What is Art Therapy?
Art Therapy defined by the American Art Therapy Association is an integrative mental health and human services profession that enriches the lives of individuals, families, and communities through active art-making, creative process, applied psychological theory, and human experience within a psychotherapeutic relationship.
Benefits of Art Therapy include:
Cultivates emotional resilience
Increases emotional awareness
Improves attention span
Improves cognitive and sensorimotor functions
Enhances social skills
Improves communication skills
Thickens and increases grey matter in the brain
Increases self-control
Shifts brain patterns to a calmer state
Decreases cognitive avoidance
Increases self-esteem and self-acceptance
Increases psychological stability
Promotes insight
Reduces and resolves conflicts and distress
Advances societal and ecological change
