Therapy Using Art

Art is a form of expressing ideas and feelings in a way that an artist knows how. Sometimes, it is even the medium used by people to decipher certain problems and pinpoint its root cause. Hence, it is used as a medium for treating patients who have suffered abuse and mental trauma. Yet, there are also alternative therapies such music, hypnosis, and colour, which all have had a measure of success in treating various mental conditions and improving people's well-being.

Today, several experts in mental health use art therapy in treating their patients. That is because it is based on human's belief that an individual's creativity can be a healing and life-affirming process. This belief comes from the fact that people with psychological trauma may find it too painful to express their feelings verbally. Therefore, art therapy gives them an outlet to express those pent up emotions and hurtful feelings without the need for words. This method has also been quite successful with young children who may not know how to say what is on their mind most appropriately and effectively. Since children are naturally creative and artistic, they can show how they feel through drawings and paintings with more ease. This can be observed with children's natural behaviour when given crayons or paints.

In this sense, art of any form should be appreciated especially among children and teenagers, just as long as they are not violating any law. So, for teenagers who may be fond of painting his walls with graffiti, it is their way of expressing his feelings and parents should know when to appreciate them and when to reprimand them. That is because not all graffiti is vandalism - it is also considered art and even an advertising medium.