Art Therapy Papers

This type of therapy has been by taking different types of therapy and making it as a whole, to create Art Therapy. The most commonly known branches of art therapy are writing, drawing, and the use of drama. Each different branch reaches deeper into the emotions and thoughts of the patient more so than any other type of therapy. The American Cancer Society say it's because this “Provides a sense of freedom” to the patient (“Art Therapy”). So what exactly makes this type of therapy so special? The biggest reason that Art Therapy is so much more unique than any other type of art therapy is because they use the most important tool, the subconscious mind. This part of the mind is such a big necessity because it stores memory that our conscious

The reason this type of therapy is so unique compared to other types of therapy is because it's not only based on verbal communication. By having a professional Art Therapist analyze the work they can see all kinds of things that a regular therapist couldn’t decipher. In the most commonly known type of Art Therapy, drawing, the patient will use certain colors to express their feeling that they wouldn’t feel discussing verbally. One Art Therapist uses the ‘Emotions Color Wheel’ to help her clients express their feelings more easily. She will start by giving them a circle and the circle is separated into eight different sections. In each one of the sections she requires the patient to write an emotion they are feeling. Then she will ask them to take a color and use that color over each emotion, so they match a color with an emotion. (Corrington,”Emotions Color Wheel”). By using this the therapist is able to really analyze the possible connections between the color and the structure of the drawing. An example would be a patient being happy by drawing swirls. Using the certain pattern would indicate what they use to revive that certain emotion. All together the use of written out words or images can produce certain emotion, that a regular therapist couldn’t