visual art such as drawing, sculpture, painting and other kinds of art and the artistic process with counseling and psychotherapy.
There are many of types of counseling in the world that are used often and then there are few that are used not so often, just because it is called therapy does not mean that the person is just in a room laying on a couch and talking to someone who keeps asking the same question “and how does that make you feel.” like we see on the television, There are therapies other than just in a room talking to someone; There are some in which people can do exercise, children can play games, they could even do group activities, just because someone is in counseling does not mean that they are confined to four walls and a note pad. The forms of therapy which will be focused on are Art and Music therapy, starting with art.
Expressive arts therapy is the use of art modalities, creative process, and aesthetic experience in a therapeutic context. It is a therapy of the imagination (McNiff, 1992). Effective communication is an essential element in therapeutic relationships and, although verbal language is the most conventional means of conveying information, other forms can convey just as much as words. The arts are an alternative form of communication that has recently received recognition for their value in therapeutic settings. There is a long well-established connection between the arts and psychology. Expressive arts therapy builds on a natural, complimentary relationship between the two disciplines. As a formal therapy, this form is relatively new with its own influences, history, processes, techniques, and considerations.
Solso, Robert L. The Psychology of Art and the Evolution of the Concious Brain. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT P. 13-21.
Human utilizes sign systems to facilitate communication for concrete and abstract concepts. Visual art is used as a sign system in art therapy to communicate with the therapist. Clients’ conflicts and difficulties may be symbolized by the unstructured approach in art therapy; one’s artwork can be considered as “symbolic speech” (Rubin, 2016). According to Wilson (2016), producing visual art develops the capacity to symbolize, and this is bound up with ego development. Children’s artworks have frequently adopted for analyzing a child (Rubin, 2016).