The American Art Therapy Association characterizes art therapy as an approach to mental health that utilizes the process of creating art to improve mental, physical, and emotional wellness. Psychology Today: Art therapy involves the use of creative techniques such as drawing, painting, collage, coloring, or sculpting to help people express themselves artistically.
Throughout my own personal healing journey I have turned to various forms of artistic expression as a powerful form of therapy and recovery. More intuitive than analytical, art taps into the powerful realm of our unconscious to release a spiritual alchemy that can work to naturally heal and mend us.
Artistic self-expression may be the best therapy for victims of childhood sexual abuse, finds a new study from the United Kingdom. “Social workers focus on creative therapies – painting, drawing, storytelling – to get children to talk about their abuse which enables the children to safely work through past experiences, and come to understand and move on from what has happened.”
The Healing Power of Art and Artists website contains a comprehensive list of online resources for art & healing organizations. As I scanned through the list for ones that focuses on art therapy for children and trauma, a couple caught my eye.
- ArtForLife.org, founded in 1998. What began with a dream of helping a few children use art as part of their healing process, now reaches over 20,000 sick children and their families each year.
- Procure Art: In the U.S., we provide art therapy to the terminally ill and victims of abuse. Internationally, we deliver humanitarian psychosocial support services involving methods of trauma-informed art therapy.
Unfortunately, neither of the above have current filings with Charity Navigator. Therefore, contributors are urged to perform their own due diligence.
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