About Art Therapy
make, create, play, heal
“Art therapy is an integrative mental health and human services profession that enriches the lives of individuals, families, and communities through active art-making, creative process, applied psychological theory, and human experience within a psychotherapeutic relationship.”
– AATA 2013
Art therapy, sometimes called Creative arts therapy or Expressive arts therapy, is a blended field of therapeutic practice that combines art and psychology.
This gentle, practical, and collaborative therapy utilises the creative process, artistic techniques, and external artwork to support individuals to develop self-awareness, explore emotions, and address unresolved conflict or trauma. Participants are encouraged by their therapist to explore their creative responses, reactions, and insights through pictures, sounds, and encounters with different art processes.
Even though we are considered an emergent profession, art and drawing have been used for centuries, all over the world as tools for communication, storytelling, self-expression,
and social interaction. As far back as there have been humans, there has been art, just think – original cave drawings.
The creative arts therapies are based on the idea that creativity enhances the well-being of all people and is a natural aspect of all cultures and human experience. It is an experiential psychotherapeutic approach utilising many creative modalities within a therapeutic relationship with a trained therapist.
This experiential therapy uses creative processes to help clients explore and express unconscious material that is often difficult to articulate in words. The methods are integrative, participatory, and practical and are often much more effective than just ‘talking’ about change.
And the BEST news is that you do NOT need any prior experience with art to
participate in Art therapy. The process itself is one of expression and exploration with no ‘rights’ and no ‘wrongs’, yay! The practice allows each individual to use creative activities in ways that support them best without judgment.
More simply put – Art therapy is a recognised allied health profession undertaken by qualified therapists that use the creative process of making art to improve a person’s physical, mental, and emotional well-being, so please feel free to contact me today to see how I can best support you.
Emma
Phone: 0481 258 118
