What is Art Therapy?
Art therapy is the therapeutic use of art making within a professional relationship between an individual and an art therapist. Through art making, conflicts, traumas, and stressors can be addressed through metaphor created, and this works to enhance the healing process. Art expressions often more adequately express and contain emotions and meaning than words alone.
The art media, creative process, and the resulting artwork can be used to problem-solve, explore feelings, reconcile emotional conflicts, foster self-awareness, manage behavior, develop social skills, improve reality orientation, reduce anxiety, and increase self-esteem. Art therapy can be powerful in effecting change, encouraging growth, and improving or restoring a sense of self, relationships, and personal well-being.
Art therapy integrates the fields of human development, visual art (drawing, painting, sculpture, and other art forms), and the creative process with models of counseling and psychotherapy.
To learn more about art therapy, visit the American Art Therapy Association (AATA) web site www.americanarttherapyassociation.org.
To learn more about the professional credentialing of art therapists, visit the Art Therapy Credentials Board (ATCB) web site www.atcb.org.
"Art opens the closets, airs out the cellars and attics. It brings healing."
Julia Cameron
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