“Art opens the closets, airs out the cellars and attics. It brings healing.”
Julia Cameron
Words are sometimes not enough to express thoughts and emotions. Art is one of the most unique ways of personal development and healing. It facilitates the expression of the inner realms of thought and feeling. It’s a wordless journey of healing. An expression can be in any form; music, painting, drawing, dancing, etc. Expressive Art Therapy is a blend of psychotherapeutic strategies and artistic expression intended to promote mental healing. Art therapy took a systematic shape during the 1940s as a way of using art either as an alternative to or as a part of psychotherapy itself. As people create art, they can analyze what they have done and how it makes them feel.
By exploring their art, people can look for themes and conflicts that may affect their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. Individuals do not need to be artists as such or have exceptional talent for engaging in art therapy. It is not limited to a particular age group and can be beneficial to everyone. A few findings suggest that only the existence of art may play a significant role in improving mental health. The use of colors in Art Therapy is subjective in such a way that black may be a source of strength for one person and sorrow for another.
Creating and observing Art can lead to a reduction in a stress hormone called cortisol. A person can experience positive change that would make a difference and has the great power to detach us from all our worry or despair and to make us aware of our present. It leads to challenges and helps us build up physical and mental skills. The more one does better with each trial, the more they grow a sense of accomplishment that contributes to stronger self-esteem.
“In the haunted house of life, art is the only stair that doesn’t creak” – Tom Robbins
Art also results in building better resilience, which is a person’s ability to bounce back from difficulties.
Mandalas, one of the most trending concepts, is believed to create a path to meditation, facilitating the artist to channelize his or her thoughts and energies. The act of designing and painting a mandala or otherwise can teach users the integral skills such as self-soothing. In addition, mandalas can be used in tandem with other exercises for emotional expression and allow the artist to visually reflect an arena where his anxiety, dissatisfaction, fear, or rage can be put.
How does Art Therapy look like in practice?
It could help with self-acceptance. It is necessary for one to accept an image, drawn by them, along with its flaws. It can help one to be in the present and mindful. One needs to concentrate all of their senses on the piece of art that they are making. It can help one channelize their emotions. One can express happy or sad emotions that they had experienced throughout the week in their art. There is a noticeable difference between emotions before and after the creation of a piece of art.
Art results, therefore, in the synthesis of the inner thoughts and the outer expressions of An individual.
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