I have learned that art therapy is the drawing from within and the use of creative techniques including painting, sketching, and sculpturing for specific purposes and attain defined goals artistically. Such technical skills often include shading, coloring, and craftsmanship. Art therapy helps psychologists express their feelings and emotions, perceptions, and imaginations to express images inside an individual rather than those outside the world. Therefore, it is an artistic skill that enables one to express his/her ideas and thoughts attentively while describing a story.
Generally, art therapy involves the belief in the natural healing power of the process of creatively making art whilst communicating symbolically. Therefore, it entails an imaginative, authentic, and spontaneous expression of personal experiences to fulfill the personal and emotional reparation and transformation of others in a psychotherapeutic environment. For example, repeating artistic contents are linked to emotional disorders, traumatic experiences, and physical and neurological complications in individuals. Similarly, images and colors depict distinct psychological and physical conditions associated with personality, mental development, etc. however, the artistic work can be linked to past experiences, cultural influences, and personal perspectives, which give the images and colors their distinct meanings.
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Many people find the importance of art therapy in its ability to rehabilitate, heal, and help people grow. This concept expounds the inherent quality of the art, which involves reparation, transformation, and self-exploration. For example, it aids in visual thinking by informing an individual of his/her feelings and thoughts and how the two influence the person’s perceptions of the world. This explains why one can successfully internalize dreams in visual forms and the moods and problems associated with the experience can be personified in images. Notably, if the dream was traumatizing, then the person can encode the experience in images, especially as a photograph in a camera. This analogy explains why the most severe traumatic experiences can reoccur in an individual before he/she constructs words to explain them. Hence, art therapy can explain phenomena that words cannot express explicitly.
Other than visual thinking, art therapy expresses experiences and feelings that words cannot. In such situations, one can first communicate the ideas or scenarios in drawing to console him/her from abusive experiences. For example, communicating rape experiences enables one to express what happened before accepting the reality of what happened. Therefore, it can convey abundant complexities simultaneously because it does not depend on grammar rules that involve syntax, logic, and spelling. This implies that art therapy is nonlinear and can explain ambiguous and contradictory elements that are confusing succinctly through painting and drawing. Therefore, the art’s paradoxical elements facilitate the integration and in-depth synthesis of conflicting feelings and experiences.
Additionally, art therapy is important in drawing sensory experiences, emotional release, and enhancing life and relationships. For instance, constructing, molding, and forming other tangible psychomotor experiences improve sensory capabilities like touch, movement, and vision. Hence, one can tap his/her feelings, emotions, and perceptions to tackle complex situations in the world. Similarly, it can be used to release strong emotions as a means of relieving oneself from strong emotions that may aggravate the past traumatic experiences. Finally, art therapy enhances life by transforming inner feelings associated with human suffering; hence, enabling individuals to find meaning in their emotional struggles while seeking transcendence. Consequently, the ability to showcase self-expression helps man to satisfy their basic needs like food, shelter, and security.
In my perspective, I think art therapy plays a crucial role in healing human emotions, feelings, and thoughts after a life-threatening event. This is because it enables one to develop an understanding of the insights regarding the experience and upscale his/her sense of wellbeing. Therefore, the person will be able to actively express the experience creatively to boost personal transformation; hence, diversifying the person’s self-understanding. Consequently, knowing yourself is a powerful tool for healing.
