Art therapy: When words are not enough – the healing power of creativity
What is professional art therapy?
Art therapy is a form of psychotherapy that uses visual media as the primary means of communication. It is a meeting of three elements: the patient, the therapist, and the work of art that is created during the session.
The key principle that we repeat to each participant is: You do not need to have artistic talent or technical skills. In art therapy, we do not evaluate the aesthetics of the works. The drawing does not have to be ‘pretty’ – it has to be real. The goal is not to create a work for an exhibition, but to gain insight into oneself, release emotions and reduce tension.
Creative process: What are the classes like?
Working in an art therapy studio is more than just an art class. Under the guidance of a qualified therapist, participants use a variety of techniques, such as painting, drawing, clay sculpture, collage and mixed media.
The session usually consists of three stages:
- Operation – a creative process in which participants transfer their feelings onto paper or into a spatial form. This allows them to bypass the censorship of logical thinking and reach deeply hidden emotions.
- Distance – the work becomes a separate entity. The patient can look at it from the outside, which allows them to externalise the problem – to separate it from themselves.
- Reflection – talking to a therapist about the work you have created, searching for meanings and symbols that help you understand your current mental state.
Who is art therapy for?
The flexibility of this method makes it an effective support tool for a very wide audience. As part of the Foundation's activities, we direct it in particular to:
- Children and young people with emotional difficulties – for whom verbalising problems is too difficult or abstract. Art becomes a safe language for them.
- Addicted and co-dependent individuals – people recovering from addiction and abstinent communities. Regulating emotions and tensions through creative activities reduces the risk of relapse and withdrawal symptoms, and increases the sense of agency and adaptation to change.
- People in mental crisis – depression, anxiety disorders, PTSD. Working with art materials helps reduce stress levels and restore self-confidence.
- Chronically ill and oncology patients – as a way of coping with pain, anxiety about the future and changes in one's body image.
- Senior citizens – as training for fine motor skills and a way to stimulate cognitive activity and counteract apathy.
Why does it work? The psychology of images
Art therapy engages the right hemisphere of the brain, responsible for creativity, intuition and emotions, integrating it with the left hemisphere, which is logical and verbal. Research shows that creative expression lowers cortisol (stress hormone) levels and stimulates dopamine secretion.
What is more, art allows us to safely ‘vent’ difficult emotions. Anger can be drawn with strong lines, sadness can be painted over with shades of blue, and clay can be kneaded to release aggression. It is a safe testing ground for our feelings.
Our mission
We believe that every person has colour within them, even if they see the world in black and white at the moment. We help them find that colour.