Art Therapy
What is art therapy?
Art therapy is a clinical, diagnostic, and therapeutic tool which integrates creative and non-verbal or verbal techniques to help facilitate the therapeutic process. Art therapy offers a way to assess and treat patients by entering into the world of creative representation and symbolism. One of the most beneficial aspects of art therapy is that it helps reduce the stress of being in a hospital setting and has been shown to be an effective way to help children cope with having a chronic illness. Children often use the art process to express and release feelings of stress and anxiety. When physically ill children make art, it often validates what they are feeling and experiencing. By creating art about their illness, trauma or medical procedures, children are able to put some distance between themselves and their medical issues. By working through their issues in the art, children often come to understand that their problems are something that is separate from who they are and that they have an identity outside of their illness.
The process of creating the artwork, regardless of the quality of the end product, becomes a vehicle for:
- Self-exploration and self-expression
- Building self-esteem
- Sorting through and coping with difficult feelings and experiences
- Developing a sense of accomplishment
- Communicating with others
- Expressing symbolic messages from the unconscious - feelings that may not otherwise be expressed
What is an art therapist?
Art therapists are psychotherapists who are specifically trained in integrating art media, art process and/or art product into the therapeutic process. Art therapists are skilled in the application of drawing, painting, clay and other media. Each art therapist has his or her own area of expertise, and he or she may conduct therapy in a group, family, couples or individual setting.
To practice art therapy, a therapist must have a specialized degree in the mental health profession, a Master’s Degree or a PhD. Art therapists are recognized by the Colorado State Licensing Board and can be licensed with an LPC (Licensed Professional Counselor) by taking a standardized exam. Many Colorado art therapists have their LPC licenses. Art therapy is certified and credentialed by our National Governing Boards; The American Art Therapy Association (AATA) and the Art Therapy Credentialing Board (ATCB). A registered art therapist will have the credentialing initials A.T.R. following their name.
What art therapy services are available at National Jewish Health?
Art therapy is part of the collaborative care intervention that children receive in the Pediatric Care Unit at National Jewish Health. The Art Therapy program was established in 1983 and continues to be offered as an integral part of patients’ evaluation and treatment.
Art therapy is particularly effective with children as they have a natural propensity toward creating. Art therapists strive to better understand the child’s perspective on living with a chronic illness, to help him or her to express feelings that may be difficult to verbalize and to foster effective coping skills, all through the metaphor of art.
Many families with children and/or adolescents have come to National Jewish Health Pediatric Day Program for evaluation and treatment of severe pulmonary, allergic, dermatological or immune disorders. As a part of our behavior health services included in the Day Program, art therapy groups are offered for patients ages 2 ½ and older.
Group therapy at National Jewish Health offers patients the opportunity to meet and spend time with other kids who may be having similar experiences and feelings associated with living with a chronic illness and with being hospitalized. Children’s artwork often reveals feelings about their illnesses such as fear, anger, sadness, hopelessness and anxiety. Group therapy is a forum where children and adolescents feel welcome to explore and discuss fears and anxieties. When feelings like these are expressed and identified, a sense of relief and control often follows.
View the National Jewish Health online children’s art gallery.
This information has been approved by Anya Beebe, MA (May 2008).
