Individuals and Couples

Art Therapy

Children, Adolescents, and Adults

 

When there are no words.

How is Art Therapy different from other therapies?

Feelings can often defy words. How does one discuss emotional states with a therapist when they can’t even sort out the emotions in their head? Fortunately, there is a growing form of treatment backed by scientific evidence that can express these emotions and get out feelings that might otherwise be trapped in a person’s head. This expressive treatment is called art therapy.

According to the American Art Therapy Association, art therapy integrates mental health therapies with human services to help bolster people’s experiences through art, creativity, applied psychological therapy, and human experience. More simply, art therapy can be an individual treatment or used with more than one person in a group together, and science suggests that it can reshape our brain and alter our thoughts in a more positive, balanced way.

How does Art Therapy help?

What entails is that art therapy is much more expansive than just drawing. In fact, there are no set rules to what defines art therapy, but the overarching theme is that it will express creativity. Poetry, singing, dancing, knitting, doodling, painting, and (for the more mathematically inclined) expressing emotions through numbers or solving equations.

Art therapy can be used to help people of all ages and abilities to cope with a variety of challenges, including mental health issues, physical health problems, and developmental disabilities. It can be particularly helpful for people who may have difficulty expressing themselves through verbal communication or who may have experienced trauma.

During a session, the therapist may provide art materials and may guide the client in the creative process, but the focus is on the client's own self-expression and the therapist's role is to facilitate the process rather than to interpret the art.

Art therapy can be used in combination with other forms of therapy or as a standalone treatment. The length of treatment can vary depending on the individual's needs and goals.

 

Art Therapy is a scientifically recognized therapy

Art therapy is not facilitated by just anyone. It is overseen by professionals who have been trained in or specialize in this type of therapy. There are real psychological benefits to it and that is why so many trained, scientifically-aligned people are embracing it. It has been shown to involve pathways in the brain that are part of sensory functions and motor skills. Specific parts of the brain involved in major functions of the body are improved by this type of therapy. It has also been shown to improve self-esteem, build confidence, and promote change in ways of thinking, all to improve one’s well-being, and it can continue to aid in not only the recovery of people with substance use disorders but also provide skills that can help them face the world, and be utilized through the rest of their lives.

Scientific studies suggest that creative expression through art therapy can help people dealing with anxiety, depression, and even more serious diseases like cancer. It can help with improving memory in people of all ages, from the young to the elderly, who may especially need help in this area.

Art therapy is so intriguing because it can promote a reflection in an individual that might otherwise be too painful to face, or help to shape the very feelings that someone in therapy didn’t even know they had bottled up inside them. It can promote resilience emotionally and may reduce the effects of trauma that weighs a person down. It can possibly ease the withdrawal of someone in recovery from a substance abuse disorder. It may help someone put the strong emotions from the treatment of PTSD into the creative process.

Art Therapy can:

  • Encourage self-exploration

  • Reduce anxiety

  • Provide stress relief

  • Process emotions

  • Improve symptoms of depression

  • Increase self-esteem and self-worth

  • Reduce chronic pain

  • Process trauma

  • Stimulate mental function in adults with dementia

  • Reduce stress and anxiety in children with asthma

  • Improve quality of life in cancer patients

We’re here to support you to express yourself in your healing journey.

FAQS

Common questions about therapy for teens

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