Art therapy is a mental health profession that integrates art making processes and psychotherapeutic principles within the therapy session. As a registered art therapist, I’m clinically trained to help support clients explore and actively apply their creativity to resolve problems in living like anxiety and stress management, family and relationship issues, self-esteem, and trauma related concerns.
By engaging in and observing a one’s own creative process, clients gain more self-awareness, which leads to more positive therapeutic outcomes.
Many people are concerned about their artistic ability. Let me assure you, you don’t have to be an artist to benefit. Art therapy is suitable for almost everyone regardless of skill. My approach to art therapy is about the process of making art and less about the product that is made, just about anything goes! Stick people are welcome, as are blobs, dots, smears and smudges, or any other marks. They’re all part of the process and can hold valuable insight into how a person feels, thinks, and problem solves.
Have you ever had an experience where words just don’t quite capture what you’re trying to convey? There can be incredible benefit from the simple act of getting an idea out on to the page. Often, art made in session can help create a roadmap of an idea, or help a conversation along about an abstract feeling. Using multiple avenues to communicate about our experience can give us more clarity for ourselves, and more chance for understanding of others.
Please visit https://arttherapy.org/about-art-therapy/ for more information on academic standards, credentials and clinical preparation, and available research in the field. I’ve included a reference list for outcome studies you may find informative. https://arttherapy.org/upload/Research/OutcomesBib_2017.pdf