Table of Contents
Is art therapy effective?
There’s growing evidence that art therapy helps conditions that relate to mood, such as anxiety and depression, trauma, low self-esteem, and similar disorders. Art Therapy helps people to resolve conflicts and problems, develop interpersonal skills, manage behavior, reduce stress, increase self-esteem and self-awareness. It encourages the development of healthy coping strategies. Therapy can facilitate insight, empathy, and acceptance of other’s life challenges. It is capable of promoting problem-solving skills. Art therapy is capable of exploring, managing, and providing insight into traumatic experiences. In these studies, it was concluded that art therapy had effects that improve rehabilitation and reduce psychological distress in patients [34]. Different clinical guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) include art therapy as an indication with recommended evidence. Among the three studies examining coping,50,55,62 art therapy resulted in significant improvements to coping resources in all studies. In one study,62 art therapy was significantly more effective than the control. There is increasing evidence in rehabilitation medicine and the field of neuroscience that art enhances brain function by impacting brain wave patterns, emotions, and the nervous system. Art can also raise serotonin levels. These benefits don’t just come from making art, they also occur by experiencing art.
What are the benefits of art therapy study?
Some of their findings show art therapy: Helped reduce pain, decrease symptoms of stress and improve quality of life in adult cancer patients. Improved ability to deal with pain and other frightening symptoms in children with cancer. Reduced stress and anxiety in children with asthma. (3) Art therapy is mainly used for cancer, depression and anxiety, autism, dementia and cognitive impairment, as these patients are reluctant to express themselves in words (Attard and Larkin, 2016; Deshmukh et al., 2018; Chiang et al., 2019). Art therapy is an effective treatment for persons experiencing developmental, medical, educational, social or psychological impairment. A key goal in art therapy is to improve or restore the client’s functioning and his/her sense of personal well being. Art therapists are trained in both art and therapy. Art Therapy may be used on its own, or it might also be used as a component of or complement to another mental health treatment. The forms of art used in Art Therapy are usually visual arts including painting, drawing, collage, and sculpture.
Which characteristic is most important for art therapy effectiveness?
If you’re considering this career, keep in mind that an art therapist needs certain personal qualities – such as sensitivity, empathy, emotional stability, patience, interpersonal skills, insight into human behavior and an understanding of artistic media. It helps with exploring confused or difficult thoughts and feelings. It can encourage positive feelings too. People enjoy the control and expressive qualities of making art. Sharing experiences with a trained art therapist is supportive. Because of these feel-good effects, art is a powerful tool for self-care and mental health. Studies have shown that expression through art can help people with depression, anxiety, and stress. Art has also been linked to improved memory, reasoning, and resilience in aging adults. Arts subjects encourage self-expression and creativity and can build confidence as well as a sense of individual identity.
What is a successful outcome of therapy?
The best therapeutic outcomes occur when the clients are motivated and committed to the therapeutic process. The use of evidence-based practice in combination with a sound therapeutic relationship – the client and the therapist working collaboratively, also contribute to treatment success. The most powerful of those common factors have been referred to as the “therapeutic alliance,” referring to the bond between client and therapist. Study after study has shown that the quality of the relationship between client and therapist is the only reliable and the most powerful predictor of a positive outcome. The most important aspect of effective therapy is that the patient and the therapist work together to help the patient reach their goals in therapy. Q. Some therapists consistently produce better outcomes than others, regardless of treatment and patient characteristics. a systematic investigation of the effectiveness of a type or technique of intervention (e.g., a new form of psychotherapy for treating depression) or of the comparative effectiveness of different intervention types or techniques (e.g., cognitive behavior therapy vs. drug therapy for depression). Visual art, music, dance/movement, drama, and expressive writing are the primary expressive arts modalities used in counseling. The creative arts offer both the clinician and the client an opportunity to move beyond the expressive limits of talk therapy.