Haley Lakin

4/5/16
Expressive Art Therapy

Expressive art therapy is one of thousands of different techniques. Professional in the

psychology field use expressive art therapy to help all levels of a variety of traumatized patients
to help cope with emotional and mental distress. Although therapy is the most effective Way to
alleviate stress and emotional anxiety. The key is to use a form of therapy/counseling while
taking prescription drugs. This will allow the chemical imbalance to even out while
therapy/counseling will allow you to confine in a non-judgemental human being to help move
forward for a better emotional and mental state.
Art therapy was originally found by a British artist, Adria Hill in 1942. Hill was
recovering from tuberculosis in a sanatorium and discovered drawing and painting is very
therapeutic. To his fellow patients, Hill suggested to do artist work which began his art therapy
work, it was documented in his book Art Versus Illness in 1945. Another artist, Edward
Adamson, affect world war two, joined with Hill to extend his work to the British long stay
Mental Hospitals. The British Association of Art Therapist was found founded in 1964. The
United States art therapist pioneers Margaret Naumburg and Edith Kramer started practicing
around the same time as Hill. Naumburg was an educator who said, Art therapy is
psychoanalytic oriented, and that the free art expression becomes a form of symbolic speech
which.leads to an increase in verbalization in the course of therapy. Edith Kramer, an artist,
pointed out the importance of the creative process, psychological defenses, and artist quality,
writing that sublimation is attained when forms are created that successfully contain...anger,
anxiety, or pain. The American Association of Art Therapy was found in 1969. Art therapy

means using different techniques in a creative way to express emotional and mental state for
therapeutic benefits. Different techniques such as, drawing, painting, music, writing, are the most
common used techniques in Art Therapy. Each technique has to be modified for each patient. In
order to assign a type of Art Therapy to a patient, it has to be proven that it is the best route for
the patient. It also has to fit to their personality.
In expressive art therapy there are many different types of therapy that falls into that
category. More frequently, there are more children working with some type of art to express their
emotional and mental state. At a younger age you tend to be more hands on, painting allows you
to use colors to bring out the abstract of the picture you are trying to put together. Colors can
allow you to show your emotions. Younger adults or older teens seem to like hands on projects
as well, for example, role playing, instruments, drawing, and painting. This allows them to to
show what they are thinking or how they feel. Music allows people to express more of what they
are feeling, hence why many people use interments. Adults and seniors seem to be very
interested into expressive art therapy, by the age 25, most people have learn and/or experienced
very stressful situation and sometime a verbal therapy session is not what is needed.
Art therapy is not just for one type of person. It can be used if the patient has a strong
interest in some form of art. In order to justify that, a therapist should know their patient very
well. An example of anyone that could use or have used it would be, traumatized children,
Cancer patients depressed and/or anxiety disorder patients.
I chose to write my paper about Expressive Art therapy because I, personally, have used
art as a therapeutic relief for any stress. I have a strong interest for Psychology and I would love
to be a Psychologist or a Counselor. I have received help from others and I intend to pass it on.