What is art therapy?The name itself gives us a clue about the essence of this term. Art therapy is nothing more than treatment with the help of art. How does it happen? Without droppers and tablets, without massages and potions. This direction uses only paints and brushes, colored dough and paper, clay and plasticine, mango, sand, fabrics, photographs and many other various materials that, with a competent approach to them, contribute to the healing of the human soul.
Art therapy is a kind of connecting thread betweensubconsciousness and consciousness. Such a kind of bridge between the brain and the soul. Using this technique can solve many problems. After all, most often they are not on a conscious level. They lie much deeper. That is why their elimination verbally or medically - a task almost impossible. But to solve it at the level of art, metaphors and images is quite possible.
Art therapy is separate and verya promising area of psychotherapy, which arose relatively recently, only in the late 20th century. It is at the junction of psychology and art, gaining popularity every year.
Creativity that helps to live
In our difficult times a person is very difficultavoid psychological problems. Almost every one of us is heavily weighed down by various kinds of fears, and often not only heightened excitability comes, but suddenly comes the sudden coming aggression. All this affects not only adults. Similar problems are observed in children. How to adjust the existing mental "problems"? The most painless way is offering us the power of art. A beneficial influence on a person renders music, painting and theater. They give us a lot of positive emotions, which allows us to get rid of internal stresses, and also switch to a positive attitude.
Even better, if a person does not contemplate, butcreate. This will allow him to express his feelings and release his inner potential. This activity heals in the literal sense of the word. That's why it was called art therapy.
Creativity or pills?
Who are the most often employed art therapists?Yes, almost all. This area is not limited to the age range and is great for both adults and children. Art therapy has many advantages. Among them:
- Availability.In order to engage in drawing, origami or modeling, you do not need expensive materials, special conditions or long preparation. As for fairy tales, you can tell them almost everywhere - on the way to kindergarten, at home or on a walk.
- Absence of any contraindications. You can apply art therapy to everyone. After all, it is the most effective and innocuous way to get rid of negative energy.
- Presence of the "language" with which helpit is much easier to express the experiences and feelings that have arisen. Man, using plastic and visual expression, gets the opportunity not to choose emotions and expressions. They are transmitted by themselves.
Objectives of art therapy
What is the purpose of this direction, which allows us to treat human souls? His main specific tasks, with which, incidentally, art therapy copes quite successfully, are:
- Diagnostics.Creativity makes it possible to identify the main problems of man. In this case, the art therapist becomes clear what should be paid special attention, and what happens in the soul of his patient in fact.
- Correction.The use of art therapy means can change the behavior of a person, sending it to a more constructive channel. In this case, the patient is healed of fears and anxieties, phobias and limiting beliefs.
- Development. The use of art therapy in working with children can identify the strengths and weaknesses of the child, and also contributes to their development.
- Satisfaction of the available aestheticneeds. Art-therapeutic process involves true creativity. Adults and children begin to create paintings and music, write poetry and books. And most often their abilities are shown by those people who considered themselves completely far from inspiration and creativity.
- Psychotherapy. This direction allows the specialist to work with the depths of the subconscious, with severe experiences and mental trauma.
Forms of art therapy
Treatment of art can be:
- passive;
- active.
If the first version of art therapy is used inwork with children, it provides for "consumption" by young patients of works of art that have already been created by other people. The child in this case reads books, looks at pictures, listens to music.
An active form of art therapy involves the creation of their creative products, including drawings, sculptures, etc.
In addition, classes in the treatment of artare structured or unstructured. In the first case, the topic of the session is asked by the psychologist. He also offers material for use. At the end of this creative process, the topic itself is discussed, as well as the manner of performance, etc. In unstructured occupations, patients have the right to choose the tools, material and subject matter for lighting themselves.
Types of art therapy
There are various techniques of art therapy in operationwith children and older patients. Psychologists in this case opens an almost endless field for activity. Specific methods are selected by specialists depending on the problems and age of their clients. For example, art therapy in corrective work with hyperexcitated and anxious children suggests giving them tasks on drawing on glass. Then the resulting image should be transferred to paper. This type of art treatment is called monotype.
Art therapy in corrective work with children,possessing a closed or aggressive character, presupposes the issuance of tasks for the child to fold the silhouettes, unwinding the coil of threads. Patients who have low self-esteem should tell interesting stories to each other.
In work with kids, elements are often usedtheatrical and play. After all, all the children are great dreamers. That is why such activities are understandable and close to them. Applied creative techniques of art therapy in working with children make it possible to create such a comfortable atmosphere that classes will not seem boring to anyone and will turn into a real workshop for young talents. All participants of such a process certainly feel joy from the possibility of self-expression, while simultaneously solving their psychological problems.
Types of art therapy in working with children therea great many. At the same time, new and new ones are constantly being developed and introduced into practice. But the main areas that psychologists use most often in their work are:
- Isoterapy. It is a treatment with the help of visual arts and drawing.
- Mandalotherapy. Beneficial effect on a person with the help of a special drawing design.
- Music therapy. This kind of art therapy involves treatment with sounds. A person can not only listen to a finished musical work, but also create their own rhythm, and also lose it.
- Sand therapy. In this type of treatment, the potential that is embedded in the sand is used.
- Fairy tale therapy. In this case, the psychologist uses metaphors in myths, legends and fairy tales.
- Tissue therapy. Therapeutic work is sometimes carried out with woven materials, from which the patient is encouraged to create compositions.
- Kukloterapiya. When carrying out similar therapeutic art therapy in working with children, small patients are encouraged to make their own toy. Materials can be very diverse.
- Collage. During such lessons, the treatment is performed when creating the desired map from pictures cut from magazines.
- Testoplasty. This type of art therapy in working with children allows them to undergo a course of treatment by working with any of the plastic materials, including plasticine, dough and clay.
Indications for art therapy
Treatment using the methods described aboveis based on spontaneous self-expression. In doing so, it to some extent ignores those aesthetic criteria that are used to evaluate the results of creations and their professionalism. Art therapy in working with children is aimed at the very process of creativity, and not on its outcome.
Who, in the first place, is shown similar activities? Methods of art therapy in working with children are applied if the children:
- They are stubborn.
- Aggressive.
- Suffer from stuttering or tics.
- They are in constant fears and have obsessive conditions.
- They are often characterized by a change of mood.
- They have delays in mental and speech development.
- Have appeared in a crisis situation.
- Apathetic or excitable.
- They changed their place of residence.
- Prepare to visit kindergarten, school or are in the period of adaptation.
- Are hyperactive.
In addition, the use of art therapy inwork with children is necessary in those cases when children have difficulties in communicating with their peers or with adults. It is necessary to have similar treatment and loss of control of parents over the behavior of their child because of his disobedience.
Features of art treatment
With the help of the use of certain types of art therapy for children, the tasks of this direction are solved quite quickly and effectively.
The fact is that this technique allows:
- create a positive emotional mood in the child;
- directly address the already existing fantasies or problems, which for some reason the patient is difficult to discuss verbally;
- give the opportunity to conduct on a symbolic level experiments with a variety of feelings, to explore them and express them in a form acceptable to society;
- creatively express themselves, develop imagination, gain aesthetic experience, as well as practical skills in visual activity;
- to increase the adaptive abilities of the baby to everyday life, reducing fatigue, as well as negative emotional states associated with the learning process;
- effectively correct existing violations and deviations in personal development, relying on internal mechanisms of healing and self-regulation.
Principles of training
The use of methods of art therapy in working with children will be effective only if:
- The child will have the desire to engage.This is the main condition for the application of art therapy methods. After all, the creativity of a person who does not have the desire is simply impossible. In this case, the psychologist will not be able to start a trusting dialogue with the child.
- The little patient will receive encouragement and thanks.
- The teacher in advance will be ready to receive fromchild answer "I do not know." Very often, this is the way children react to common questions. In this case, an adult must offer his young patient several answers.
- The teacher himself will take directparticipation in their proposed work. At the same time, at the beginning and at the end of the lesson, an adult should talk with his child about his mood, draw with him, sculpt, talk about works of art or music, that is, perform the tasks that are assigned to the small patient.
- The material that is used in the applicationvarious methods of art therapy in working with children will be good, beautiful and bright. Pencils and paints, paper and plasticine must have a neat appearance. Indeed, through the material for work, the child feels an attitude toward himself. For those children who come to classes with reluctance, bright stationery will be an attractive moment.
- The story of the teacher in the classroom will containimagine the details of the hypnotic narration. To some extent, the speech of an adult should introduce a child to a light trance. This can be achieved by repeating sentences or words, as well as through the use of metaphors, epithets and changes in voice intonation. This technique allows you to create an atmosphere of mystery, unusual events, which, in turn, helps the miracle happen in the form of spontaneous self-disclosure of a small patient.
- Will enjoy the process of drawing. After all, even scribbles or scribbles are very important for healing.
Work with children with disabilities
Art therapy in working with young patientshaving limited abilities, presupposes the development of their cognitive and emotional-volitional sphere. Practical classes with such a child are designed to solve the problem of socialization and adaptation. At the same time, the art therapy methods used in working with children with disabilities should take into account the structure of the defect, the psychological abnormalities of the patients, as well as their individual personality and age characteristics.
The most important therapeutic effect in thiscase is the direction using active imagination. This allows the psychologist to confront the unconscious and the conscious, and then reconcile them with each other through effective interaction.
Art therapy in work with disabled children,applying art is the most natural form of correction of emotional and mental states. At the same time, it uses such methods as isotherapy, psycho-gymnastics, music therapy, animal therapy and fairy-tale therapy. They allow a psychologist to discover those hidden abilities that a child has, and also to save him from internal conflicts and from various fears. The principles of working with such patients are gentle. Art therapy does not have any negative impact on the psyche of the baby. An adult enters into a dialogue with a small patient in a playful way. Gradually, he begins to gain his confidence and thus learns all that bothers the child. In the future, the art therapist must decide what to do in this situation.
Thanks to working with symbolic material inunderdeveloped perception systems as well as associative-figurative thinking begin to actively develop in the child. With the help of art therapy, the child significantly expands his life experience, which gives him confidence.
Work with aggressive children
Correctional therapy with such smallpatients have some special features. For example, in its initial stages of conducting prohibited to use group forms. Indeed, in such cases, negative emotions become inevitable. That is why the most effective is the conduct of individual art therapy in work with aggressive children.
Absolutely ineffective in such cases conversations withsmall patients, explaining to them that they need to behave themselves. The main specificity of such children is that their emotional state is characterized as acute. The problems that exist in their behavior arise from a high level of fear and anxiety, as well as from strong feelings of resentment and guilt. Correction of behavior in such a situation will only relieve the severity of the emotional state of the child. This will contribute to a variety of methods of art therapy, but the use of modeling and drawing will be especially effective in this case. Recommended and the use of sand therapy. Demonstrative negativism and aggression after conducting such activities are replaced by the child for creativity and initiative.
