Art Therapy involves using art materials to express your thoughts and feelings with or without the need to use words. This can provide another way of communicating as it can be difficult to talk about some of the issues you are dealing with. There is no expectation that you have to be good at art to engage in art therapy. Through art therapy, you have a space to focus on your feelings, within a safe space and the creative process and how they affect your life. Thus it allows you to reflect and process your difficulties.
Art therapy can help with improving your self-esteem and confidence, and gain a better understanding of your feelings, creatively showing you how you can cope with these feelings, it may help with improving your relationships, and it can also help draw links between your past experiences and current situations.
Art therapy work is seen to be practised on a spectrum. “Art as Therapy” on one end where the art-making process is therapy itself. On the other end, there is “Art psychotherapy”, provided by an ANZACATA registered Art Psychotherapist, where deeper insight can be facilitated for the client.
The Art therapist facilitates a space where clients can create something personal and meaningful. Through collaboration with the client, different “types” of art making can be used in the therapy process depending on the client’s goals. The Art therapist will remain impartial at all times, allowing the client to arrive at their own meaning of their work.
Positive results in art therapy may often be achieved by those facing issues such as:
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anxiety
- Attention deficit hyperactivity Disorder
- Autism Spectrum Disorders
- Cognitive impairments
- Cancer
- Compassion fatigue
- Depression
- Eating disorder support work
- Family or relationship issues
- Substance dependency
- Stress
- Post-traumatic stress Disorder
- Trauma (Attachment and Developmental)
More inspiration to be found:
https://www.anzacata.org/About-CAT