Art therapy
Art therapy is a tool therapists use to help patients interpret, express, and resolve their emotions and thoughts. Patients work with an art therapist to explore their emotions, understand conflicts or feelings that are causing them distress, and use art to help them find resolutions to those issues. Art therapy as a discipline began in the 1940s and became more widespread in the 1970s. There's a growing body of evidence that art therapy works for many mental health conditions, though there aren't many large-scale randomized control trials.The advantages of art therapy are numerous and have been found to:
Alleviate pain symptoms.
Reduce stress.
Enhance quality of life among adult cancer patients.
Improve ability to cope with pain and other distressing symptoms in children with cancer.
Reduce stress and anxiety in children with asthma.
Stimulate mental function in older adults with dementia.
Diminish depression in Parkinson's patients.
Feeney, A. (2024). What is art therapy? Psychology.org. Retrieved from: https://shorturl.at/oykNV
Tiret, H. (2023). The benefits art therapy can have on mental and physical health. Retrieved from: https://shorturl.at/ALFir