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Natalie Amos
Professor Sipin
English 211
3/18/15
Art Therapy: Why it is a Powerful Tool for Many Illnesses and Maladies
There are innumerable conditions that can affect a person physically, mentally, and
emotionally and for centuries treatments have been sought to ease the pain that these conditions
cause. Art Therapy is unique among these many treatments as it covers all three of these
categories, yet it has only come to the light of experts attention in fairly recent history. Art
Therapy has the capability to help so many people, yet the very fact that its uses are so vast can
make it seem nebulous and difficult to grasp. I must admit that when I began researching this
subject it was difficult to know where to start so that I could get a full understanding of all that it
encompasses, but as I analyzed the subject more closely it becomes apparent that Art Therapy is
quite straight forward and much more accessible than it at first appeared.
The first thing that I thought to do was to search on google.com what Art Therapy was, as
I believed this might give a more solid grasp on it. The source that I found was an article by the
American Art Therapy Association which did just that. It discussed how Art Therapy helps
clients come to terms with any number of issues that they might have by giving them a way to
explore their feelings, reconcile emotional conflicts, foster self-awareness, manage behavior and
addictions, develop social skills, improve reality orientation, reduce anxiety, and increase selfesteem. I found that this article was very beneficial as it gave me a starting point for the rest of
the research that I would do.

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At this point I decided to move to the university databases and using Jstor, I found quite a
few more articles pertaining to this subject. The first of these was Mental Health, the arts and
belongings by Hester Parr, which discussed how Art Therapy can give those that are mentally ill
a sense of belonging and uses historical and current accounts to help do so. The artistic
experience might involve the possibility of situated belonging This provided an interesting
perspective on this subject, as it illuminated how Art Therapy not only helps with a patients
issues with themselves, but with their social issues as well.
My next scholarly article was Group Therapy on the Edge: Adolescence, Creativity, and
Group Work by Craig Haen and Mandy Weil and as its name would suggest it explores some
studies on young adults dealing with issues from emotional issues to addiction and how group art
therapy benefitted them. In this paper we examine the challenges and advantages of working
with adolescents in groups and offer ideas drawn from the creative arts. This article was quite
beneficial in showing how art can be a useful tool in working with adolescents as they are at a
time in their lives where they are simultaneously wanting to be heard and needing to be hidden
and art provides that source of expression that is seen by others, but still remains very personal.
Another article which discussed the uses of Art Therapy with adolescents was Painting
Their Way Out: Profiles of Adolescent Art Practice at the Harlem Hospital Horizon Art Studio
by Alice Wexler. This particular one goes even further and discusses Art Education as well and
how it can be helpful in reaching children with educational disabilities. Therapeutic teaching
has a long and important history in serving children and adults with disabilities As I go
further with my research I continue to be educated about the different uses for Art Therapy.
The final article that I found in my research was Helping and Hindering Processes in
Creative Arts Therapy Group Practices by Ditty Dokter. This particular article went into the

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relationship between the therapist and client and how Art Therapy can work as a mediator during
the sessions for a better understanding all around. It also discussed some of the issues within Art
Therapy, specifically differing interpretations of the art. Difference in perception between
clients and therapists about whether the arts form was meant for direct or symbolic expressions
created client-therapist dissonance This article was particularly helpful as it was not only
educational about the benefits of Art Therapy, but also its disadvantages.
When I began my research, my idea of Art Therapy was rather broad and vague, but as I
found articles, it began to become a more definite concept. Art Therapy has many uses in the
treatment of people with any number of issues, from educational disabilities to addiction. Though
it can cause some issues when Therapist and Client cannot reconcile ideas about the art, overall
Art Therapy can be the gateway to recovery for those who undergo such treatment.

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Works Cited
Dokter, Ditty. Helping and Hindering Processes in Creative Arts Therapy Group Practice.
Creative Arts Therapy. Vol 34. Eastern Group Psychotherapy Society (2010): 6783.

Web. Mar 18 2015.

Haen, Craig, and Mandy Weil. Group Therapy on the Edge: Adolescence, Creativity, Group
Work. Creative Arts Therapy. Vol 34. Eastern Group Psychotherapy Society (2010): 3752. Web. Mar 18 2015.
Parr, Hester. Mental Health, the Arts and Belongings. Transactions of the Institute of British
Geographers. Vol. 31. Wiley (2006): 150-166. Web. Mar 18 2015.
What is Art Therapy? American Art Therapy Association. American Art Therapy Association
(2013). Web. Mar 18 2015.
Wexler, Alice. Painting Their Way out: Profiles of Adolescent Art Practice at the Harlem
Hospital Horizon Art Studio. Studies in Art Education. Vol 43. National Art Education
Association (2002): 339-353. Web Mar 18 2015.