Promoting Arts Therapy
ARTS THERAPISTS ARE MASTER-LEVEL, PROFESSIONALLY LICENSED CLINICIANS WHO ARE TRAINED IN BOTH ART AND THERAPY. THEY ARE KNOWLEDGEABLE ABOUT HUMAN DEVELOPMENT, PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORIES, CLINICAL PRACTICE, AND THE HEALING POWER OF ARTS.
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What is Art Therapy?
The American Art Therapy Association describes art therapy as “a mental health profession that uses the creative process of art making to improve and enhance the physical, mental and emotional well-being of individuals of all ages.”
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It is based on the belief that the creative process involved in artistic self expression helps to resolve conflicts and problems, develop interpersonal skills, manage behavior, reduce stress, increase self-esteem and self awareness.
With the guidance of a credentialed art therapist, one can create and reflect on the art process and the results can help increase awareness of self and help cope with symptoms of stress and traumatic experiences.
Who is an Art Therapist?
Art therapists are master-level professional clinicians that are trained in both art and therapy. They are knowledgeable about human development, psychological theories, clinical practice, and the healing potential of art.
There are various requirements for becoming an art therapist, as well as certifications, which means they are experts when it comes to using art expression to pick up on nonverbal symbols and metaphors that are expressed through the creative process. This provides the opportunity to address issues or express feelings in ways that transcend spoken or written language.
Why Art Therapy for Children?
The American Art Therapy Association describes art therapy as “a mental health profession that uses the creative process of art making to improve and enhance the physical, mental and emotional well-being of individuals of all ages.”
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It is based on the belief that the creative process involved in artistic self expression helps to resolve conflicts and problems, develop interpersonal skills, manage behavior, reduce stress, increase self-esteem and self awareness.
With the guidance of a credentialed art therapist, one can create and reflect on the art process and the results can help increase awareness of self and help cope with symptoms of stress and traumatic experiences.
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In addition to being an emotional outlet for children, art therapy can actually help them develop and better understand their own feelings. Being angry or hurt is not always easy to describe in words, but a child can put these emotions into a drawing or other art expression. Children may not have the language skills to express themselves, but they still have a voice.
Mending Hearts Through Art
ELM Foundation does NOT employ arts therapists to provide treatment but instead works alongside established licensed practicing professionals and educational training institutions. We use our efforts to promote and educate on what arts therapy is and how it helps children. We also have programs in place to connect our focus group of children to reputable arts therapists that are aware of how best to lead treatment for changes in family structure.
Our focus group is children who have experienced parental loss or family structure adjustment, from basic divorce to losing a parent to death.
In our life in some way: death, divorce, separation from a parent in any form. From very basic family changes to the extreme, the children’s feelings are often overlooked in the process. Adults can sometimes get caught up in the stresses of life themselves and assume the children will be fine. The children are frequently left to accept the changes without an outlet to express their feelings. What this creates is the base for lifelong issues, from anxiety to extreme abandonment feelings and more. These childhood experiences can create major adjustment problems when they become adults. This can be a vicious cycle passed on from generation to generation if not properly addressed.
By advocating how arts therapy can reach children in a more meaningful way to help facilitate communication and promote healing, we hope to bring awareness that using the arts as therapy can be tremendously successful. However, to date, we feel arts therapy has been greatly underutilized but with our public outreach initiative, we hope to show there are great needs and benefits, especially for children.
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ELM Foundation will take our focus group of children and coordinate with private licensed arts therapists to help guide them through the healing process. We will then combine efforts with ELM Foundation educators and mentors to lead classes and workshops in various study areas to enhance the multidisciplinary approach to arts education.
By providing this continued education, we hope to further the kids’ interest in a lifelong love for creation and self expression, with the ultimate goal of planting the seed of the healing power of the arts.
