What is arts therapy?

What is it and how does arts therapy work?

The American Art Therapy Association’s web site explains: “Art therapy is a mental health profession that enriches the lives of individuals, families, and communities through active art-making, creative process, applied psychological theory, and human experience within a psychotherapeutic relationship.” (art therapy.org).

Art therapy can be an effective means to process thoughts, feelings, memories and trauma; to relieve stress and overwhelm, to pause intrusive thoughts and examine attachment styles, to face the inner-critic, to work through crisis, transition and grief, to gain perspective and insight; all within a safe environment held by an arts therapist.

I am specifically using the term “arts” instead of “art”, because there are many media that a person can use while engaging with arts therapy – drawing and painting (of course), movement and breathing (somatic approaches), music and dance elements, clay and sculpture, textile work, writing and poetry, print making and other crafts. The art very much depends on the person who choses to make something: from a tiny pencil drawing to a big unstretched canvas, from an exhale to a rhythm creation, an imprint to embodiment.

Every person is different and so every person creates, makes and engages in their own way. It is the arts therapist’s job to initially offer ways to best explore presented problems. Hopefully the process of art making will lead further and open up other avenues to explore.

To give an example, I have worked with a young person who at the beginning seemed very withdrawn, shy, stuck and hidden in their posture, eagerly wanting to make friends, but anxious and not confident enough to take first steps towards this goal. We began gently, with small art (big art felt overwhelming), exploring existing and past relationships, this person’s qualities and strengths, slowly moving to bigger and bolder art making methods, engaging the body (embodying confidence, even for a moment), building trust (sometimes with clay) and unfolding, literally. Over time, this person started to speak up, take up a little more space, feeling comfortable, making much bigger artworks and creating new bonds in their life. Today, this person sits up straight without slouching and hiding themselves, they have friends with whom they spend time within comfortable boundaries, they believe in themselves and create exciting and achievable future plans.

The art that was made by them was sometimes pretty and sometimes ugly, showing inner turmoil. That is the point: the art making as a process does not have to be aesthetically pleasing. It is meant to be useful, help externalise whatever feels stuck inside and allow all those human feelings and thoughts to be witnessed.

I hope that this explanation helps. Feel free to ask me questions, if you have any.