Imagine a journey where you can play, explore, uncover your authentic self, and learn to listen and honor your inner voice. Art making can help a person find his or her creative voice, letting the inner child come out and play without the critic. In the process of creating, the mind relaxes allowing the heart to fully express itself.
Art therapy is an art making creative process facilitated by a professional art psychotherapist using various types of art media, allowing one to fully express emotions in a safe and emotionally supported environment. Art Therapy can help to release and resolve emotional baggage while healing old wounds.
Art Therapy can help promote self-awareness, self esteem, insight, and emotional growth through the inner experience. Art therapy can reveal a deeper part of oneself that verbal therapy alone cannot offer.
Art therapy can help with anxiety, grief, trauma, low self esteem, and life challenges that often get in the way of the life one truly wants for oneself.
According to the American Art Therapy Association, art therapy can “help one explore their feelings, reconcile emotional conflicts, foster self-awareness, manage behavior and addictions, develop social skills, improve reality orientation, reduce anxiety, and increase self esteem. A goal in art therapy is to improve or restore a client’s functioning and his or her sense of personal well-being.”
“Where words fail, the language of visual art can be heard more clearly and distinctly. A powerful and effective form of communication, art has increasingly become a therapeutic method for enhancing health and well-being, releasing traumatic experiences and alleviating stress or physical pain”
Cathy A. Malchiodi, PhD, LPAT, LPCC, ATR-BC
“Art has the potential to change lives and often in profound ways. When words are not enough, we turn to images and symbols to tell our stories. And in telling our stories through art, we can find a path to health and wellness, emotional reparation, recovery and ultimately transformation.”