Art Therapy

            How many among us have used any form of art to help ourselves get through a difficult time in our lives?  We often listen to music that reflects our moods or hum a tune that reflects our disposition at that time.  Some of us would write a journal, paint or draw, or even dance to express a sentiment or experience that we are having. 

            I have met a few people who profess that art helps them deal with the realities in their lives.  It helps them celebrate the positive, and go through the less pleasant, even painful, situations in their lives.  Art offers an avenue of expression, a way of making sense of an experience. 

            This is the basic principle that guides the practice of art therapy.  In expressing oneself using any art medium (i.e., visual arts, performing arts, music, literature, etc.), one is able to go through an experience and find growth and healing in the experience.  This is when we believe that art is therapeutic, and merely expressing oneself using an art form is enough for psychological healing to take place. 

            Now, it is easy to think at this point that one has to be trained and therefore very good in a particular art form in order to make art therapeutic.  Whereas this is the experience of many trained and talented artists, it is really not necessary to be schooled in a strict discipline of a particular art form for any of us to use art as a medium of expression.  In fact, we don’t have to be very good at it in order to use it as a therapeutic medium.  So, any of us would, in fact, benefit from expressing ourselves using any art form that we find at least suitable for us. 

            For many psychologists, the manner of expression used in a specific art form is also indicative of the experience and the feelings that punctuate it.  This means that our behaviors and the subtle choices that we make in going about doing an art form is also a source of information that can help us gain insight about ourselves and what we might be going through.  This process is often initiated through reflecting observations and asking clarifying questions.  With some reflection on one’s own thoughts and feelings, an individual can gain much insight and understanding of themselves and their process. 

            In effect, art can be therapeutic in itself.  Doing art can promote insight and can also be healing.  At the same time, the art product and the process that one goes through in this production can likewise be used as a means of making meaning and expounding on one’s experiences.  These two ways of understanding art in the context of counseling and psychotherapy, art as therapy and art in therapy, are the two main forces in the practice of art therapy. 

           In many countries, the practice of art therapy is governed by an organization of practitioners or, in some cases, even by law.  In the Philippines, there is neither such organization nor law that guides the practice of art therapy.  However, it is often seen as a specialized area of work for psychologists and artists.  Although I am not an art therapist and would not identify myself as such, I often incorporate art in my work with clients.  I find that clients, both children and adults, are sometimes better able to express themselves through means other than just talking.