The American Art Therapy Association defines art therapy as the profession that combines an active creative process with a therapeutic relationship. The art therapist taps into and encourages the process of self-expression, and the result is an art form that helps the person explore and understand their emotions, emotional conflicts and trauma, reduce stress, improve social skills, and increase self-esteem.
Artistic-symbolic expression can bring the unconscious into awareness, it can bring to the surface images that lie deep within the unconscious. Gaining emotional maturity in therapy through art can be within the reach of any client.
For the free expression of emotions, anxieties, frustrations, ideas, tensions, for self-understanding and facilitating communication and relationships, art therapy uses techniques such as: drawing, painting, active imagery, role-playing, therapeutic storytelling, creative theatre, dance, movement, music, puppetry, modelling, bodywork, sculpture, collage, storytelling, photography, etc.
Art therapy is effective in treating:
Anxiety, panic attacks, phobias, depression, grief, addictions, various traumas, shyness, relationship and communication problems, physical, cognitive and neurological problems, negativity, hyperactivity, sleep disorders, expression disorders, chronic diseases, degenerative diseases (e.g. Alzheimer’s).
Art therapists work with children, adolescents, adults and seniors, couples, families, groups and communities. They provide services in mental health institutions, rehabilitation institutions, medical or forensic institutions, work in community programs, health centers, schools, nursing homes, corporate structures or independent clinics.