Art Therapy Research Paper

Words: 818
Pages: 4

Depression is a mental illness that consumes the whole body. It causes the person that has it to feel tired, unmotivated, and hopeless. The person may also start to shut themselves off from family members and other loved ones. To the person suffering from depression, it may seem that there is no end in sight – that nothing in the world can help them feel better. However, art therapy may be an excellent option. Art therapy is the use of art in psychotherapy where the client is allowed to use different art media (such as clay, paint, oil pastels, or chalk) to express themselves. The use of free-expression can help the client bring to light issues that they are facing and can help them work through them. Art therapy can especially help teens who …show more content…
Adolescents may also become aggressive and start abusing drugs and alcohol as a way to relieve depressive pain. Because teens that suffer from depression tend to act out their depression, active therapies can help. Art can be used therapeutically and the end product can be used in various ways. For one, the artwork created can help the therapist understand a bit more about what is going on with the teen. The artwork can also help the teen communicate, putting into art what they can’t put into words. The therapist can also keep the artwork to see how much it changes throughout the therapy sessions, keeping track of how much the client has progressed. Activity is an antidepressant, so art will stimulate the adolescent and help them find a solution to their …show more content…
They would rather put themselves at risk emotionally than admit they need help. When it comes to a teen with depression, “the greatest difficulty for an adult seeking to establish a relationship with an adolescent is the teen’s resistance to authority and lack of trust in the adult world” (Riley, 2001). Because of this, teens are resistant to talk to adults, especially ones they do not know. However, adolescents are attracted to making symbols and drawing, so using art as language instead of actually speaking words is an easy way to communicate. Drawings introduce representational language and personalized communication. In many cases, teens are unable to express their deep feelings through words, and sometimes the images they put in their artwork comes before the understanding of the visualization. The art created can help the therapist gain some idea of the client’s worries and life circumstances when the client does not want to share through words. Also, art-based therapies were reported to be “effective for patients who had difficulty with more traditional forms of talk-oriented therapies” (Frisch, Franko, and Herzog,