Art therapy can be a gentle and effective way to help enhance and improve a child's emotional wellbeing and quality of life. While art therapy for children is often used by psychologists and other health professionals who deal with traumatised children and those who suffer from serious mental health conditions, it can also be an excellent way to help children heal from many other difficulties they face in early life.
What Is Art Therapy?
Art is a form of communication that allows the communicator to relay their thoughts, feelings and ideas beyond words. Painting, sculpture, sketching, mosaic, dance and playing a musical instrument are just among the many ways that people can express themselves without relying on verbal communication. Art therapy is a form of therapy that utilises the benefits of art to address emotional trauma and a wide range of mental health issues. It involves a creative process with a no-holds-barred approach to different art-based interventions, to allow the individual to work on their own therapeutic process.
Art therapy is not only used to treat a mental illness, but it's also an effective tool for honing a person's social skills, cognitive abilities and problem-solving skills. It releases them from the chains that anchor them to a negative emotion or a fabricated belief stamped onto the core of their being, which holds them back from moving forward with their life.
Art therapy services for children employ an array of art materials and other artistic media in order to encourage the young to express their innermost thoughts and feelings through creative processes. There are two general categories of art therapy, both of which are considered by health professionals to be effective:
- Most mental health professionals agree that the creative process of art is inherently therapeutic. There are different theories regarding why this is so, but many researchers argue that society pressures children from an early age to develop their cognitive skills to the detriment of their imaginative skills. This creates an emotional imbalance that art can help correct.
- Psychotherapists use art therapy as a tool in order to explore the symbolic content of the art produced by children. Trained therapists can establish communication with troubled children through discussing their art with them in a non-threatening way. In this way, many emotional issues the child may be either afraid to express or even not be aware of having can be addressed.
What Problems Can Art Therapy for Children Address?
Art therapy is used for a variety of childhood disorders, ranging from a traumatic experience to serious mental disorders. It's also used as an adjunctive treatment to standard therapy for kids experiencing the pains of a physical condition such as cancer. Some of the more common reasons for seeking the help of an art therapist include:
- Bedwetting
- Grief and bereavement
- Childhood trauma as a result of bullying or introversion
- Dealing with life threatening diseases such as cancer
- Sexual abuse
- Learning disabilities
- Autism spectrum disorders
- Schizophrenia
- ADHD
How is Child Art Therapy Facilitated?
While parents have the discretion to book a one-on-one or remote art therapy session for their child, elementary schools are a typical setting for group art therapy activities. Qualified art therapists ensure that children are provided with a playful environment where they don't feel censured or being placed under a microscope. Giving them absolute liberty to enjoy their artistic expression is the key to their healing process.
Unlike adults, who have the tendency to overthink everything, children enjoy simple activities that allow them to have fun while exploring their thoughts and feelings. This allows them to genuinely analyse and process the information that comes to them while engaging in different art therapy programs.
A recent pilot study, which was published on the Springer Nature's BioMed Central, with regard to the impact of emotion-based directed drawing intervention on the emotional and mental health of elementary school children in Canada, within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, shows that emotion-based art therapies, including mindfulness-based art therapy, can help decrease inattention, hyperactivity and psychological distress in grade schoolers.
How Do I Choose an Art Therapist?
Encouraging children to practice art doesn't require specialised training and can be of enormous benefit to them. Because creating art can be therapeutic in itself, a supportive teacher or parent can encourage children in expressing themselves through art. Many art therapists have received diplomas in effective forms of art therapy and are qualified to bring out the creative best in children.
If you are seeking help for a serious childhood disorder, you may need the help of a fully qualified, registered art therapist. ANZACATA, the Australian and New Zealand Arts Therapy Association, requires art therapists to have at least a two-year master's degree and 750 supervised hours of supervised clinical work before it grants registration to an art therapist. If you are in doubt about whose assistance would be of greatest benefit to your child, ask a trusted healthcare provider or refer to the full listing of Australia's first-rate art therapists on the Natural Therapy Pages. You can even use the filters on our site to limit your search results and find an art therapist in your local area.
Originally published on May 12, 2011
