Process of Art Therapy With Children

History

Communication through art has its roots back as far as caveman times, when pictures were painted on cave walls to express feelings and record activity. However, the concept of art therapy is much newer; psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud discovered that having patients create art helped them express emotions and events with less anxiety than other forms of communication. It's used for adults, too, but is especially effective for children because even if their verbal, emotional and social skills are not fully developed, the process of creating comes naturally.

Purpose

Art therapy is a combination of art and psychotherapy used to treat children with emotional troubles who are confused or find it difficult to talk about their hopes and fears. It bypasses the rational side of the brain that may censor expression, so it helps kids discover and reveal their feelings, establish connections with others and memorialize losses, as well as develop skills in art, creativity, play and social activities. Rather than just focusing on the finished piece of art, the process of creating it is also important. Art therapists work with the theory that the act of making a piece of artwork triggers the subconscious mind, which leads to self-discovery and emotional healing.

Creation

Creating a work of art itself is a therapeutic healing process that uses various physical and psychological skills, but during the creative process for art therapy, the focus is on personal expression rather than artistic skills or experience. The child is given paper and various drawing or painting tools and asked to make a picture that depicts whatever she's feeling. This may result in the child re-experiencing trauma, fear or conflict, but it will later be resolved and treated.

Developmental Stages

From age 2 to 4 years, children are more likely to scribble, whereas by 11 to 13 years, they may be drawing pseudo-realistic pictures. At this age, the child is likely to be more critical of herself than she was when she first started making decisions on her own, and that might show in her art. However, just because a child is a certain age doesn't mean she'll create art that fits certain standards. Sometimes, a child will go back and forth between various stages of development while creating, so you might find that your pre-teen fills a page with violent red scribbles.

Assessment

The drawing is used as a foundation for exploration and as an assessment tool to help the art therapist understand what issues and concerns a child might have, even if he can't express them verbally. For example, if he draws an angry picture, it may be his way of venting his anger and fear about a certain situation in his life. The assessment is done in an interactive way, and the therapist's role is to encourage the child to talk about his creation. While listening to this narrative to hear the child's thoughts, feelings and experiences, the therapist also needs to pay attention to some important physical elements, such as the theme of the art, its size, the amount of pressure used to create the designs, the style of stroke and details in the picture.

Examples

Dr. Robin Gabriels, PsyD, assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine at UCED, has worked with numerous children who were angry or resentful because they came from violent or chaotic homes or who had serious illnesses. One of the patients with severe asthma drew a picture of himself with weights on his chest, another showed herself being held under water, and a third depicted a monster's hands squeezing off his air supply.