Art Therapy
Art therapy or (Expressive Arts) uses the creation or viewing of art to help students cover and express their feelings. Unlike art for arts sake, which focuses on the finished piece, Art Therapy which typically employs paint, clay, charcoal, pastels, pencil, conte crayons, sculpture, or other art materials, focuses on the process of creation itself. There are many different divisions of Art Therapy such as music, dance, drama, poetry, photography, recreation, play, puppets, sand play, and pet therapy. Mainly the Art Therapy activity that is undertaken is primarily for its healing benefits rather than for the creative end results; in fact, the piece of artwork may never be shown to anyone outside the therapy session and it is sometimes never finished. ... Art therapists believe that the act of making a piece of art triggers internal activity that contributes to physical, emotional, and spiritual healing. For people who are not able or ready to create art, going to an art museum or looking through art books can also be helpful. Simply viewing art refreshes the spirit and promotes relaxation. At the beginning of the 20th century, psychiatrists started studying the patient’s artwork to see if there was a link between the art and the illness of their patients.