Art therapy helps you explore your inner feelings.
What is Art Therapy?
The American Art Therapy Association defines art therapy as “an integrative mental health and human services 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.”
Professional art therapists—who work with a diverse group of patients from young children to senior citizens with mental health disorders—provide their services to give people a means of escaping negative thoughts, enhancing feelings, and overcoming mental health challenges.
People who seek emotional, creative, or spiritual growth also use art therapy.
Health Benefits of Art Therapy
Art therapy can help patients learn to express their thoughts and feelings in a healthy manner. When combined with traditional therapy, it can help patients manage strong emotions, “increase self-awareness and self-worth and decrease stress and anxiety,” according to the Michigan State University Extension.
Additional health benefits:
- Improves cognitive and sensory-motor functions
- Cultivates emotional resilience
- Promotes insight
- Enhances social skills
- Reduces and resolves conflicts and distress
- Advances societal and ecological change