Hello friends. Today, I'll share with you on what is art therapy and explain how it works.
I am Youhjung and I was trained as an art therapist and here I create helpful videos on art therapy.
Art therapy can happen in many forms - in groups, with couples,
,with family, with individuals, and with
a whole community.
So what is art therapy?
Art therapy in its simplest definition is
expressing yourself through art, for our physical mental and emotional well-being.
If you want a more in-depth
explanation of the different kinds of art therapy
You can listen to my podcast episode 19 (link is in the description).
In art therapy there are three things that are present:
The artist or art-maker, the artwork, and the art therapist.
The art therapist provides
purposefully chosen and
curated art materials,
supporting the art maker and
helping them work towards a therapeutic goal.
What questions do you have about art therapy? Let me know in the comments below.
How art therapy works.
Art therapy works on
many different levels and here I explain how it works on our body, mind, and soul.
In terms of our body art therapy involves our senses - our sight, our sense of touch,
hearing and even smell.
Art therapy has advantages over verbal therapy
because the art-making process
Involves interacting with materials, with tools, and
It involves physical activity.
The body is involved in creating and
that is a powerful thing.
That is why it can feel very calming when we make art and we become more in tune with the present moment.
We can release the past and we can release the future.
The act of coordinated movement,
seeing and feeling with our senses
during art making help regulate our heartbeat, our breath, and even our muscle tone.
In terms of mind art therapy works in many different ways
In art therapy we can communicate non-verbally through images.
This can be easier to do
compared to using words only.
It can be safer to use images than words and
most of our memories are stored in images so art therapy helps us access those memories.
When you do our therapy you are activating both sides of the brain
integrating both left and right hemispheres.
This helps with having more balance in our mental states and in our
experiences and it helps reduce stress.
During our therapy we can access the subconscious memories and experiences that
we store in the right brain and
consciously explore them with our left brain and
this makes art therapy a whole brain healing method.
Art therapy combines the process of both healing through bodily experience and through thinking.
To give you an example there are two kinds of therapy or healing methods:
One that is mind-based like talk therapy and one that is body-based,
like float therapy or exercise.
And art therapy is wonderful in that it is both at the same time -
both mind and body based which can be very powerful.
They say about 95% of our actions are based on our subconscious
Because our subconscious speaks more readily in a visual language - in a nonverbal language -
art therapy can help us tap into our emotions
underneath our consciousness and give us a tool to express them.
On a soul level
Art therapy is a spiritual practice as well
because it helps us connect with our soul and our higher being,
allowing us to become more self-aware and
connect to what is intangible and to what is bigger than us.
Also art therapy helps us make meaning out of our life and the feelings and thoughts we experience.
It empowers us to see pain,
transform it, and create our own meaning from it.
It gives us a sense of direction and ultimately a purpose in life, as
we humans are creative beings.
Thank you for watching this video. If you enjoyed this, please like this video
and subscribe to my channel for more art therapy videos.
Thank you, and I'll see you next time. Bye