Over the years, people have used art – pictures, stories, music, dance and chants – as healing rituals. Recently, researchers have studied and examined the potential of art in improving health and wellness.
The benefits and therapeutic effects of creative expressions include:
Improvement in regulating impulses and emotions
Art therapy helps patient learn to control their tension and emotions before they reach breaking points. Art therapy also assists patients in thinking about their behavior before they act on it, leading to a more positive behavior.
Effective expression of emotions
Studies have found that creative expressions help patients express emotions and experiences that are too hard to put in words. Through art therapy, patients learn how to express specific details and create vivid sceneries which represent their emotions.
Patients are able to evaluate their emotions subconsciously, without using words that will orally share thoughts. Creative expression can effectively help an individual communicate their emotions.
Therefore, therapists are able to gain insight and better understand an individual’s problem.
Creating and maintaining a more positive personal image
Creative expression helps an individual create, maintain and strengthen a personal identity. Art therapy enables individuals:
• To develop a sense of self awareness,
• Improve the way they perceive themselves,
• Achieve an increased ability to reflect upon themselves, and
• Develop personal insight and understanding.
Studies have shown that patients who engage in art therapy stay in treatment facilities for shorter periods, compared with those who don’t participate in creative expressions.
The use of visual and performing art or music, not only facilitates faster recovery, but also helps reduce the need for medication.
Creative art with music helps calm the neural activity in the brain, thereby reducing anxiousness in an individual. Music has a soothing capacity that also helps restore emotional balance in the recovering addict.
Music therapy induces auditory stimulation. Effective auditory stimulation can be used as a technique for diminishing and attaining control over pain.
Dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder, dreams and nightmares
People suffering from post-traumatic stress disorders experience nightmares that are different from those of other people. Their nightmares are extreme, horrifying, and in some cases, worse than the actual event.
Without proper therapy, it is very difficult to handle these nightmares. Art therapy enables an individual to learn how to control their dreams by expressing their content visually, turning them from a negative into a positive.
Distributed by Client Initiatives
Company Name: Lava Height Academy
Contact Person: Dane Shakespeare
Address:730 Spring Drive
Country: United States