User:Snoops292/Art therapy

ART THERAPY HISTORY

Art therapy, combining studies of psychology and art, emerged much later. This type of unconventional therapy is used to cultivate self-esteem and awareness, improve cognitive and motor abilities, resolve conflicts or stress, and inspire resilience. It invites sensory, kinesthetic, perceptual, and sensory symbolization to address issues that verbal psychotherapy cannot reach. The term “art therapy” was coined in 1942 by Adrian Hill, and the practice itself began as a profession in the mid-20th century. Art had been used at the time for various reasons: communication, inducing creativity in children, and in religious contexts. Then, in 1915, Margaret Naumburg— credited as being the primary founder of American art therapy— established the Walden school in New York with the goal of bringing repressed thoughts and emotions to light. From this point forward, art therapy has continued to gain supporters as it emerges as an upcoming field today.

ART THERAPY EFFICACY

It is difficult to measure the efficacy of art therapy as it treats various mental illnesses to different degrees. A systematic literature review compiled and evaluated different research studies with the following seven conclusions. Among cancer patients, researchers found that relatively short-term art therapy interventions significantly improved patients’ emotional states and perceived symptoms. This was mainly among women with breast cancer and included a study on mindfulness-based art therapy. The second category included other medical conditions such as advanced heart failure, AIDS/HIV, and obesity. However, the only conclusive evidence found in this study is that they observed significant weight loss in patients with obesity. There is not enough research to draw conclusions on other medical conditions, except that it helps with a range of psychological symptoms. For mental health disorders, there is evidence that it has positive effects on all patients except those with schizophrenia, where cognitive-behavioral therapy has proven to be the most effective. The fourth category is trauma, however, there were no significant results in this field. There would need to be a longer intervention period proving that long-term art therapy has the potential to be successful in the alleviation of trauma. Geriatric group art therapy has proven to be significantly useful in helping depression for the elderly, although not particularly with dementia patients. And finally, the last category was related to people with ongoing daily challenges: art therapy helped reduce levels of stress and burnout related to patients’ professions. Overall, this survey publication revealed that both the high level of variability (such as incorporating talk therapy) and limited number of studies done with certified art therapists made it difficult to generalize over findings. Despite these limitations, art therapy has, to an extent, proved its efficacy in relieving symptoms and improving quality of life.