Although art therapy was discovered mainly by professors in pursuit of ways to benefit children’s education, its value is not exclusive to just the classroom. Actually art therapy can and is being used in hospitals, clinics and other places outside of school in which adults or people of the third age can also benefit from positive recoveries and further human development, really, anyone can benefit from art therapy. Nevertheless, if you’re using the art therapy as a means of expression and without the aid of a specialist in a school or a clinic, there are still many forms art therapy can benefit you without any guidance.
Consistent to the previously mentioned use of art therapy for threating children, adults, or third age adults suffering from…show more content… In a study made by Natascha Pfeifer about the treatment of a group of South African girls, she was able to find out that art therapy helped some of the girls from that group who were victims of sexual abuse in improving some of their self-esteem and overcoming some symptoms of anxiety. On this study Pfeifer assessed 25 sexually abused girls ranging from the years 8 to 11. On the study, the girls were asked to explore their feelings connected with the abuse they had experienced. In addition, they were asked to draw different feelings and discuss them among the group. “They were then asked to draw or paint a ‘happy box’ and an ‘unhappy box’ in which their feelings could be…show more content… Crespo studied the use of art therapy with patients having schizophrenia and was able to find out how art therapy made a large difference in helping those who suffered from this mental disorder in re-socializing and to rehabilitating their ego. Crespo stipulates that art therapy in a well-organized and supported atmosphere, “can be a very effective way in helping to alter the schizophrenic’s psychotic projections as well as to aid in the long and quite difficult rehabilitative process. Thus, this specific therapeutic approach can help to regenerate a more integrated and functioning ego, as reflected in the artwork” (Crespo, 2003). Showing that art therapy is indeed efficacy for those suffering from mental illness. The fact that art therapy is not only used in school is also supported by Crespo in which she gives the idea that the place doesn’t really matter as long as there is a supportive community that wants to help those in
