As you take a step down memory lane, specifically recalling your favorite childhood pastimes, I'm sure you, like myself, can remember the pure and simple emotions you felt while occupying yourself and your time with those activities. Enjoyment. Laughter. Lightheartedness. Well, what if I told you that the secret to relieving your adult stress, limiting anxiety, and feeling happier could be found by employing some of those same childhood pastimes? Some might think its crazy talk. Many more, however, have perhaps already realized the same. Adult Coloring is on the Rise: Trends indicate that one of our greatest and simplest pastimes - coloring - has become a sudden and quick-growing interest for adults. With the increasing demand, the industry for adult coloring pages, books, and supplies is on the rise. In fact, 5 out of the Top 20 Bestselling Books on Amazon are actually Adult Coloring Books. Coloring Away Your Stress and Anxiety: …show more content…
For years, researchers have uncovered the benefits of art related enterprises as they relate to therapy for distressed and anxious individuals. Similarly, and more related to the stressed and overworked individual today, coloring an intricate design or an inspirational message can act as a soothing and therapeutic release for the individual partaking in the activity. Neuropsychologist Dr. Stan Rodski and brain scientist Dr. Joel Pearson both agree. In an interview, Dr. Rodski shares his belief that coloring for adults can encourage a relaxed state as the coloring individual focuses their attention on the detail and intricacies of a particular image. Similarly, Dr. Pearson explains that the therapeutic effect can be further understood by considering that the image you are coloring replaces any negative ones you may be
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
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
Hinz, L. D. (2009). Expressive therapies continuum: A framework for useing art in therapy. New York: Routledge.
“Art therapy is a form of therapy in making of visual images (paintings, drawings, models etc.) in the presences of a qualified art therapist contributes towards externalization of thoughts and feelings which may otherwise remain unexpressed”(Walter & Gilory, 1992).
Art therapy began as a natural extension of Freud’s groundbreaking psychoanalytic theories at the turn of the last century. Psychiatrists discovered that visual arts could be used as a tool of assessment, and by the 1940s art was being used not only for assessment, but also in therapeutic applications (Junge, 2010). Two main branches evolved from these early years: art as therapy and art psychotherapy.
Pierson, M., & Wilson, H. (2009). Exploring Art as Therapy. In Using Expressive Arts to Work with Mind, Body, and Emotions: Theory and Practice (pp. 202-222). Philadelphia: Jessica Kingsly Publishers.
We do not want to paint pretty pictures to be hung on drawing room walls. We want to create, or at least lay the foundations of, an art that gives something to humanity. An art that arrests and engages. An art created of one’s innermost heart. and The Scream reflects his words
One of the disadvantages of art therapy is that the therapist is more vulnerable to misinterpretation in terms of the objective understanding of content. Care must be taken not to make rapid interpretations on the specific piece of art which might prevent or even deny the client the satisfaction of discovering and finding out for herself (Case and Dalley, p. 65). This is because art therapy involves a lot of interpretation, it is understandable that critics about this technique are similar to that of psychotherapy. The client’s images can come across as many things with contrasting ideas, but only the individual themself can explain it. The therapist is urged not to point out obvious red signals, instead they should allow the client to come up with their own interpretations. Their own interpretations alone are something to make note of as it may shed some light on the client's thought process about the
Art can benefit the unhealthy as well. With 34,000 soldiers coming back from Afghanistan as proposed by Barack Obama, there are many who consequently have mental disabilities or post-traumatic stress disorder. To cope with depression, or other symptoms, many doctors have used art programs...
Dear classmates,How would you feel if someone judged you for the way you look, dressed, or even talked? People are getting judged by the color of their skin and by what they do or how they dress. We need this to stop. They deserve respect like you and I. Nobody in this world of around 7 billion people should ever feel the need to insult one another. I have researched both sides of racism, meaning that I will be telling you how people feel when they experience racism. I will also be telling you why people are racist and how we can treat people equally. I know we don’t really have a problem here in school with racism, but you never know when it could happen.
...tion and the inter-rater reliability is high. As an art therapist, I see that the drawings themselves provide an entry into the opportunity for dialogue about what is going on in the world of the client.
Nostalgia. Such a simple word for something that causes us to feel many emotions. Listening to a certain song may make us feel sad and long for past times while watching some TV shows make you feel like a kid again. Countless studies have been conducted to understand the concept of nostalgia and to understand why it causes us to feel the way we do. Even though we all experience nostalgia on more than one occasion in our lifetime, it 's not uncommon for people to go through their lives feeling different types of nostalgia without knowing there 's a word to describe this feeling. There are many different definitions for the word nostalgia but the most basic and common is a feeling of longing for the past. Now that you’ve got a basic understanding
A red brick house on top of a small hill is where my memories reside. A slightly curved gravel road led to the front of the house. Eight or nine rose brown apple trees randomly covered the plush green lawn. Down the small hill, muddy brown water trickled down a ditch with cattails surrounding it. One enormous willow tree sat in the background, to the right of the house, to complete the picture. It almost seemed like a picture from a postcard. But when you're a kid none of this really matters. All that really matters to you is to have as much fun as possible. My memories don't come just from this beautiful picture but from the little things making it.
The arts have influenced my life in amazing ways. Throughout my life, art has been the place I run to and my escape from the world. As I’ve grown older, art has become so much more than that. Every piece of art I create is a journey into my soul. It’s a priceless way to deal with my emotions and my struggles. I create art not only because I enjoy it and because I want to, but because I have to. Somewhere deep inside there is a driving force, urging me to put my heart down on paper. I become emotionally attached to each of my pieces because they are like dashes on the wall marking my growth. Each one is the solution to a problem I have dealt with and overcome.