Friday, October 26, 2012

The Benefits of Art Therapy and Counseling

By Sarah Ramsey


You might be asking yourself just what is art therapy and counseling. The answer is straightforward. It is counseling which utilizes art in an effort to enhance the mental and physical health of the patient. It is thought that art of all types can assist people in working through arguments and issues by relaxing patients and allowing them a thing called self-expression. The only real demand is the potential to let go of your mind and enable yourself to draw whatever you feel inside. Around the mid-twentieth century, English speaking and European areas began to look at art as a form of treatment when combined with counseling. They realized that it could be a beneficial tool for grownups and children who have behavioral issues, mental handicaps, along with brain injuries or other neurological concerns. It can be utilized to help patients who have had a terrible experience heal their minds and help individuals who have life threatening illnesses to cope.

Art therapy and counseling combined, keeps the hands and the mind busy while releasing creative energy that relaxes the patient. That allows them to become uninhibited and lets them build up defenses against whatever illness is holding them back. By freeing the mind and drawing whatever a person feels like drawing a counselor can then see how the patient feels. They can determine whether he is depressed, happy, or sad about whatever situation is portrayed in the artwork.

Art therapy and counseling can be especially useful in the treatment of autistic children who have trouble showing emotion. It allows the counselor the ability to help tailor the treatment to the child as opposed to subjecting the child to the treatment which has been proven to be counterproductive in the past. Art therapy and counseling doesn't mean that you have to have a creative flair. It doesn't require you to be an excellent artist. You simply draw, build sculptures or any other kind of creative act that you feel is relaxing and allows you to free your mind enough to look inside.

The art therapy counselors need to have a substantial background in psychology as well as art and they must have earned a master's degree. It takes about three years of education to learn all the different methods of interpreting the art work of their patients. They work closely with people of all age groups. They could deal with individual people or work with people in a group depending on the patient's specific demands. Art therapists are located in lots of different settings including but not limited to schools, nursing residences, rehabilitation centers and medical centers.

Anyone can use art therapy and counseling. You do not necessarily need to have a particular problem with behavior or other mental issues. It can be done from the convenience of your home whenever you wish to acquire perspective your thoughts or if you simply have to take a break and chill for a little while. Anytime you focus on something other than the complications at hand you will discover yourself feeling free of the worries of daily life. That in itself is a kind of therapy.




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