Children with cancer and other serious illnesses spend much of their lives in medical environments that are often frightening and confusing, and endure painful procedures they do not always understand. Art therapy can help these children express their fears and emotions, and make sense of their world in a constructive, positive way.
Coping Skills
Children living with chronic or severe illness deal with a wide range of traumatic and difficult situations, including extended hospitalizations, painful medical procedures and the possibility of early death. Art therapy can help these children understand and cope with these issues in a positive way. Through art, children can explore issues they may be too frightened or young to express verbally.
Stress Management
Creating art can be a calming, soothing activity for some children. Focusing on a drawing rather than a current or upcoming medical procedure can help children lessen the stress associated with shots, tests, long wait times and other realities of their illness.
Play
Children with severe illnesses do not have the range of play options that other children have to deal with boredom. Especially when confined to a hospital bed, art therapy provides a fun activity that can entertain and actively engage the child's mind and imagination. After the artwork is finished, it can be hung on the walls to brighten the child's room.
Sense of Control
Children with severe illnesses are often passive recipients of medical treatment. They have very little control over their environment or their daily lives. Art therapy gives children back some control, at least over their artwork. Children in art therapy programs can often choose which materials they would like to use, what they would like to draw, paint or sculpt, and how they will represent their subject. These seem like minor choices, but for a child with few real opportunities to control her environment, these choices are important. They give the child a sense of control and ownership, which can lead to a more positive outlook on her treatment.
Expression and Communication
Art therapy can help children, especially those who are very young and not able to communicate verbally, to express their fears, confusion, hopes and other feelings. Children with severe illnesses deal with issues that they may be too young to understand directly. Through the process of art therapy, they can come to accept and understand what is happening to them.
Choosing an Art Therapist
Choosing an art therapist for a child with a chronic or severe illness requires the same careful consideration as choosing a medical specialist. The art therapist should be certified by the Art Therapy Credentials Board. A master's degree or Ph.D. in art therapy is also helpful.
You should also look for an art therapist who connects well with your child. Each child and each therapist has different personality traits, and the process of art therapy will be most successful when those personality traits complement each other.
References
- "Medical Art Therapy with Children"; Cathy A. Malchiodi, ed.; 1999
- American Art Therapy Association
- Art Therapy Credentials Board
