Why use art?
Art therapy is an internationally recognized form of psychotherapeutic healing which is effective for children, youth and adults. It is a material exploration and expression that uses a variety of media and image making processes such as drawing, painting, clay work and collage.
Each material and process may evoke different feeling states and the work created often reflects the unconscious forces and experiences that shape a person’s life. In the presence of a trained Art Therapist/Counsellor and within this therapeutic relationship, the images may elicit fears, associations, desires, fantasies, hopes, dreams and memories. The role of the therapist/Counsellor is to create a safe space in which the voice of the image can be heard and understood.
The use of art in counselling has many advantages:
- For individuals who are unfamiliar with expressing their emotions, the creation of art facilitates this expression
- Art Counselling is highly effective when people have been traumatized, since trauma physically inhibits the ability to express verbally. In these situations image making becomes a valuable tool for expressing and overcoming traumatic experience.
- Research into the value of creative therapy indicates that it is very effective in facilitating disclosure and communication which are key aspects of therapy
- When a person is continuously exposed to loss and death they become emotionally deadened. Creative work enables them to re-access the alive parts of themselves
- Art Counselling it is a method that re-engages the individual’s creative abilities – a process that encourages exploration and emotional growth
- Art Counselling has the potential to provide the individual with a hobby or income source that gives a healthy focus to life
The benefits of Art Counselling within the South African context, include:
- Being less threatening than talking.
- Transcending cultural and language barriers
- Allowing children, forced to assume adult responsibilities too early, to play and be children again thus providing a vital ingredient in psycho-emotional development
- Being easily accessible to mentally and physically disabled adults and children
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