How art therapy helps in getting rid of depression?
What is art therapy?
The art therapy is a specialized arena involving mental health that aids in controlling the emotional upheaval, anxiety level, psychological problems, and loss of self-esteem. In art therapy creative colorful materials and procedures are employed to explore a person’s inner core. Art therapy is very good in tackling medical illness, PTSD, social issues, and depression.
Art Therapist
An art therapist is a skilled and learned professional who handles mental issues of a person. The Therapist also assists in the recovery process by permitting the client to display emotions/thoughts via varied activities:
Clay modeling
Painting
Dealing with colors
Maintaining a visual journal
Keeping occupied in handicrafts
Creating masks
Collage
Turning raw material into finished art products
The aforementioned pursuits can go a long way in helping a depressed person to let go off his/her difficulties. After getting occupied in these activities there will be marked improvements in the outlook of such people towards life. The therapist strives to help a troubled individual in clarifying his doubts and gaining good grip over his or her thoughts.
The therapist generally sits in a private office to deal with his patients however, sometimes they can be found in hospitals, community centers, wellness institutions etc. The therapist is bound by a code of conduct and this makes it incumbent upon him or her to maintain secrecy with regard to the dealings with clients. The therapist is not suppose to share any details of the client or show the client's artwork to anyone else.
The importance of art in therapy?
In the words of Colleen Gray “I believe in the ability of art to heal the spirit,” it is evident that the power of art can be leveraged to rid humans of depression. Art merges with the soul easily and helps in knowing what is going on in the minds of people, what they think, what they like etc through the medium of colors. There have been studies backing the argument that art materials have therapeutic values. So, a therapist assesses your artwork and read your mind correctly. No arbitrary interpretation as the analysis should be personal and help you out of your woes. After this, the therapist will indulge in client counseling. A study has found out that people in depression connected themselves with gray and in stark contrast, joyous people associated themselves with yellow.
How bad is depression?
Have you heard of Margaret Naumburg? She is considered as the ‘mother of art therapy’ and holds the view that healthy and positive development happens in children if they are left to themselves in terms of selection of subjects and are permitted to air their views in a creative manner. ‘Walden School’ in New York was her initiative. She has authored some path breaking books such as ‘Expression of Behavior Problem Children as a Means of Diagnosis and Therapy’ (1947), ‘Schizophrenic Art: Its Meaning in Psychotherapy’ (1950), ‘Dynamically Oriented Art Therapy: Its Principles and Practice’ (1966) etc.
There are many others as well across the world who have worked extensively on art therapy. In fact, art therapy is presently an important treatment offered to all irrespective of the age. With art therapy there have been some incredible results on people who used to get worked up easily.
Significance of design in Art Therapy
When it comes to art therapy verbal communication becomes very challenging. There have been instances where clients had been reluctant to express his/her thoughts. So, this presents an opportunity to design a potent tool than words. Therefore design assumes the role of facilitating communication and expression among disturbed people. According to Christo, “A work of art is a scream of freedom.” Hence, people who are experiencing stress or trauma can articulate their thoughts very well by drawing, painting, crafting, collaging, etc.
But it is the call of the therapist to choose a suitable medium for the client amongst the variety of options he has. If the client says what is on his mind then it is akin to half the battle won. Afterwards the design does the rest. Many clients have confessed that the art therapy has brought tranquility in their lives. After all, art therapy is all about helping clients concentrate on his or her inner experience.
The Art Room
This is in fact a program for children in the age group of 5 and 16 and it came into existence in 2002. The program offered emotional backing to the children by teachers in the majority of the cases. Melissa Cortina and Mina Fazel of Oxford University did a survey and found that 1000 kids from 13 schools got help from The Art Room program. This explains the criticality of art therapy and design in life.
Incredible results post The Art Room programme.
Social behavior went up by 24%
hyperactivity came down to 33%
Conduct related issues came down by 15%
Overall difficulties diminished by 37%
Peer pressure and issues with classmates slumped to 41%
Emotional problems increased by 41%
These figures underscore the potency of designs and colors in effectively tackling mental illnesses.
Role of designs in curing depression
Interior designs are very effective in shielding our brains from depression and cure depressive symptoms. According to the research conducted by Alex Molassiotis, Michele J M Wood, and Sheila Alison Payne, Art Therapy enters the thought process of clients and eliminate the problems. The research also highlighted the efficacy of Art Therapy in handling fatigue, anxiety and depression triggered by Cancer. Dr.Akhila Lakshmikanth, founder of the Indian International Institute for Art Therapy and Research, pointed out that art has the ability to channelize clients towards positivity. In her Ph.D. thesis, she underlined the fact that adolescents can easily transform their cognitions, perceptions, and attitude towards life. By reworking art expressions they can cultivate a positive approach.
Concluding thoughts
So, there is enough research and studies that have proved beyond doubt that Art Therapy can be used to eliminate depression, stress and trauma. Art Therapy can also rid you of your mental woes. So, in case you are struggling with depression, then get curing designs from the best website design agency in Delhi, Winklix.
