Defining Art Therapy

This special healing process entails a lot of progressive remedial methods that are aimed at bringing back the soundness of both the mind and body of all the patients undergoing it. There are various forms of this healing treatment: painting, photography, drawing, sculpture, and all other categories of visual art that helps people express their hidden emotions and feelings. They are found to be very effective in managing stress and bad feelings towards another person or a past event. The method has been deemed to be helpful in improving self-esteem issues that usually cloud a person’s mind.

Basically, anyone can participate in the therapy and that you need not to be an artist to come up with your own expressive work. This is because the goal of the activity focuses on the output that expresses a subtle meaning and definitely not the quality of the masterpiece. However, there are professionals who are trained in interpreting hidden emotions that are found in each person’s work. They are the ones that have mastered normal psychology including the different human developmental theories.

In most sessions, the therapist usually provides recipients with art materials which they will use. Instructions will then be focused on encouraging them to create anything that they feel like doing. After the set time limit, recipients will then be asked to say something about their outputs and, from there, therapists will then create a conclusion of their emotions based on the standardised interpretations.

Here are some subcategories that belong to this remedial treatment:

1. The Diagnostic Drawing Series (DDS) – For the first picture, patients are asked to draw any image. Consequently, on the next drawing, they will be instructed to create a tree while for the last part, abstract lines, colours, and shapes will be utilised.

2. The Mandala Assessment Research Instrument (MARI) – Initially, the patients will be instructed to choose a card from a set of mandalas (circular figure with geometric figures) and then consequently told to select a colour from a set of cards. After this, they will be asked to come up with a mandala art of their own based on the cards and the colour they previously selected.

3. House-Tree-Person (HTP) – In here, the recipients will be asked to individually create an image of a house, tree and a person. Then after this, each drawing will be interpreted based on the standards.

4. Road Drawing – In this strategy, they will be instructed to draw a picture of a road. Each output will then tell something about the recipients’ hidden plans for the future.

Art is more than just a tool for creative self-expression. It can be used as a tool for helping people who are suffering from mental and physical illness.