What is the difference between an art class and art therapy?

People often wonder how an art therapy session differs from the average art class. Where an art class is focused on teaching technique or creating a specific finished product, art therapy is more about letting clients focus on their inner experience.

In creating art, people are able to focus on their own perceptions, imagination, and feelings. Clients are encouraged to create art that expresses their inner world more than making something that is an expression of the outer world.

Why is art used?

Activities like painting, sculpting, drawing and photography are not only relaxing, and rewarding hobbies, but they can lower your stress level and leave you with a feeling of mental clarity.

How does Art Therapy help?

As you engage in drawing or painting a repetitive pattern, or sew a line, the brain falls into a sense of predictability, which lowers our nervous system’s need to be on edge as it prepares to react to the next surprise event. This consequence lowers blood pressure, pulse and heart rate, and reduces anxiety. When cortisol levels drop, the fogginess of stress reduces, offering the brain a lot more capacity to decide with clarity.

How many sessions will I need?

This is going to be different for each client. The 30 minute consultation will allow us to discuss and identify what goals and objectives we can develop.

By generating a treatment plan this will be beneficial to:

• Establish what the client needs help with

• A commitment to help the client

• Evaluate the effectiveness of the treatment

What happens in an Art Therapy session?

Following on from the initial consultation, therapeutic goals will be set, and then on a smaller scale in subsequent sessions. These goals are discussed and agreed upon by the client to ensure the client is engaged in their treatment plan.

A typical session will roughly run as follows: (again subject to change depending on client needs)

• Stage 1: Pre Art Making:

  Initial stage before art-making will involve a brief discussion on how your client is currently feeling. Here you can also briefly discuss any issues that have occurred since the last visit.

• Stage 2: Art- Making:

  Here art medium, themes and processes will be key in art making for the client. Once the exercise and materials have been agreed upon, the process of art making can evolve. Here I will take a more observational role to allow space and time for art making to occur.

• Stage 3: Post Art-Making:

  Once the art activity is completed, a discussion can begin with the client.