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Merin Babu

Professor Liebler

ENG 3020

3 December 2018

Art Therapy as a Form of Healing

Abstract

Art therapy is form of healing that has been overlooked for centuries; however, it is

gradually being discovered. Although art therapy has been used all throughout history, it is not a

common form of medical attention people seek. Recently, more research has been conducted and

has proven that art therapy has helped many patients face various illnesses. Patients and families

use art therapy to, “explore their feelings, reconcile emotional conflicts, foster self-awareness,

manage behavior and addictions, develop social skills, improve reality orientation, reduce

anxiety, and increase self-esteem. A goal in art therapy is to improve or restore a client’s

functioning and his or her sense of personal well-being” (American Art Therapy Association).

From past research, there has been numerous testimonies from patients and their families

on the life-changing effects that art therapy has had. There are also art therapists who have

witnessed these effects on their patients and the impact it makes on their outwardly manner. It

helps them to forget negative emotions that they keep classified by not expressing their

emotions. Art therapy is used because some people cannot find relief when doing normal therapy

sessions with a therapist. It is also cheaper and easier to access.

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The purpose of this paper is to comprehend how art therapy plays a role in healing

individuals. Also, to understand the benefits of art therapy and how therapists accomplish their

tasks. The questions, in relation to art therapy, that will be answered throughout this paper are:

what is art therapy, how has art therapy been present historically, how does art therapy work,

how is art therapy adapting to the digital world and have there been people who have been

positively impacted by art therapy?

What is art therapy?

Art therapy is a form of psychotherapy that effects the body and mind. Through art

therapy individuals are able to discharge their feelings and emotions by relaxing and being stress

free. “At the heart of art therapy practice lies the act of externalizing an individual’s account of

their existence, their emotions and their experience of others and to convert these inner thoughts

and feelings into images which, crucially, can be shared” (West 13). Through art therapy they

are able to share these feelings that are held within. Art allows them to express their emotions

and portray it through different forms of art such as painting, crafts, drawings, and other art

forms. It also allows them to connect with others that have gone through a similar situation or

feeling. Patients are able to establish new relationships with others and with the therapist. This

building of a relationship allows them to be at ease when constructing art.

Patients experience a relaxation when encountering art therapy. They are able to relieve

themselves from the pain and suffering they have gone through or is going through. “The

development of art therapy has such events at its center: the act of creation witnessed by another

as it develops and takes shape. The process of bringing painful, even intolerable, feelings into a
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form exterior to oneself without the immediate necessity of explanation or rationalization is in

itself an engine of change” (West 13). Through art they can put their feelings and emotions on

display without having to give an explanation. Patients are able to express themselves through art

without having to be questioned about their feelings. Art allows them to visually communicate

their feelings instead of verbally communicating it.

Gail Rosenbloom Kaplan is a working artist that believes, “in the power of art to heal and

teach” (“About Gail”). She is an art therapist for an organization called the Healing Arts Program

at the Children’s Hospital of Michigan located in Detroit and has been working there for eight

years. This is a program that integrates art into the hospital setting for therapeutic purposes.

“Research provides evidence that the interaction of art and good design into healthcare facilities

assists in the reduction of stress and improved outcomes, patient safety and impacts the overall

quality of care provided” (“Healing Arts Program”). From a professional art therapists’

perspective, Gail explained how as an art lover she is able to help children forget about the pain

and suffering they are going through in the hospital and let them have fun. Art can be used as an

escape for patients and their families as a way to disregard the adversity they could be

experiencing. It can let them forget about the hospital environment around them and connect

with other children and enjoy their lives like children that are not facing illnesses. Art therapy

gives them the sensation of being a regular child who gets to go to school and do art. This form

of therapy is entertaining for children, although they do not realize the benefits that come with it.
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How has art therapy been present in our history?

From the first record of the art of apothecary from Ancient Babylonia to the present day,

various ways of healing patients have been discovered, and many others are still being unearthed

(Bender and Robert). Pharmacy through its pharmaceutical drugs is the healing side of medicine,

it is where the sick come for their cure or treatment to help them improve their health. Art

therapy, although not through medicine, executes a different form of healing. Art is a form of

healing the body and mind. It makes a different impact on patients that medications do not have;

however, it has aided and made an impression on individuals both mentally and physically.

Healing through the influence of art has been present throughout history; however, it has

been overlooked. In the article, “The History of Art and Healing,” it mentions that “shamans”

were the first healers in society through the form of art. Shamans were specialist that were

known to have the power of being able to go inward to the place of creativity and healing. It

refers to how this was an ancient form of healing, and it was thought to be an excellent way to

heal the spirit of an individual. Besides shamans, the other group of people acknowledged as

healers are Christians and Buddhists. An example of art that they did was sandpainting. It was

believed that the, “story, and the shapes and colors directly affect the spirits and heal the

patients” (“The History of Art and Healing”). Art was a form of healing that was used for many

years before they learned about medicine. They used art therapy as a way to heal the spirit,

believing that it will cleanse the body, mind, and soul.

Art therapy has been present for many centuries; however, it was not acknowledged as a

profession. The mother of art therapy is Margaret Naumburg, because she was the first person to
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recognize art therapy as a profession in the 1940’s according to the TED Talk by Carol Hammal.

Carol Hammal is an art psychotherapist who was completing her master’s coursework in Egypt

in 2011. She mentions how after Naumburg recognized art therapy as a profession, “a few years

later an Art Therapy Association was founded, and its main purpose was to group and unite

professionals and set the educational guidelines” (Hammal). This organization was founded in

1969 and its goal is to “advocate for expansion of access to professional art therapists and lead

the nation in the advancement of art therapy as a regulated mental health and human services

profession” (“About the American Art Therapy Association”). It helps professionals in art

therapy to network with each other and build a professional relationship with each other.

As medical advancements were made, art was no longer taken seriously. The article,

“The Connection Between Art, Healing, and Public Health: A Review of Current Literature” is a

study conducted by Dr. Nobel and Dr. Stuckey, and it states that throughout recorded history, art

therapy has been used in various forms, such as pictures, stories, dances, and chants are healing

rituals. “Although art has been used clinically for more than a century and has been recognized

as a profession since 1991, much of the published work is theoretical in nature, with little

discussion of specific outcomes” (Stuckey and Nobel). Art therapy is a recognized subject matter

in history, however, it not looked at as a form of healing anymore. Nevertheless, in recent years

there has been systemic and controlled studies that examine the therapeutic effects and benefits

through art and healing (Stuckey and Nobel). Based on these two informative pieces of works, it

can be perceived that although art therapy has been present in history, it is not widely accepted as

a form of healing. Nonetheless, in society today, art therapy has been implemented in lives of

individuals with positive feedback.

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How does art therapy work?

Art therapy has been found to be beneficial through the healing of one’s mind and body.

Art relaxes the body and improves one’s mental health allowing them to improve in their health

overall. One example is, the study done by McMurray and Schwartz-Mirman and Reynold and

Prior, on cancer patients or patients with chronic illnesses. Art has allowed them to feel,

“reductions in stress, fatigue, and negative emotions” (Stuckey and Nobel). Cancer patients

through art explore the meaning of cancer in their life and examine the positive aspects rather

than the negative side that is commonly looked at.

Mary Rockwood, who was pursuing a Doctorate in Philosophy issued, Art as a Way of

Healing. She mentions how in her study, she has found that art lets people be empowered and

rejuvenated.

Participants became immersed in the creative process of doing art. They painted,
sculpted, danced, wrote journals, composed poetry. Making art is another spinning large
spiral. The spiral contracts. Participants slip through the veil, going through art as a
doorway. The witness in themselves appears. Art becomes a turning point. The
embodiment of spirit healing and transformations is the next spiral. When the person
makes art, he experiences changed body sensations of energy, feelings of compassion,
and deepening attention. The final spiral, transcendence, deals with oneness,
interconnectedness, luminosity, with seeing God and the angels. It is about receiving love
and restoring lives. The participants become different, powerful, full of energy and
intensely alive. They heal themselves, others, and the earth (Rockwood 12).

In Judy A. Glaister’s article, “Four Years Later: Clara Revisited” it mentions how

drawings have been used for exploring concerns and conflicts, to gain access to traumatic images

and memories, to help build a trusting therapeutic relationship between client and therapist, and
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to access and promote healing. It allows patients or clients to relieve their feelings through art

which then allows them to heal by pouring out their emotions. It is similar to regular therapy, but

instead of talking to a therapist, it is told in the form of art.

To avoid any bias to art therapy, therapists use previous drawings of former patients

when explaining to current patients, once they completed their drawing, by connecting the two

art pieces together of someone who went through a similar case (Glaister). This avoids

misinterpretation and provides opportunity for clients to develop insight and confidence about

their observation and feelings. This process of comparing their drawings to a previous patient’s

allows them to feel that what the therapist is stating is not a false statement and that there are

other individuals going through similar struggles that they face. It also makes what they state

believable for the patients and makes them realize the emotions that they are going through

without them even recognizing it. Patients become shocked after noticing their own artwork and

finding the hidden message behind it, that sometimes can be drawn unconsciously.

In the article, “How Art Heals: Mind-body Physiology” by Owen, it states how scientific

studies are being conducted to examine how art therapy heals by changing their physiology and

attitude. The physiology of the person is changed from, “one of stress to one of deep relaxation,

from one of fear to one of creativity and inspiration” (Owen). The body goes through numerous

changes when effected by art therapy. Art, “puts a person in a different brain wave pattern, it

affects a person’s autonomic nervous system, their hormonal balance and they brain

neurotransmitters” and “changes the immune system and blood flow to all organs” (Owen). As a

credibility source the article states how, “neurophysiologists say that art and healing come from

the same source in the body, and they all are associated with similar brain wave patterns, and
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they are deeply connected in feeling and meaning” (Owen). Since it is known that art and healing

are linked physiologically, it can be applied that art is a form of healing the body.

Why do we use art therapy?

Art therapy is used for the betterment of the mental health, especially for those suffering

from mental illnesses. Some factors that cause mental illness is stress, anxiety, and depression. In

the video, “4 Art Therapies for Better Mental Health” by the organization Psych2Go, it

mentioned that, “it takes a lot of money to get professional help and prescribe medications, and

often times lack of money is the source of stress. People can spend from $360 to $2,400 for a

single mental illness.” In reality having an illness can be expensive when having regular therapy

sessions. The video continues to mention how, “Art therapy, on the other hand, breaks out of that

mold and does not require specific answers. It is a cheap and safe alternative to the recover or

cope for mental illnesses” (Psych2Go). Many people resort to art therapy since it is a cheaper

alternative compared to the hundreds spent or on normal therapy sessions. For individuals that

are not as wealthy can use art therapy as an alternative because it is just as effective as normal

therapy.

Dr. Lown wrote a book named, The Lost Art of Healing, and in it he has written about his

passion for the art of medicine. He believes that medicine has, “lost its way if not its soul” (Lown

13). He thinks that doctors in medicine do not fully connect with their patients and treat them as

human beings but rather as objects. He continues this statement on how, “a three-thousand-year

tradition, which bonded doctor and patient is being traded for a new type of relationship”

(Manning). Dr. Lown feels that the emotional aspect of medicine is deteriorating, and that
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technology is taking over. He has noticed how in the medical environment, “healing is replaced

with treating, caring, is supplanted by managing, and the art of listening is taken over by

technological procedures” (Manning). Through his work he has come to the realization that as

medical advancements increase, that instead of looking at individuals as patients, doctors look at

them as “malfunctioning biological parts” (Manning). Art therapy allows us to connect to

patients’ emotions and not perceive them as objects that need to be fixed. It perceives them as

people that need to express their feelings and as those who need guidance to a better health.

Art therapy grants patients the opportunity to display their feelings without using words.

In the book, DBT - Informed Art Therapy: Mindfulness, Cognitive Behavior Therapy and the

Creative Process by Susan M. Clark, she states how art therapy is a way to express feelings

without words. Art therapy is a “form of nonverbal communication of private experiences (i.e.,

thoughts and emotions), art expression complements traditional talk therapy or, in some cases,

completely replaces it as the primary means of conveying ‘what words cannot’” (Clark 11).

Through images they can tell their story and not have to verbally live the painful events they are

going through or have gone through. “Art activities facilitate mindfulness by engaging clients in

a novel, process-oriented experience that possibly ‘slows down learning while activating positive

emotions’” (Clark 12). It helps patients to relax, bringing out positive feelings. Individuals are

immersed in creating art that it makes them forget about their negative emotions and, in result,

stop thinking about negative events going on in their life or traumatic incidents that happened in

the past.

Art allows individuals to create art in any format without any guidelines or rules thus

giving the freedom to express their feelings without judgement. In the article, “The Connection
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Between Art, Healing, and Public Health: A Review of Current Literature” by Dr. Nobel and Dr.

Stuckey it states how art helps people convey the mindset that they are in compared to everyone

else. Through images, they can tell their stories compared to counselors who make their patients

seem as if there is a problem with them. The articles proceed to mention four major ways that

engaging with art has helped people. The first being that art has helped them focus on positive

life experiences, second, it enhanced their self-worth, third, it enables them to maintain a social

identity beyond their illness, and fourth it allowed them to express their feelings (Stuckey and

Nobel). Art therapy has helped in alleviating the pain that people go through by allowing them to

release their emotions that some might view as shameful or concepts that they do not want others

to know. Art can also help them remember the positives in life that overshadows the negatives in

life.

How is art therapy adapting to the digital world?

The worldwide phenomenon of technology is advancing every day and art therapy has

found ways to adapt to it. In the book, The Handbook of Art Therapy and Digital Technology

by Dr. Cathy A. Malchiodi, who has been studying digital art therapy for two decades, she

mentions how, “digital technology offers many creative opportunities for art therapists: user

friendly software programs enable easy image manipulation, filmmaking, animation, and more,

which has expanded the repertoire of clinical interventions” (Malchiodi 15). Digital technology

introduces a new world of art therapy that has various creative pathways that can be taken.

Besides using media as a new form of creative expression for patient it is also, “a variety of

challenging professional and ethical issues that continue to be defined (Malchiodi 22). It allows
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fellow art therapists to communicate to develop a better area for art therapy. The technological

progression has made beneficial impacts to the field of art therapy.

Many of the younger generation are digital natives, so they have been brought up during

the era of digital technology. A digital form of art therapy can be beneficial for them since they

were nurtured and learned in an environment with high-tech. Dr. Cathy Malchiodi also had a

post on Psychology Today called, Art Therapy and Digital Technology: Digital Art Therapy. In

this post she mentions how, technology can make an impact on children who are growing with

constant connection to technology.

It is impossible to compartmentalize just how digital media and networking contribute to

psychosocial experiences and the role of technology in individuals’ world views. This is
particularly true in working with young clients who make up a group known as “digital
natives” (individuals born after 1980 who grew up in the digital age in communities and
cultures with access to technology) now demands that those who provide intervention to
children understand the possibilities, challenges and limitations of digital technology
(Malchiodi).

Doctors in art therapy are currently working to renovate their practices to become more

advanced technologically. Dr. Natalie Carlton, “is looking to make art therapy relevant in the

world we live in today… an increasingly connected, imaginative, and intensely creative and

expressive existence, the “great unknown” world of digital media” (Harrington). Dr. Carlton is

only one out of the numerous art therapist that have made a change in their method of art therapy

by adapting to the world today. “Dr. Carlton’s work with clients has led her through multiple

paths of media use with clients, including technological art forms of photography, video, and

audio recordings” (Harrington). These are only a few ways that technology has influenced art
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therapy. Since media has outlets to improve art, it can be used as a technique to improve the

world of art therapy as well.

The digital world is only advancing, and art therapists are still learning how to

incorporate it into their practice. However, since research is still being conducted on whether

technology is beneficial, some art therapists are reluctant to switch from a method they were

taught to a completely new one. In Naomi’s speech she mentions how, “The digital platform is

easy to use and is increasingly accessible. So, when adapting a digital platform art therapy can

reach a different group of people” (Naomi). Since art therapy is digital it can be easily accessed

whenever necessary. There are apps, which are software programs, that can be found on media.

An example is the Mandela which is a drawing that lets individuals color in the empty spaces,

and this is a form of digital art therapy from home. “The digital platform also has the possibility

of distant therapy, so that the user can apply therapy in their daily ritual” (Naomi). Digitally

these applications can guide individuals through steps similar to if a therapist was present. It also

allows the therapist and the patients connect digitally rather than face-to-face interaction.

Are there people who have been positively affected by art therapy?

People who have been positively affected have given their confessions of the traumatic

events they have gone through. One of them being an individual who had an encounter with a

gunman on an evening commute. They witnessed numerous deaths and barely escaped the

incident. This experience led them to have nightmares and depression. This was mentioned in the

New York Times post named, How I Used Art to Get Through Trauma by Terry Sullivan. Being

a writer, the individual was not able to find their solace from the incident in writing, instead they
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used art to help them deal with the murdering the person had witnessed (Sullivan). Through art

it helped them, “avoid obsessing over remembering the shooting, a common problem with

patients suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD … So, the ability to forget is a

powerful part of our recovery, particularly from trauma.” (Sullivan). Through this individual’s

experience it can be seen that after having a traumatic experience they are still able to recover

after art therapy. They were able to focus on the positive aspects and forget the incident that

happened. Although not forget the incident completely they were able to move on and focus on

their life again.

In the article, “Time Being: Difficulties in Integrating Arts in Health” by Guy Eades and

Jacqul Ager an interview was conducted on people who have been affected by art therapy. This

was a voluntary process, so only limited people took part in the interview. However, statistically

therapy has affected the lives of most of these individuals positively. The article showed that

63% said them experienced an improvement in their general health and outlook on life (Eades

and Ager). Furthermore, it states that of those evaluated, 74% said they would include creativity

in their long-term lifestyle (Eades and Ager). In an overall conclusion to their interviewing

process, it can be seen that art therapy hugely empowers individuals and enables them to regain

their self-confidence and control over their lives. This data statistically proves that art therapy is

effective for more than half the people that partook in the interview.

Another patient also gave her statement in the article, “Four Years Later: Clara

Revisited” by Judy A. Glaister’s. Glaister’s patient was mentioned repeatedly throughout the

article and how art therapy has helped her. The article refers to the story of Clara of how she has

been going through abuse of various types from her childhood all the way to adulthood. After
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this traumatic experience, Clara went to intensive therapy for four years; however, after she

ended therapy, believing she got better, she eventually ended up coming back to seek for help.

She was finally able to transform from victim to survivor after she went through art therapy. The

article mentions how the drawings helped Clara access and explore her self-concept, feelings,

and behaviors (Glaister). The drawings helped her gain insight and helped her make changes to

her life. The article provides certain examples of her drawings and the story behind each one and

how she was able to grow from art therapy. In the end, Clara was able to describe how art

therapy allowed her to become strong, capable, coping, and feeling good about herself (Glaister).

Clara is an example of a patient of who, after spending substantial amount of money in art

therapy, was not able to find relief and had to come back and found recovery through art therapy.

In the article, “Healing by Art” by Marie-Christin Hallier, who has her master’s in art

therapy, mentions how art therapy is a holistic healing practice used in healthcare. Throughout

the article pictures of abundant number of patients are shown and the interpretations of each

drawing in relation to the patient. Under one of the drawings she states how the, “patient just

wanted to ‘empty her soul’ she was looking for relief” (Hallier). This might help them to unload

their feelings and relax their minds which then leads to the enhancement of their health. This

patient was able to use art therapy to empty their emotions by creating images that relate to their

story.

One of the main concepts mentioned in this article is how art helps the patients speak to

their families without having to say painful words. It could be about unpleasant events that

occurred in their past they do not wish to relive. One example is how a woman drew three

flowers all with a smiling face, but one flower was waving “good bye” (Hallier). The
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interpretation of this is that, “psychologically the patients want to have the agreement from her

children (the other two flowers) to pass away” (Hallier). Through art patients are able to

communicate with others in expressing their feelings that are difficult to speak about. They are

able to express emotions through pictures for younger children to interpret. They are able to

voice what they desire to say through art.

As mentioned previously, Gail Rosenbloom Kaplan is an art therapist at the Children’s

Hospital in Detroit. Through her work she has come across numerous amounts of children and

their families who seek her out for a time to relax and to escape the painful illness they could be

going through. She stated how, “most children are not there on a one-time basis and many are

there for the long-term” (Gail). Since, it is a Children’s Hospital patients mainly come when their

facing serious illnesses. One of the anecdotes was about a boy who worked on assignments for

school at the hospital, one of them being art. He was given an assignment to draw an image

several times but in a different perspective. For example, the front, the back, and the different

sides. Other children, for this project, did their favorite food, show, and anything they liked.

During the interview Gail stated that, “he said to me, ‘why don’t I do my best friend?’” which he

later mentioned, was the IV pole (Gail). This child has been in the hospital for over 10 months

and he has found the IV pole, his lifeline, as his best friend. Through art, children are able to

connect their agonizing situation and make it into a positive feeling. They are able to express

themselves in this form.

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Conclusion

Overall, these sources have provided specific evidence that healing through art is an

effective and holistic approach that has shown positive outcomes. Although art has been in our

history the medical advancements in our society has masked it. However, is the present-day art

therapy is being unmasked. People have seen that the positive effects that art therapy has on

others’ lives from the testimonies that were given both by therapists and by patients. There also

proof of drawings done by individuals that show the feelings that they wish to portray. Art

therapy allows individuals to relax and let go of their past and focus on art.

Although our world is advancing technologically art therapy is also advancing alongside

it. There various resources and application on the digital platform that is beneficial for art

therapy. It is easy to access both for a therapy drawing session and to reach and contact the

therapist. However, the art therapy is still getting accustomed to the path of digital art therapy.

Individuals, especially students could find this resourceful to relive their high stress levels. It

allows them to relax by forgetting upcoming events and focus on coloring which does not take

that much thought.

Most people have mentioned that this form of therapy has allowed them to communicate

and relieve their feelings and emotions without using words. Art therapy has had positive effects

on patients and it allows for a more meaningful relationship with the patient and the physician or

therapist. Healing through art connects the patients not only with others but also themselves. It

allows them to have a more positive outlook on life and to look at their pain, not as a method of

surviving but as a way of conquering it.

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