What Is Art Therapy?
Art therapy is a combined therapeutic technique that incorporates psychotherapy with art. Many people may not know about art therapy, so we are here to help you understand not only what it is, but the amazing benefits of art therapy for all ages!
Art therapy is practiced in multiple settings including: mental health services, forensics, rehabilitation, and medical and educational settings. Through using art media and the creative process, individuals can explore feelings and navigate their emotions with less verbal communication. It uses the creative process to heal- whether it’s a 7 year old struggling with managing big emotions, a 15 year old working through identity and expressing themselves, or a 75 year old struggling with memory loss.
So what are the benefits of art therapy?
Self esteem: Specifically for teenagers, art therapy can be incredibly beneficial to an individual's self esteem. Teenagers are used to being in groups; whether that’s in school, sports, social groups, etc, and because art therapy is usually based in a group setting, this can help build self-confidence for teenagers.
Emotional release: Art therapy is a healthy outlet to express emotions nonverbally and verbally. With Adolescents life is like an art piece, art is everywhere so it’s a perfect way for them to express their feelings- the music they listen to, the makeup they wear and how they dress, their life is filled with drama and forms of creation and expression all around them. Creating individual pieces is a healing process on it’s own, though combined with the talking process with a professional can truly release deep emotions.
Neural benefits: Creativity is linked to higher levels of dopamine, healthy neural activity, and increased intelligence through the semantic conceptual systems. Art and creativity also have adverse effects on congenital and neural diseases such as Parkinson’s, dementia and autism.
Art therapy has also been shown to not only help with mental health struggles, but also neurological diseases and cancer. The American Cancer Society says, “Numerous case studies have reported that art therapy benefits patients with both emotional and physical illnesses. Case studies have involved many areas, including burn recovery in adolescents and young children, eating disorders, emotional impairment in young children, reading performance, childhood grief, and sexual abuse in adolescents” (American Cancer Society, 2012, Online).
Arcadian Therapy is now offering a 6 week art therapy program for female teenagers starting in August! If this is something you think you or your child would be interested in, please contact us at (615) 436-0921.
