ART THERAPY
PRIYANKA MW
MSc
WHAT IS ART THERAPY
◦Art therapy is a tool therapists use to help patients interpret, express, and resolve
their emotions and thoughts.
◦ Patients work with an art therapist to explore their emotions, understand conflicts
or feelings that are causing them distress, and use art to help them find resolutions
to those issues.
◦Art therapy as a discipline began in the 1940s and became more widespread in the
1970s. Like other expressive arts therapy, such as dance therapy or music therapy,
it draws on creativity.
◦Art therapy, facilitated by a professional art therapist, effectively supports
personal and relational treatment goals as well as community concerns.
◦Art therapy is used to improve cognitive and sensorimotor functions, foster self-
esteem and self-awareness, cultivate emotional resilience, promote insight,
enhance social skills, reduce and resolve conflicts and distress, and advance
societal and ecological change.
HOW IT WORKS
During a session, an art therapist works with clients to understand what is causing them
distress. Then the therapist guides the client to create art that addresses the cause of their
issue.
◦During a session, art therapists:
◦Describe the goal of art therapy
◦Explain that clients don't have to think of themselves as creative or artistic.
◦Help the client choose and use a medium, such as drawing, sculpture, collage, or
painting
◦Guide the client through expressing themselves through art, usually by asking questions
◦Discuss the results, both the work of art and what the client felt
◦Plan for another session or for the client to work on their own
◦Through integrative methods, art therapy engages the mind, body, and spirit in
ways that are distinct from verbal articulation alone.
◦Kinesthetic, sensory, perceptual, and symbolic opportunities invite alternative
modes of receptive and expressive communication, which can circumvent the
limitations of language.
◦Visual and symbolic expression gives voice to experience and empowers
individual, communal, and societal transformation.
BENEFITS
◦Art therapy helps conditions that relate to mood, such as anxiety and
depression, trauma, low self-esteem, and similar disorders.
◦It is also effective for people with a serious health condition, such as cancer,
and for people working to develop effective coping skills, including prison
inmates.
◦Art therapy can also help people who are experiencing physical pain during
hospitalization.
◦Evidence also shows that it can be effective for post-traumatic stress disorder.
TECHNIQUES
Common Techniques used in art therapy can include:
• Collage
• Coloring
• Doodling and scribbling
• Drawing
• Finger painting
• Painting
• Photography
• Sculpting
• Working with clay
EFFECTIVENESS
While research suggests that art therapy may be beneficial, some of the findings on its
effectiveness are mixed. Studies are often small and inconclusive, so further research
is needed to explore how and when art therapy may be most beneficial.
• In studies of adults who experienced trauma, art therapy was found to significantly
reduce trauma symptoms and decrease levels of depression.
• One review of the effectiveness of art therapy found that this technique helped
patients undergoing medical treatment for cancer improve their quality of life and
alleviated a variety of psychological symptoms.
• One study found that art therapy reduced depression and increased self-esteem in
older adults living in nursing homes.
THANK YOU
