Art Therapy
According to the American Art Therapy Association, art therapy is “the therapeutic use of art making, within a professional relationship, by people who experience illness, trauma, or challenges in living, and by people who seek personal development. Through creating art and reflecting on the art products and processes, people can increase awareness of self and others; cope with symptoms, stress, and traumatic experiences; enhance cognitive abilities; and enjoy the life-affirming pleasures of making art.”
Registered art therapists are credentialed by the Art Therapy Credentials Board of the American Art Therapy Association after obtaining a master’s degree in art therapy and gaining supervised postgraduate clinical experience.
There’s no client who can’t be helped by art therapy, Goebl-Parker says—not even the blind. That, she suggests, is because art is felt as well as seen. “Art therapists really can be anywhere; any setting in which it would make sense that there would be a therapist or a counselor is where art therapy can be helpful. For example, it’s increasingly used, she says, in substance abuse, where it can help provide the motivation for treatment.” Goebl-Parker uses it “as a way to crystalize for clients what they can get out of therapy so they can stay committed to something and to help people locate their own impetus for change.”
One of the leading strengths of art therapy rests in its ability to harness the power of the metaphor. “There’s a huge range in how it’s used,” Goebl-Parker says, noting it might be “a metaphor of the material engagement—what it feels like to have your hand in the clay bucket—or the story of the object one makes.” Children in a session may be nonverbal, but in the process of “messing around with materials” they create clear metaphors for what they’re experiencing that can later be discussed. “So people who would have a hard time doing that work verbally can work in metaphor and the materials become an adjunctive way for them to have language, to have a different kind of voice,” Goebl-Parker says.
An offshoot of art therapy that’s increasingly popular is phototherapy. “Photo therapy techniques can be used for most psychotherapy situations, and there are numerous applications for different age populations and diagnostic groups, such as adolescents, people with schizophrenia, abuse survivors, and bereavement groups,” explains Gontarz York, who describes herself as a “lifelong gerontological social worker” who finds photographs to be powerful therapeutic tools.
While phototherapy can be useful with any population, Gontarz York uses it chiefly to elicit memories for reminiscence and life review work with older adults.
“Everyday photographs, found in albums and boxes, framed by the bedside, mounted on walls, posted on mirrors and refrigerators, offer therapists wonderful opportunities to begin conversations, develop relationships, and offer older adults the opportunity to engage in meaningful interactions through reminiscence and life review.” Every photograph, she explains, is a self-portrait, a window into the inner world of the client. “As clients discuss their photographs, we receive a fuller understanding of who that person is and how they perceive their world,” Gontarz York says. “Besides being a lasting memory of lives and actions, photographs document the past and contain valuable information regarding relationships and personal values,” she adds.
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