Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Art therapy and its effectiveness
Essays on the benefits of art therapy used for special needs children
Benefits of art on children
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Art therapy and its effectiveness
Art therapy is a psychotherapy where free expression through art materials is used and works as a stress-relieving activity or to help the therapist in finding a diagnosis. Medical art therapy is used specifically for people who are undergoing aggressive medical treatment, are physically ill, or are experiencing trauma to the body. In children who have cancer, art therapy can be especially beneficial. Often, children do not understand what is happening to them or why it is happening to them, and they become very scared. This can also place stress on the parents, who want to console their child but do not know how to do so. Luckily, the use of art therapy in the medical setting can help not only the child undergoing treatment, but also the patient’s …show more content…
The child gave a story about the picture: “…the singer had been kidnapped and held captive deep in the woods. She was singing as loudly as she could so her lover would come and rescue her” (Councill, “Medical Art Therapy with Children”, 227). With the picture and the story that the patient gave, Councill could determine that the child was not faking her seizures, and her picture showed a cry for help. Through the artwork, the patient was subconsciously trying to tell the medical team that she needed and wanted their help. After further research into the medicine the child was taking, doctors found that the seizures were a rare side effect and, upon switching the medicine, the seizures stopped. Medical art therapists who are integrated into the treatment team are also able to help parents’ understanding of medical information, by communicating in non-medical …show more content…
During a cancer diagnosis, siblings often have these medical issues: “hepatitis requiring hospitalizations, multiple knee injuries requiring multiple surgeries, emotional symptoms requiring psychiatric care, fighting and other disruptive behaviour at school, and a death resulting from an automobile accident” (Koch, 67). Siblings, especially younger ones, also have the fear of contracting a life-threatening illness and dying, and are also forced to mature faster due to their sibling’s illness. Similar to the parents, having access to an art therapist could reduce these risks. Especially with children who are not getting the attention they may need from their parents, art therapy gives them a safe place to be a child and get much needed attention from the therapist. Another helpful situation would be doing family art therapy, so that the parents are aware of how the sibling is feeling. Siblings often feel that because their parents are giving their brother or sister more attention, that the brother or sister’s life is more important than theirs. Art therapy would be able to help these children understand that their sibling’s life is not more important than theirs and help explain while the parents may seem to be giving a bit more attention to the ill child, the parents still love and care for
Even though it is normal for parents to center their attention and display immense amount of care and support for the child or teen who has been diagnosed with a mental disorder, parents should not allow the challenges to allow themselves to neglect other important parts of their lives including equally caring for the other children in the household. Parents should remember that if they have other children, they may feel bitter about being pushed to the side if all the attention is placed on their sibling’s mental health challenges. They may also become annoyed if they have to “walk on eggshells” around their sibling due to their mental disorder generally because they do not understand what is happening. So, it is essential to make sure that they understand what their sibling is going through, and that you love and care for them all the same. Significantly, keeping a happy balanced family can be very helpful in reducing stress levels for everyone. Parents may seek counseling and support groups to help siblings deal with and learn about the mental disorder. Getting the sibling involved and having a role in the treatment of the adolescents with a long-term psychiatric disorder, can include getting them to advocate for their brother or sister. If they are older allow them to take part in some of the
For example, adolescents are often forced into therapy by their parents or school as a result of an inability to cope with stress in a socially acceptable way. Patients at this stage are too old to engage in play therapy, where therapists analyze a child’s behavior during play and when presented with toys. Also, patients acting out during adolescence are often too young to obtain the maturity to verbalize their emotions in a socially acceptable form. Art therapy is useful at this stage of development because similar impulses expressed in play therapy are expressed through drawings, meanwhile not requiring verbal communication. Art therapy introduces the mature defense mechanism of sublimation to the patient, guiding them to achieve better self control as they learn to communicate their impulses through art and talking about their art. A particular form of therapy is managed in groups, and adolescents are encouraged to engage in conversation about their drawings while they are creating them. This creates an environment of low anxiety, allowing patients communicate internal conflict and disregard their normal defense mechanisms that are used to conceal these emotions. The defense mechanism of sublimation is apparent in this process, as the use of color, composition, space and shapes to provide an
This struggle is something that concerns her throughout the article. Estroff states that “The moment of truth for adult sibling relationship is the aging of parents and decisions about end-of-life parental care.” Both authors feel that the hardest times siblings will have to deal with life issues, is when their parents come to the place they cannot care for themselves. During that time is the moment of truth for siblings, if they can handle the pressure together and work together through the hard choices, or if this could cause them to fall apart. These situations force siblings to either deal with their differences for the sake of the parent, or their differences are so monumental that the burden of the parent falls on one of them or the parent is left to fend for herself, which could end the parent up in a nursing
Upon arrival, the B.A.T. clinical team greeted Mrs. Hoogerwerf and Cody at the door. Cody responded “Hi” in high pitched voice, that sounded similar to Mickey Mouse. Mom reported that Cody’s high pitched Mickey Mouse voice occurs on a daily basis, clinical team suggested this behavior was a verbal stem. Cody’s elder brother was also present during the visit and greeted the clinical team. Mrs. Hoogerwerf directed the team to the family room. Then Cody went to his movement room. Cody’s movement room is in what once was the family garage, in the room has a ball pit, a couch, TV, hundreds of Disney movies, and hammock like swing. Mrs. Hoogerwerf, added that Cody goes to his movement room after school, to relax. Cody sat in the movement room with mom and the clinical team for about 20 minutes. During this time, we did Cody’s Thomas the Train puzzle and looked at Cody’s vast collection of videos’. Hoogerwerf reported that Cody takes down all his video’s every night and re-stacks them, it’s a ritual for him. Soon Cody covered his ears and then twirled his red scarf in his view point and he fixated on it with his eyes (visual stem). Mom then suggested that Cody becomes overstimulated by too many people talking and will cover his ears. In sum, Cody was able to sit and attend to puzzle for five minutes and complied with cleaning up puzzle pieces. Reportedly, Cody likes to clean up.
I then came across the practice of art therapy. As a child, I've had a love for drawing and art, and I never really grew out of it. I saw art therapy as a wonderful opportunity for me since I found this both an enjoyable and useful study. I became interested in art therapy because it serves as a creative outlet for me to help people by applying what I love for them. I believe art therapy can help troubling patients because it connects with troubling patients at
In recent times, trying to express oneself has become increasingly difficult; this is as such with patients suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is a result of extreme exposure to physical harm or danger. These traumatic experiences could be caused by reasons such as near-death, serious accident, violence, war, torture, or any event that causes extreme fear. A common occurrence with patients dealing with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is a hesitancy or inability to discuss or express emotions and thoughts verbally. We as art therapist need to come up with a method to reawaken the positive emotions and address the symptoms of emotional freezing in patients with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. If not, these patients will suffer lifelong with damaged relations and innumerable ailments, both physical and mental. With that being noted, the method of associative art and its various forms will bridge the gap between the imprisoned emotions detained by those suffering Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and the positive aspects of their life.
What made the final decision for the career you chose for yourself? Is it something you are passionate about doing? Was it the money? Well what if you could take an assessment test of your skills and see what career would be best for you? You don’t want to be stuck doing a job that you do not enjoy because you thought it paid well. After exploring two very different careers, it was interesting to see what I found. A Business Executive and an art therapist have very little in common.
My vision of Art Therapy was very vague. I always thought art therapy was a form of therapy for distressed or abused children trying to tell a story through pictures or drawings. The American Art Therapy Association defines art therapy as a mental health profession that uses the creative process of art making to improve and enhance the physical, mental, and emotional well being of individuals of all ages. Art therapy is a form psychotherapy that has been practiced for over sixty years and it has been promoted as a means of helping people who find it difficult to express themselves verbally (Crawford, et al., 2010). Art therapy sessions usually start with a form of relaxation such as deep breathing , progressive muscle relaxation, or setting an intention for the session ahead (Hart, 2010). Art therapy is used for several different types of people with diverse illnesses such as: Autism Spectrum Disorder, people living with HIV/AIDS, mental disorders and even Cancer. Studies show that art therapy can lead to increased self awareness of self, as well as improved ability to cope with symptoms, stress, and traumatic experiences (American Art Therapy Association). This form of therapy helps these patients express positive feelings that may not be easy to access in the midst of a fear provoking experience (Hart, 2010). Art therapy help people to identify their feelings, and resolve the issues associated with their illness. Although, my lack of knowledge on this therapeu...
Experiential family therapy would work best for children ages 3-11, because it involves using techniques like role playing, which will uncover the child hopes, fears of what presently is affecting them. Play therapy technique that will incorporate puppets, finger painting, drawing, and any form of media that will allow the child to show their feelings and excitements. Family art therapy that is used for either adults or children for self-knowledge and recognize what emotional issue they have which in turn can be used in the healing process
This approach she felt was prominent during the art making portion of the session. Besides from the art portion of a session, Riley believed the verbal component of art therapy was important. Riley explored the stigma surrounding art therapy and the client's verbal expressions. From the book, Integrative Approaches to Family Art Therapy (Riley & Malchiodi, 1994), Riley states: “Hearing client’s language does not negate the process of looking at the art product. It is a synthesis of two creative means of communication.” Joining these two stories was key in Riley’s
Art directives in an art psychotherapy approach are understood in terms of the spontaneous expression that gives access to unconscious material (Case & Dalley, 2006). The triangular relationship between the art, client, and therapist is considered more important than the final art product. Case and Dalley (2006) describe an art psychotherapy directive in which a child client is asked to paint a series of...
Trauma, as defined by the American Psychological Association, is an emotional response to a terrible event like an accident, rape or natural disaster. In order to process and overcome a traumatic experience, most seek a therapist. This is especially true for individuals who have dealt with childhood sexual abuse. There are different types of therapy and therapists that exist that individuals go to. Art therapy is a kind of psychotherapy that uses art as it’s main technique of communications in order to improve the emotional and mental well being of the patients. It combines the areas of human development, visual art such as drawing, sculpture, painting and other kinds of art and the artistic process with counseling and psychotherapy.
Physical symptoms of cancer and the treatment can have serious social and emotional consequences for the diagnosed child....
When a child is sick, it takes a toll on not only that child individually but also the immediate and extended family, and the community who have a connection to the child. Studies show that 59% of children with a sick sibling present external symptoms of disruption and instability following a major diagnosis because those siblings feel neglected due to so much time and energy going into the sick child (Fleary & Heffer, 2013). Depression, bad behaviour and resentment are common symptoms that develop in siblings, leading to acting up for attention or not doing well at school (Fleming, 2014) (APA, 2016). Older siblings tend to be more distressed as they’re able to understand the condition, and are likely to gain more