Art therapy can help heal psychotrauma by rekindling appreciation for beauty and harmony. There are four levels of art therapy: 1) Art as a language allows clients to express feelings through symbols. 2) Art helps relive past experiences to gain insight and understanding. 3) Art aids self-discovery and improving self-esteem. 4) Art provides pleasant stimuli to restore appreciation of beauty and harmony. Through creative expression, art therapy can help trauma survivors change negative attitudes and find meaning after loss.
2. ART THERAPY Art therapy is the process of rekindling awareness of beauty, harmony and aesthetic value in a person’s life through sensual interactions with Art Forms, Symbols and Materials.
3. About Art Art is a process and a product that stimulates emotions, feelings and imagination through sensual interaction. It provides a range of forms, symbols and ideas with malleable meanings. Art gives periodic and healthy outlets to emotions and feelings. Art enriches the soul and the mind by enhancing imagination, memory and creativity.
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5. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ART AND PSYCHO-TRAUMA Psycho-trauma is a state of being when one experiences extremely painful feelings that are beyond the normal scope of endurance which in turn destroys positive attitude towards life. The main objective of art therapy is to rekindle an awareness and appreciation for harmony, beauty and aesthetic value in life. Appreciation for beauty and harmony is an inherent human instinct that is developed right from formative years of life through artistic development stages. But when one undergoes psycho-trauma that is beyond normal scope of endurance, the sense is distorted. Art as a source of harmony and beauty is used to provide pleasant stimulus for the mind and body so that the human instinct to appreciate beauty, harmony and aesthetic value is rekindled. This results to a degree of psycho-trauma healing depending on the level of appreciation.
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7. LEVELS OF ART THERAPY. Art as a language of communication is used to express feelings, emotions and ideas. Art for reliving past experiences is used to create deeper insight and understanding of past experiences. Art as for self discovery and fulfillment is used for understanding one’s persona; dreams/ambitions, fears/anxieties, strengths/potentials, weaknesses and any other personality inclinations. Art as a source of harmony and beauty is used to provide pleasant stimulus for the mind and body.
8. 1. ART AS A LANGUAGE OF COMMUNICATION Art therapy gives provision for self expression through art symbols. A client is allowed to express himself through pictorial compositions, music, poetry or story telling in a safe and supportive environment. The expression is meant to open an individual’s inner world as says Walter Lippman in Golden Rule and After ‘art enlarges our experience by admitting us to the inner life of others’. When a client is guided to express himself through art, he gradually gets the feelings and identifies the needs of the inner world. The causes and effects of self ill feelings will come to consciousness.
11. 2. ART FOR RELIVING PAST EXPERIENCES. Art that is related to past experiences arouse emotions and puts one in touch with the underlying trauma. Art gives provision to relive past experiences in a safe and non-shaming context. The process is meant to liberate and integrate the inner person. To relive past experiences, one can either create or have sensual interaction with art that is related to our past experiences. Art therefore gives provision for manifestation of feelings that otherwise cannot manifest in normal social settings.
14. 3. ART FOR SELF DISCOVERY AND FULFILMENT. By stimulating our thoughts, emotions beliefs and ideas through our senses, art incites dormant aspects of personality to come to expression. This leads to awareness and eventually appreciation of our inner world and who we really are. By knowing one’s self you are able to identify needs, wants and feelings of the grieving persona with understanding and establish an intimate relationship with him/her. Art therapy also reveals one’s strengths/potentials which is important for improving self esteem.
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16. 4. ART AS A SOURCE OF HARMONY AND BEAUTY Human beings respond to art at two levels; emotional & philosophical. Emotional appreciation is always at the first sight and almost instant. The feeling doesn’t endure for long. Philosophical reaction is contemplative and happens after a longer period of interaction and reflection. Art appreciation will take you back to finding pleasure in the ordinary events like; going to dinner with friends, catching occasional concert, or watching a local foot ball match.
18. CONCLUSION Art is a force that, if well guided can drive the mind to find our will. Our negative attitudes can gradually change and the damage undone. Through art therapy we experience the creative principle of love and align all our activities with it. The way we speak, walk, dress and eat. The way we make our houses, roads and machines. The way we plan and implement. The way we pray and worship. Art Therapy helps us experience the mysterious and find meaning in even the most immeasurable loss that we suffer in life. We shall then live calmly an cheerfully in an imperfect world.
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20. Acknowledgement: P.C.A.F. Africa Mental Health Foundation. International Professional Counseling Centre. Kenyatta University- School of Visual & Performing Arts. St. Nicholas Teachers Training College – Embakasi All artists whose works appear in this presentation.
21. PREPARED BY : Sikuku Martin. ( B.Ed- Fine Art) sikumatt@yahoo.com & Ngugi P. Mugo. (B.Ed – Theatre Arts) ngugimugoh05@yahoo.com
