What Is Art Therapy?

One of the most loved and universal ways of expression is art. Many say that art is therapeutic and soothing, but why do these people say this? Furthermore, why is art therapy beneficial to the brain? What is the reasoning behind art and its potential healing for those who use it as a way of coping with a mental illness? Art therapy is more than just drawing what one feels; it is a way to use a remedial activity as an aid in diagnosing.
The creation of art is not found in just one part of the brain; it is produced from many different areas simultaneously. Some of the parts that play a role in the creative process include the motor system, the visual pathway, the affective processing system, the somatosensory pathway, and the cognitive symbolic

There are many different approaches to art therapy, one being the placement of importance on symbolic images which are mainly focused on finding the origins of the individual’s unresolved conflicts. Since the creation of visual art engages sensorimotor actions and involves perceptual processes, the piece can be understood verbally and even nonverbally, creating a therapeutic effect “by changing the image or the expressive medium in external reality” (Lusebrink 89). Art therapy is a great way for people with these degenerative brain illnesses, such as dementia or Alzheimer’s, to engage with others through self-expression and validate these patients a sense of self in their current state. It is a way to involve visual expression of imagery and emotions in “different art media using kinesthetic action and sensory manipulation of the media” (Lusebrink 89), meaning that through the physical movements of creating art, this form of therapy has found highly effective methods for accessing and strengthening nonverbal affective functions, as Shore

Simply put, both hemispheres are involved in the process of making art. The right hemisphere creates the spatial image of the art itself, while the left hemisphere depicts the symbolic concepts found in art. So, depending on where the legion is, certain points in the creative process will be affected differently than if another area was lesioned. Individuals who have Alzheimer's disease tend to follow a pattern with their artwork; it becomes more simplistic, much like their own mental decline, as time goes on. Not only is art therapy a way to help improve and retain skills that the elderly have, but also it can affect their quality of life, social and emotional growth, and rehabilitation of a physical problem. For example, an artist called Ms. B had apraxia, a motor disorder, and “atrophy that was more marked in the parietal lobes, particularly the right parietal lobe, which is fundamental to art making” (Safar 98). Her art therapists worked with her by giving her helpful tips or tricks to still create what she loved as her brain and artistic abilities degenerated. She would continually work on ways to help her vision in her periphery and arm movements. Because of the help and validation from her art therapists, she was able to become