Shedding Light on the Mysteries of Art Therapy

Shedding Light on the Mysteries of Art Therapy
by Emma Stone - Madeira Intern

Hi!! If you’re reading this right now, I’m so glad you’re here, because art therapy is an amazing form of therapy that is worth looking into. Coming from someone who has personally seen immense gain in her life because of it, I am happy that you have come to this page and are exploring more about art therapy and it’s amazing benefits.  
 
I asked some people close to me their frequently asked questions or doubts about art therapy, things that would maybe steer them away from giving it a good try.
 
When asking this, differences between the adults’ concerns vs. the teenagers were clear. The adults had more concrete questions where I could see where their doubt stems from, yet knew that with more information they would be singing a different tune. For the younger, I got an overwhelming amount of one singular response:
 
“What is art therapy?”
 
This, I think, is where the problem lies. People simply do not know enough about art therapy to give it a true chance. So, if you’re reading this and have that question as well, this is my answer:
 
Art therapy is a creative and interesting way of expressing feelings that can be immensely beneficial to the client. Instead of talking and then being told what to do, Water & Stone’s art therapy approach is humanistic in that the therapist and client are truly working together to decipher and express feelings on your journey towards healing and gaining insight.  
 
As far as the adults go, their questions were a little more thorough.
 
“Will I be judged doing art? Not only for the things expressed in the artwork, but for the art itself?”
 
Water & Stone therapist Xenia Rybak addressed this as she explained to me that in art therapy, kids are very much about the process: throwing glitter onto a page and trying every color crayon. She has found that adults, however, are more about the results. She explains that adults think that there is a specific set of rules that they must follow, and that their art must be impressive. When, in reality, the therapist is solely there looking to help you shed light on areas in your life that need it. If they wanted to judge your art, they would become an art critic am I right?
 
On a slightly different wavelength,
“Does art therapy truly work? How can it be effectively applied to multiple issues people are facing?”
 
It works because it is a collaborative process between a trained professional and yourself. The professional will help the client use materials that allow them to express things in unique ways that can be freeing. The therapist can guide each person in a way that works for them; it is a tailored approach to each individual person to support their journey. Because it is so different than what we do in day to day life, it allows us to discover things that maybe we normally wouldn’t see. The best bit of advice that I have is to go into it open mindedly and see how it might help you!
 
Thank you so much for reading this and joining me in learning more about art therapy! I hope that this inspires you to give it a try. I have always loved art, but only in recent years have I seen first-hand how it contributes to every individual’s personal healing.