The arts, like any nonverbal expression, promote the exploration, expression and communication of aspects that we do not know, in this sense working with emotions through art therapy improves the quality of human relationships because it focuses on the emotional factor, essential in every human being, helping us to be more aware of the dark aspects, and thus facilitating the development of the person (Duncan , 2007).
Art therapy is about the person. This is not a project about it, but a project with it, based on its discomfort and desire for change, based on personal and cultural differences, tries to update the conditions of creative production, understand the specificity of the media used and understand their impacts (Bassols, 2006).
- Can art therapy be defined as a discipline with specificities and specific limits.
- Is it a therapeutic aid for some?It uses the visual arts as a means to recover or improve the mental health.
- Emotional and social well-being of the person.
- Of art therapy are the same as those of psychotherapy.
This help focuses on art as a form of communication, helping to express and communicate feelings, facilitating reflection, communication and enabling the necessary behavioral changes. Artistic creation, taken as an action, sets in motion a process: it intervenes in the therapeutic space and invades the reassessed reality.
“The world is full of small joys: art is about knowing how to distinguish them. Read Tai Po?
Visual arts are those used in therapy. We talk about painting, clay, collage, performing arts like theater, news, memory theatre, performance games, puppets. With music, rhythm, sounds, voice, instruments are used and, for writing you can use different genres; art therapy is a way of telling the truth by playing with the symbolic; Creative experiences can represent acts of aggression, abandonment, loss, feelings, and do so indirectly, without intentionality (Bassols, 2006). ).
In a play, drama or clown, the patient talks about it through the character, it is the art of action through the fictional character, a process of individual and / or collective creation that stands between two worlds: reality and fiction. productions, a dialogue with matter is established, it is about promoting the reunion of the person with matter and accompanying him on the journey that goes from mud to himself.
In painting a first step of unlocking is taken, letting yourself be carried away by the images that come, strokes, shapes, colors, trying to take the hand to escape the censorship of the view, as disinhibition, to organize, in a second moment, and gradually go to the depths of the person
In dance there is a beginning, a moment of awareness of one’s own movement, in the sense of listening to it and listening to it through that dynamism, subsequently allowing an approximation of oneself and facilitating communication with the other. , the natural voice is researched and used, breathing is released; it is created and transformed from improvisations, combining various sound qualities.
On the other hand, writing allows new ways of playing with the imagination of the experiences themselves. Imaginary and accompanying situations appear, from different routes, to the recreation of fictional stories and stories.
“The purpose of art is to embody the secret essence of things, not to copy one’s appearance. Aristotle?
Emotions are of fundamental importance in human development and experiences, in art therapy work with the arts contributes to personal and emotional development, in art therapy four phases are handled to work emotions: naming, exploring, experimenting and integrating, emotions are our main form of communication and can be more important than words. If words are not accompanied by proper emotions, they are unlikely to be raw (Duncan, 2007).
Generally, when we express something with emotions, we use gestures, images, verbal metaphors, and tones of voice to better communicate with others, which help us understand and express much more than words, when emotions are consistent with those words. , like any nonverbal expression, promotes the exploration, expression and communication of aspects that we do not know.
Working with emotions through art therapy improves the quality of relationships, focuses on the emotional factor, helping us to be more aware of the dark aspects and thus facilitating the development of the person. Basic emotions, such as fear, anger, joy, love, sadness, and uncomfortable feelings, are essential and necessary for the emotional balance of all people.
All emotions affect our cognitive abilities, physical health and professional performance, the health of emotional intelligence contributes to the ability to express, in a situation, adequate emotions, at conscious levels, also implies the ability to understand each other’s emotional manifestation properly and with empathy.
Working with the arts contributes to personal and emotional development. The unconscious works more with symbols than with words of thought, so the use of the arts facilitates the process of reflection and its development. The arts can communicate much more, especially unconsciously, because images convey more than words and offer a safe way to explore difficult topics.
Mirrors are used to see the face; art, see the soul. ?? George Bernard Shaw?
Artetherapy is beneficial in relation to the ability to develop interpersonal skills, to communicate the patient with others around them in an easier way, because of the ease of expression it proposes, in addition, it is very useful to manage the behavior, increasing self-esteem and avoiding the effects of anxiety.
Here are the benefits of art therapy for people who practice it
Sometimes it is difficult to express what we feel or think in the most traditional way, so art therapy, as a tool that uses and develops expression, can help shape those thoughts and feelings that take time to manifest.
Creatively addressing feelings and emotions can help change established behaviors or habits whenever emotions need to be expressed. Using art therapy during a sad emotional process, trying to use this emotion to create, can help you cope optimally.
The use of such therapies allows the person to improve their ability to create and imagine, as well as improve these skills by working in a focused way and with the help of the therapist.
Demonstrating that we can achieve something for ourselves leads to greater emotional stability. Similarly, achieving the proposed goals allows us to increase security within ourselves and foster the idea that we are doing something right.
Marking in the outside world what concerns us internally makes us see these concepts in a more practical and accessible way that we cannot understand, abstract ideals that can only be integrated into our knowledge from an external point of view.
Using the artistic modality to express themselves allows the person to acquire new tools to have good communication, both with others and with himself, being able to express what it costs to verbalize his ability to express himself more clearly and according to what he wants. Communicate.
Artetherapy usually uses the body to express what we can’t say, so this type of therapy also favors people who have difficulty performing or coordinating movements.
Carrying out activities related to art and creativity provides the person with an experience that reduces both stress and anxiety. People who practice this type of therapy find these activities relaxing.
Scientific thinking goes further and is also linked to the ability to be autonomous or solve daily life problems.
For our day-to-day life it is important to learn to concentrate, having a good ability to concentrate greatly helps us to be more effective in performing any task, the benefits of a good concentration are many: it increases our memory, our efficiency in decision making, our precision and our agility in the face of the challenge.
The areas of application of art therapy are physical health, mental health, emotional well-being and social well-being in different sectors of the population, for people who require specific monitoring of body expression and movements, art therapy can be applied through the techniques studied in psychotherapy.
The use of artetherapy is feasible in both children and adolescents and adults, with the advantage of being able to be applied at the therapeutic and educational level; in the latter case, cognitive behavioral techniques can complement the use of artetherapy (or vice versa) to teach about aspects that have a direct impact on the development of education.
“If a man, even vulgar, knew how to tell his own life, he would write one of the best novels anyone has ever written. “Giovanni Papini?
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