Art therapy, art that heals, cures and soothes

What is art therapy?

Art is considered humanity's greatest invention. The most concrete way to express the world of the spirit in the real world.

Art therapy could also be defined as the best method for giving form to the unconscious through artistic expression.

This psychotherapy technique can restore our physical and mental health, but also strengthen it.

By expressing yourself through visual arts and using paint, pencils, clay or wool and various materials, you reveal your "true self".

This form of modern psychotherapy, which relies on the use of art as a therapeutic tool, utilizes various art forms:

Painting, drawing, sculpture and modeling, music, theatre and dance.

Therapeutic applications can be found in all branches of the visual arts, as they share the common goal of allowing the mind to express itself through gesture and body. These disciplines can sometimes be combined to achieve specific therapeutic objectives. Listening to music while painting or sculpting can help achieve a state of calm, or conversely, stimulate expression and provoke a creative reaction. In practice, since each person is unique, each session will also be unique. The more creative the therapist, the more patients will be stimulated in their own creations, and the greater the chance that the therapies will be effective.

 

Objectives of art therapy

The initial goal of art therapy is to stimulate the patient to express their feelings, fears, and anxieties through a creative process. The therapist's work then involves establishing a diagnosis, researching and understanding the patient's psychology, precisely identifying their difficulties, and finally implementing a strategy to achieve clearly defined objectives. Ideally, these objectives will be defined collaboratively with the patient, empowering them to play a more active role in their healing.

Releasing one's emotions - catharsis

By expressing yourself through drawing and sculpting, emotions that were repressed in your mind are released into the outside world, bringing with them feelings that cannot be expressed in words. Feelings you were unaware of then emerge.

Thus, your new awareness leads you towards psychological purification (catharsis). These experiences are the catalyst for our creativity.

Organizing conflicts and confused thoughts

Work and relationships are becoming increasingly complex in our daily lives. This demands constant adaptation, leaving us mentally stressed and ever more uncertain about our choices. Conflicts and agonizing thoughts tend to accumulate. Art therapy can help us gain perspective on our problems. The use of symbols and images facilitates understanding the context in which we operate. It becomes easier to prioritize tasks and thoughts.

Increase self-esteem

Generally speaking, the right brain controls emotions and the left brain controls logic. People who favor their left hemisphere are the most numerous. For them, reason and analysis take precedence, often at the expense of creativity.

In contrast, people who favor their right brain are more innovative and attentive to the emotional aspect of life. They frequently think intuitively and demonstrate great curiosity, which allows them to have a holistic view of problems and generally a higher level of self-esteem.

Modern society is largely dominated by the left brain.

The left brain is also called the negative brain. Overly cold and logical observations about our own behavior often contribute to questioning our abilities and causing us to lose self-confidence.

Art activates the right brain, the seat of intuition and emotion. It helps facilitate new experiences. Moreover, it flatters our ego and, consequently, fosters healthy self-esteem.

Regain curiosity and motivation

Direct contact with various materials such as pencils, brushes, paper, etc., is very beneficial. It sparks our creative curiosity.

The different stimuli that we experience in art therapy workshops, such as the roughness, the softness with paint, the wetness with clay, have a pleasant effect on our brain.

For this reason, art therapy is also called "material therapy".

This method is proving its worth daily in the fields of psychiatry and elderly care. It is also beneficial for boosting our desires.

 

Who is art therapy for?

Art therapy is particularly well-suited for patients who have difficulty expressing their feelings and suffering. This is especially true for many children, but also for some adults.

Creative expression, unlike spoken or written language, relies far less on the intellect. For some people, exploring their "unconscious" can be difficult, even painful.

The act of creation allows these inhibitions to be overcome, freeing expression and emotions, and revealing the patient's suffering and resources to the therapist. Art therapists generally work with people experiencing psychological or mental health difficulties.

However, art therapy is also indicated for vulnerable individuals at various stages of life: bereavement, feelings of abandonment, illness, aging, disability, addictions, and many other conditions that affect mental health. Sessions can take place individually or in groups, through workshops.

 

What are the benefits of art therapy?

A brief method

Art therapy has many points in common with other methods of brief psychotherapy.

In contrast to long-term psychoanalysis, brief psychotherapy does not seek to resolve all the ills and disorders that may affect the patient's health and well-being.

By focusing on clear objectives, the therapist aims for his patients to achieve a state of well-being in a short period of time.

Change is life! 

Like hypnosis or sophrology, the goal is to bring about beneficial changes in behavior and in the way one perceives reality.

Through these changes, sometimes very subtle, the person discovers their own inner resources which will allow them to overcome their stress, to better understand and control their emotions, and to begin a healing process.

The therapist then plays a mediating role, a guiding role, to help the patient implement techniques and solutions on their own to achieve a better state of mental health.

Because very often, it's about getting out of a closed psychological state, resigned to failure. Reversing the "snowball effect," that is, transforming a negative feedback loop into a positive one.

Bypassing language and intellect

But art therapy, by allowing us to bypass spoken language, offers a further double advantage:

It facilitates the processing of foreign people who do not have the necessary language skills.

It refocuses the work on bodily sensations and emotions, without going through the filters of the intellect.

It is suitable for people for whom talking about their problems causes too much suffering.

A method of personal development

Beyond any medical considerations, art therapy can be seen as a path to well-being, an art of living life to the fullest. Art therapy sessions can also be considered a method of personal development and a way to stimulate creativity, expression, and artistic abilities.

 

Do you have to be an artist to practice art therapy?

The artistic value of the works produced may not seem important at first glance. However, this discipline can inspire artistic vocations. Some of the works exhibited at Sainte-Anne Hospital in Paris bear witness to this.

From art therapy to art

Recently, another form of art therapy has emerged. This discipline is no longer based on artistic creation, but uses the same principles. It involves engaging in the contemplation or listening to existing works of art, focusing on the effect they have on the individual. Art's primary function is to evoke emotions and immerse us in a vast and wondrous universe, while simultaneously encouraging a letting go of ordinary reality. With this method, the individual feels even more secure. They no longer feel obligated to produce a piece of work. Furthermore, they adopt an objective perspective on the artwork and enjoy complete freedom of critique.