WHAT IS ART THERAPY AND HOW DESIGN CURES DEPRESSION?


WHAT IS ART THERAPY AND HOW DESIGN CURES DEPRESSION

Is there a connection between art and depression? Is art a medical tool? Can design cure trauma and stress? Yes, say a lot of research. Mental health is a huge arena and art is definitely a strong player. Art here means the creative expression of oneself or a pertinent thing using different mediums. Get the best design services for your business from the leading design agency in Delhi.

Elizabeth Broun puts forth- “Art is not always about pretty things; It’s about who we are, what happened to us, and how our lives are affected.” So art is the form of our inner feelings. This technique is rightly used in healing mental problems. Art therapists guide their clients to come out of depression, trauma, and anxiety.

What is Art Therapy?

Art Therapy

The specialized field of mental health that deals with the exploration of emotions, reduction of anxiety, resolving psychological issues, and improvement in self-esteem is called art therapy. Art therapy makes use of creative colorful materials and processes to go deep into the person’s inner core. Art therapy is identified as an effective treatment for an individual’s medical illness, PTSD, social difficulties, and depression. Therapists also clarify that art therapy is not a mere equivalent of “Drawing/designing your feelings.

Who is an Art Therapist?

A trained professional who deals with mental problems of a person is called an Art Therapist. He leads his client in the treatment of a particular mental health issue. The Therapist also helps in the recovery by letting the client express his emotions/thoughts in various activities

  •         Clay modeling
  •         Painting
  •         Working with colors
  •         Maintaining a visual journal
  •         Engaging in handicrafts
  •         Mask making
  •         Collage
  •         Converting raw material into finished art products

These activities help the stressful person to shed his/her difficulties. There will be healthy improvements in a person’s mental health. The therapist helps his client in clearing all his doubts and in attaining freedom of expression of thoughts.

The relationship between a therapist and his client is very special. The therapist usually has a private office to care for his patients but in many instances, hospitals, community centers, wellness institutions, Art studios, schools, colleges, universities, and women shelters also work well. The therapist follows a code of ethics, so she is obliged to maintain a confidential relationship with her client. She cannot share her client’s details or show the client’s artwork to anybody else.

What is the significance of art in therapy?

significance of art

“I believe in the ability of art to heal the spirit.” Colleen Gray explains the power of art in healing humans from depression. Art connects with the soul and helps others to know what we think, what we say, what we do, what we like, what we hate, etc simply through colors. Many studies have found out that art materials have inherent healing qualities. The therapist analyses your artwork and interprets what is in your mind. But arbitrary interpretation does not work here. There should be personal analysis and delegation of meaning to your work. After interpretation, the therapist engaged the client in counseling.

A study found that people with depression associated themselves with gray and contrastingly, happier people found themselves related to yellow color.

How bad is depression?

Depression

Margaret Naumburg is considered the ‘mother of art therapy.’ She believed that healthy development occurs in children when they are allowed to pursue subjects of their interest and are allowed to express their opinions creatively. She also started ‘Walden School’ in her city, New York. ‘Expression of Behavior Problem Children as a Means of Diagnosis and Therapy’ (1947), ‘Schizophrenic Art: Its Meaning in Psychotherapy’ (1950), and ‘Dynamically Oriented Art Therapy: Its Principles and Practice’ (1966) are some of her influential books in art therapy.

Many contributors across many countries worked profoundly on art therapy and its healing power. Art therapy is now a significant treatment given to people of all ages. There have been concrete results produced by adopting this amazing technique.

Power of design in Art Therapy

An artist is making an painting

In art therapy, verbal communication becomes tough. Many a time, the client feels hesitant to shout out his/her thoughts. So we have a design, a more powerful tool than words. Art Therapy is all about understanding the clients. Hence the design forms the inevitable medium of communication and expression. Christo says, “A work of art is a scream of freedom.” So people who are occupied with stress or trauma can effectively express or shout out by drawing, painting, crafting, collaging, etc.

However, the therapist will select an appropriate medium for the client from among the tons of art materials. Creative expression through design is the first step in healing. When the client is ready to express what he has in mind, half of the problem is already solved. Now the design does the other half. After the healing process, many clients expressed “Art Therapy brought me back my sanity and life.” People who found communication difficult started to find relaxation, deeper awareness, and confidence in themselves. Art Therapy is basically letting the client focus on one’s inner experience.

The Art Room is a program focused on children between the ages of 5 and 16 established in 2002. The program provided emotional support to children mostly by teachers. Melissa Cortina and Mina Fazel belong to Oxford University. They conducted a survey and discovered that 1000 kids from 13 schools undertook assistance from The Art Room program. Such is the significance of art therapy and design.

There have been incredible results after The Art Room program.

  •         24% increase in social behavior
  •         33% decrease in hyperactivity
  •         15% decrease in conduct related problems
  •         37% decrease in total difficulties
  •         41% decrease in peer pressure and problems with classmates
  •         41% increase in emotional problems.

This massive record highlights the strength of designs and colors in healing mental illnesses.  

Role of designs in curing depression

Interior designs help in protecting our brains from depression and cure depressive symptoms. Michele J M Wood, Alex Molassiotis, and Sheila Alison Payne worked in research and found out that Art Therapy intervenes in the client’s thought process and addresses the difficulties. The research particularly found how significant is Art Therapy in curing fatigue, anxiety, and depression caused by Cancer.

Dr.Akhila Lakshmikanth is the founder of the Indian International Institute for Art Therapy and Research. She identifies that Art can be a clinical support tool to direct clients towards better outcomes. In her Ph.D. thesis, she shows that adolescents can change their cognitions, perceptions, and attitude towards life. They tend to develop a positive approach by restructuring art expressions.

There is a lot of evidence that proves Art Therapy is the best healing method to cure depression and overcome stress and trauma. “Art Therapy can help you see a clearer picture of who you really are.” Art inspires, art develops, art heals. Get your depression curing designs from the No.1 design agency in Delhi

 


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