What Is Art Therapy?
What is art therapy?
Shortly defined, art therapy means using artistic activities and products resulting from these activities, in order to enhance people’s wellbeing. Art therapy may help us have a better view upon our inner conflicts and emotional deadlocks, and to understand what has to be done to deal with them.
Art therapy is performed under the guidance of an art therapist, a person who is trained both in therapy and arts, able to skilfully use certain artistic mediums (painting, music, dance) for therapeutic activities.
When is art therapy needed?
Art therapy is needed especially when verbal communication is not possible or is hardly possible – we are talking about preschool children, atypical children or adults with impaired speaking ability. Likewise, it can be used for children and adults able to speak, but who can communicate better through art. Art therapy may be used as single therapeutic intervention, or may be used as an auxiliary element in a larger frame of therapeutic techniques applied to a patient.
Why has art a therapeutic effect?
This is a big question and to respond to it, we have to make room for an even bigger question: why are we doing art? Why is it needed to spend time and energy for such a thing? And why is there no known society in this world without art?
Maybe we are practicing art because this is the only way to express most deeply what is in our souls, our emotions, hopes, conflicts and everything we feel inside us. Indeed, we have words, but words cannot say it all. We need an expressive medium less abstract, closer to our senses, to our true feeling. We live experiences, not words. And that is why we need art, because, above all, art is a sensorial experience, we must use our senses and abilities to make art.
By making art we acquire knowledge about ourselves, since any artistic product we make has the hallmark of our personality. It is a part of us, made by us and which, if we are searching it with an attentive eye, we can use it to explore the depths of our soul.
And here comes the role of art therapist, guiding us in this creative journey, interpreting what and how we are creating, helping us know ourselves better and overcome some obstacles in our life.
In art therapy the process is far more important than the product. No matter how aesthetically valuable the final product is, its real value is that it reflects who we are and how we feel at a certain moment in time.
Wellness Through Art (Sănătate Prin Arte) has as its main purpose to provide art therapy to children (see our projects and activities page). If you feel generous and want to support our endeavour, you ca sustain us in two ways: with a small donation or, just as important, with a share on social networks (see share buttons bellow). Thank you! 🙏
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