Overview

Do you know Art has superpowers to heal? People who suffer with depression face difficulty in communicating. Art therapy provides a way for people to express themselves.

Artistic creation generates the realisation of self-expression for a patient. This leads to therapeutic benefits¹ like a greater understanding of themselves, their personality and what it takes for them to heal.

The establishment of art therapy as a publicly accepted therapeutic approach only took place recently in the mid-20th century. Art therapy for depression may provide many including:¹

• Improves mood
• Stress relief
• Reduce anxiety 
• Boost Happiness
• Self-discovery

History of art as therapy

The term art therapy was coined in 1942, by British artist Adrian hill² who discovered the benefits of painting and drawing while recovering from tuberculosis himself in 1938, and recorded his ideas in 1945 in Art versus Illness.

Around the same time³ in the United States, Margaret Naumburg, a psychologist, introduced art therapy as symbolic speech between patient and therapist. Although they had different approaches to art therapy, their work had a significant influence on the creation of art therapy.

Purpose of art therapy

• Acts as a form of self-care: Art helps for self-expression and thus helps in self-care
• Helps you tap into a "state of flow": Some psychologists describe flow as becoming deeply engaged in an activity. Flow can lower stress levels. You may experience flow when you’re involved in playing a sport, gardening, writing, or painting
• Takes your mind off things: Your mind will be away from negative thoughts because you will be focussing more on creating

Understanding depression

Depression⁴ is a serious but common condition. Depression causes people to emotionally feel numb.

If you have been experiencing some of the following signs and symptoms, most of the day, for at least 2 weeks, you may be experiencing depression:

• Persistent sad, anxious, or “empty” mood
• Feelings of frustration
• Feelings of worthlessness, or helplessness
• Loss of interest in activities
• Fatigue
• Difficulty concentrating
• Difficulty sleeping or oversleeping
• Changes in appetite or unplanned weight changes
• Physical aches or digestive problems that do not have a clear physical cause and do not go away with treatment
• Thoughts of death or suicide 

Techniques of art therapy

Certified art therapists will typically have an understanding of the effect that the creative process can have on those in therapy. Common techniques used in therapy include:⁵

• Painting, Finger painting
• Doodling, Scribbling
• Sculpting
• Drawing
• Using moulding clay
• Carving
• Making pottery
• Making cards
• Collage
• Writing
• Photography
• Using textiles
• Digital art

Mindfulness and relaxation through art

Benefits of art therapy 

Several factors make art therapy an effective treatment for depression, Art therapy may provide wonderful benefits, such as:⁷

• Increasing self-awareness: Art can help you understand more about yourself, especially your thoughts and emotions. Art gives insight to your subconscious mind
• Improving mood: Art therapy gives freedom. Art allows people to explore their passions, and dreams without judgement from others
• Breaking harmful thought patterns: When a person creates art, they become involved in their art piece, and it can help break patterns of negative thoughts. Over time, these art sessions act as coping mechanisms against negative thoughts

Art therapy: process

Art therapy sessions are usually unguided. Clients are free to create art according to their wish. Art therapists are trained to understand how certain features of an art indicate the thoughts and feelings of a person.

• During art therapy sessions the client will engage in an art form, whether it be painting, making a collage, drawing or any other art
• The art therapist will then observe the client and also ask the client questions regarding their art and their thoughts
• Once the client is finished with their art, the therapist will discuss their experience, their emotions, and why they made certain decisions regarding their artwork
• Finally, the therapist will share feedback with the client

Group art therapy is also an option for those who are comfortable in creating artwork as a group, discussing thoughts and feelings as a group.

Steps in art therapy

• Pre-Art Making: If the client is new, collecting information of the patient can be done in this session, factors that led them to make an appointment with an art therapist¹¹

If a client is a returning client, they can discuss any thoughts and emotions they have been experiencing or any events that have occurred since the last visit. 

• Art making: Main elements to consider during art-making activity are:
  • Art medium
  • theme
  • process
• The client will create their art, and the therapist will observe them during the entire process

Look for insights: The therapist may take down some notes as they are doing this. 

• Post art making: This is a summarising session. The therapist discusses the artwork with the client and also asks various questions regarding the client’s artwork. Questions about the artwork, did the art stirred any memories from the past, and about any mood change that occurred during art making

Evidence of art therapy's efficacy in treating depression

Art therapy has been proven to be effective against depression and anxiety disorders:

• In a study, art therapists gave an introduction to artistic procedures to help patients relate their feelings to the theme being discussed. Art techniques include weaving, collage, clay modelling, drawing and painting. This study found that introducing art therapy in patients with stable and pharmacologically treated major depressive disorder improved depression and anxiety symptoms⁸ 
• Art therapy was found to reduce trauma symptoms and decrease levels of depression
• Art therapy also helped patients undergoing treatment for cancer improve their quality of life and reduce a variety of psychological symptoms
• One study found that art therapy reduced depression in adults living in nursing homes⁹

Even then there is inadequate data on the effectiveness of art therapy, more research needs to be done on this subject.

Potential challenges and considerations

Sometimes art therapy is difficult to some people. Participants¹⁰ in most of the studies indicated a high level of acceptability of art therapy, but some had no interest in art therapy. Some participants felt art therapy was neither beneficial nor harmful. In one study, a participant commented that art therapy was superficial and that they did not find anything useful. Another participant felt art therapy was childish.

Other concerns included art therapy causing anxiety.

In one study, a participant was also concerned that art therapy may be harmful if the therapist had no particular skills.

 Another concern was that it may be hurtful if art therapy is suddenly terminated.

Clients might have barriers in undertaking art activities, such as:¹¹

• Belief they lack skills in art-making
• Clients fear receiving judgment and failure
• Unfamiliarity with the process of art supplies and art-making
• Resistance to the smell of art supplies
• Physical limitations in using art supplies 

FAQs

What are the limitations of art therapy?

It is not clear whether the creative process or the positive interaction with the therapist does the healing.

Uses of Art therapy?

Art therapy helps to treat⁹ ageing-related issues

• Anxiety
• Cancer
• Depression
• Eating disorders
• Emotional difficulties
• Family or relationship problems
• Medical conditions
• Psychological symptoms associated with other medical issues
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Psychosocial issues
• Stress
• Substance use disorder

Summary

Art as a therapy gives voices to people who struggle to communicate. Art gives insight into the heart of a patient, and also heals the artist from the inside. Art brings calm and peace, also brings into light deep inner emotions and thoughts, and helps to solve memories from the past. You can always try art for expressing yourself, whether be at home or with a therapist. Art therapy involves self-expression and this does not require any skills. Art therapy can be done along with pharmacological treatment.