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Benefits of Art Therapy
Hello My name is Rapinder Kaur and I am an art therapist & registered psychotherapist. Last time I answered the question “what is art therapy?” Today I would like to talk about the benefits of art therapy. Firstly who is art therapy for? Well Art Therapy works with clients of all ages, from children as young as 3 years to adults as old as 103 years! Art therapy is often a great fit for children because their most familiar and natural form of communication is play. They are still learning and figuring out what words mean, but they understand things visually and concretely. Art therapy is also great for anyone who may feel a bit nervous about the idea of going to therapy or hesitant to share about experiences, and may enjoy the opportunity to be active and do something during the session.
While there is a long list of tangible benefits of art therapy, we put together a short list for this video.
1. Safe – art therapy provides a safe confidential space where clients can express themselves
2. Accessible – everyone is capable of creative expression, regardless of age, ability, or circumstance
3. Strengths-based – the creative process is all about making, changing, building and doing – it naturally and automatically taps into clients’ strengths and shows them what they can do,
4. Positive – being creative and making something can often be enjoyable and can positively shift a client’s mood, reduce stress,
5.Expressive – art is an excellent outlet for emotions and a great way to release energy
6. Empowering – through the art process clients can practice change in small ways, showing themselves that they have the strengths and skills to make bigger changes beyond the sessions as well, providing a greater sense of control, which can reduce feelings like anxiety
7. Playful – the art process often brings out a sense of playfulness, which can help clients to see things in new ways and can alleviate a feeling of “being stuck”
8. Practical – the creative process is a great way to build and practice skills that contribute to increased self esteem, including improvements in communication, problem solving skills, social skills and coping skills
9. Concrete – the art products created during art therapy sessions can be visual reminders of the therapy process and can help clients to internalize and remember what happens in the sessions
10. Mindful – when clients are making something they are present in the here and now. Art therapy can be an excellent way to practice mindfulness and engaging all the senses.
11. Strengthening – Art therapy encourages verbal and nonverbal communication which strengthens connections between the left and right side of the brain – it essentially makes your brain stronger!
12. Therapeutic Relationship is another benefit. While clients can create art for therapeutic benefits by themselves, engaging in an individual or group session can allow them to feel supported and not feel alone if they experience overwhelming feelings.
At art as therapy we believe that the core benefit of this process is that it provides the client an opportunity to experience internal validation. As humans we have an innate need to seek approval and acceptance from our caregivers, parents, teachers, peers, friends, colleagues, even social media followers. Internal validation, however, is even more powerful, because it allows the client to accept their emotional experience as their truth, to consider themselves worthy and deserving of love without any conditions, and supports them to engage in the world but more confidence and a sense of “I can”.
Next time I will explain what a typical art therapy session looks like. In the meantime feel free to like our video, subscribe to our channel and visit our website for more details.
www.artastherapy.ca
