Art therapy is a distinct discipline that incorporates creative methods of expression through visual art media. Art therapy, as a creative arts therapy profession, originated in the fields of art and psychotherapy and may vary in definition. Art therapy encourages creative expression through painting, drawing, or modelling. It may work by providing a person with a safe space to express their feelings and allow them to feel more in control over their life.
An art therapist watches over a person with mental illness during an art therapy workshop in Senegal.
Edward Adamson, "the father of art therapy in Britain"
Art media commonly used in art therapy.
An art therapy patient's work
The expressive therapies are the use of the creative arts as a form of therapy, including the distinct disciplines expressive arts therapy and the creative arts therapies. The expressive therapies are based on the assumption that people can heal through the various forms of creative expression. Expressive therapists share the belief that through creative expression and the tapping of the imagination, people can examine their body, feelings, emotions, and thought process.
British psychotherapist Paul Newham using Expressive Therapy with a client.
Illustrating Art Therapy by painting a ceramic heart. This is one way of what Art Therapy could look like.
A psychotherapist using Expressive Therapy with a client, to communicate through characters
Music Therapy for Woman with Alzheimer's Disease
