Art is created in many forms for many different purposes. While one artist is using his or her painting to communicate a political view, another artist is using collage to express his or her reaction to a natural disaster. At the same time, a multitude of other artists are using their mediums to creatively comment on more topics than can be listed here. From an aesthetic perspective, art decorates our lives. From the style of our clothing to the fine art that adorns our homes and offices, art often beautifies the world. There is however, another purpose of art that perhaps goes unnoticed by the population in general; the power of art to heal.
As a professional artist and art teacher, I have personally witnessed the healing power of art with clients and in my classroom. I teach art to at-risk youth in the Department of Corrections. Many of these students arrive with problems ranging from mental health issues, emotional trauma, to substance abuse and addiction. These students are typically struggling in school, if they have even been going to school, and frequently have physical health problems as well. In other words, my art students are coping with a lot of problems. Although I have witnessed more “healing moments” while teaching art than I have room to recount here, one student in particular stands out; Joe (fictitious name) entered my pottery class unwilling to speak or even look at me. This was standard behavior for Joe, and his counselors were searching for a way to get him to open up. I explained the day’s lesson to the class while Joe stood with his back against a wall and his eyes staring at the floor. After my project instructions, the other students eagerly grabbed lumps of clay and began making pinch pots. I asked Joe if he would like to make a pot; no response. A short time later, without speaking a word, I walked over to Joe and simply placed a piece of clay in his hands. I then walked to the other side of the classroom and watched Joe out of the corner of my eye. First, Joe began massaging and kneading the clay. Next, Joe was looking around the room while squeezing the clay. Then, Joe started looking at the other student’s projects with a questioning look on his face. It was then that I walked over to Joe and asked him if he would like to make a pinch pot; he said, “Yes.” I was thrilled, mostly because Joe spoke, but I tried to contain my enthusiasm so as not to scare him back into his shell. I showed Joe how to make a pinch pot and left him to his clay. Amazingly, by the end of class, Joe had completed a pot and was quite proud of his efforts. Joe smiled at me and said, “Thank you” as we left the classroom. I could hardly contain my enthusiasm because Joe was speaking and even smiling! Art brought Joe out of his shell. This one example is far from scientifically sound research, but I can recount numerous examples of students that have come out of their shell, made an emotional breakthrough, or simply learned how to cope with their problems more appropriately through the creative process of art.
My experience of art having healing effects in the classroom is echoed by Vanessa Camilleri, a teacher who also works with at-risk youth. Camilleri uses music, dance, drama, and art therapy (Kellum 34-35) to work with students that suffer from a variety of emotional and mental problems arising from growing up in the inner city. Camilleri believes that a combination of “education and healing can occur through the arts.” Furthermore, a research project that used art therapy with psychotherapy to help juvenile female offenders, another group of at-risk youth, improves self esteem proved successful. Participants reported having increased feelings of “mastery, connection, and self-approval” (Hartz 21). These students also reported that it was easier to make friends because they learned how to be more accepting of other people. Finally, researchers noted that the behavior and appearance of the girls in this study group improved, and concluded, “Findings suggest that for these low-self-esteem participants, art therapy can be an effective treatment intervention to raise self-esteem. This implies an approach can be selected to build greater trust and self-disclosure or to foster general group cohesion, based on client needs” (Hartz 21).
In addition to seeing the healing power of art with my students, I have also seen it with my clients. I design monuments for a company that manufactures headstones for families who have lost loved-ones. I consistently experience families that, through tear filled eyes, tell me the artwork I have done for their loved-one’s monument provides the family with a sense of peace and healing. The monument is, in many cases, the last gift a family can give to a deceased loved-one. Families derive a sense of completion and peace knowing they have honored their loved-one; this is accomplished through art. Similarly, when hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, it was art that helped the community cope with the loss and devastation. Susan Krantz in, “When Tragedy Inspires Recovery: Visual Arts in Post Katrina New Orleans” describes how art helped the community heal. Many local artists used the mangled, hurricane destroyed parts of buildings, furniture, and other found items to construct works of art that presented a visual reflection of hurricane Katrina to the rest of the world. Krantz illuminates how “the entire city became the canvas for post-Katrina art” (Krantz 10). Krantz goes on to describe how people that viewed the art would cry, while at the same time expressing gratitude for the fact that the artwork was there (Krantz 10). To sum up the effect of art on the people who survived hurricane Katrina, Krantz explains how the art fulfilled a political function and, “…the visual arts in New Orleans turned tragedy into resilience” (Krantz 11).
In a more formal therapeutic setting, art therapy professionals use art to help clients heal a variety of issues. One example includes patients with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or better known by the acronym ADHD, that created mandala drawings as a tool to teach students how to stay focused and on task (Smitheman-Brown 1). Creating the repetitive, geometric shapes of mandalas has also been shown by research to relieve anxiety (Curry 2-3). Art therapy has been used in nursing homes to help elderly patients improve their state of mind. Research shows the elderly patients enjoyed higher self-esteem, experienced less depression, and had less anxiety as a result of participating in art therapy (Bergland 1). In another study, art therapy was applied to substance abuse treatments. Participants made collages to illustrate their addictions and their recoveries. These participants reported that collage helped them to more successfully work a twelve-step program (Julliard 2). Said another way, art can be integrated into programs like a twelve-step program to help people understand and apply the principles within that program.
How does art heal? Creating art affects a person physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. First, creating art causes the autonomic nervous system, and thus the body, to relax. Hormone levels adjust to levels that promote physical healing. As the body is relaxed, circulation is improved causing nutrient carrying blood to more effectively nourish the body. Immune system function is improved and more endorphins are released in the brain. Endorphins ease pain and help create a sense of well-being. Second, creating art causes a person to focus with more concentration, and enter a “zone” of sorts. This may be an effect of the release of endorphins. Many people experience a more positive attitude and thus become more hopeful and joyful. It becomes easier for people to see their lives from a new perspective and to place a greater value on their lives. The images that pass through people’s minds tend to be more positive. Third, people tend to experience more positive emotions. Anger can more easily be released to allow positive emotions to be felt and expressed. Finally, the creative process allows many people to access their higher power more easily (Samuels 88). The effects of the creative process on a person’s physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual levels combine to promote healing.
There are volumes of research supporting the value of art to effect healing on all levels of a person. Art therapy is being used extensively in psychotherapy with one study that tested the efficacy of art therapy when working with sexually abused girls finding that depression and anxiety was reduced with an art therapy program (Pretorius 70). Another study revealed that art is an effective tool in evaluating grief in children (Graham 5). It should be mentioned, however, that while Psychologists and Art Therapists also use other psychotherapy techniques, art as a method for personal healing is promising and art in therapy has a prominent place. If creating art does nothing more than relieve stress, art has made a meaningful contribution to a person’s health and well being. After all, stress is currently reported as one of the top contributors to ill health in people’s fast paced lifestyles.
Perhaps the best part of art as a healing method is its simplicity and availability to everyone. A therapist does not have to be present for a person to enjoy the therapeutic benefits of art. People can create art on their own using practically anything. Being limited only by the imagination, a person can stack rocks along a shoreline to create installation art. Many people have old magazines that can be cut up to create a collage. It can be fun, in addition to healing, to go on a scavenger hunt for objects that can be combined to create a sculpture. With nothing more than a person’s voice, a song can soothe a person’s soul and put their mind at ease. The creative nature of art makes it the perfect vehicle for healing.
Works cited
Smitheman-Brown, V., & Church, R. P. (1996). Mandala drawing: Facilitating
creative growth in children with ADD or ADHD. Art Therapy: Journal of
the American Art Therapy Association, 13(4), 252-262.
Bergland, C. (1982). The life review process in geriatric art therapy: A pilot study.
Arts in Psychotherapy, 9(2), 121-130.
Doric-Henry, L. (1997). Pottery as art therapy with elderly nursing home residents.
Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association, 14(3), 163-171. <http://www.americanarttherapyassociation.org/upload/OutcomeSingSubjectStudies2007.pdf>
Julliard, K. (1995). Increasing chemically dependent patients’ belief in Step One
through expressive therapy. American Journal of Art Therapy, 33(4), 110-119.
Graham, M., & Sontag, M. (2001). Art as an evaluative tool: A pilot study. Art
Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association, 18(1), 37-43. <http://www.americanarttherapyassociation.org/upload/OutcomeSingSubjectStudies2007.pdf>
Curry, N. A., & Kasser, T. (2005). Can coloring mandalas reduce anxiety? Art
Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association, 22(2), 81-85. <http://www.americanarttherapyassociation.org/upload/OutcomeSingSubjectStudies2007.pdf>
Kellum, BrianW. “Healing the Inner City Child.” Music Educators Journal 95.2 (2008): 34-35. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 12 July 2010. <http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=aph&AN=35781300&site=ehost-live >
Samuels M.D.,, Michael Mary Rockwood Lane, R.N., M.S.N. Creative Healing, How To Heal Yourself By Tapping Your Hidden Creativity. Harper San Francisco, 1998.
Pretorius, Gertie, Natascha Pfeifer. “Group therapy with sexually abused girls.” South African Journal of Psychology 40.1 (2010): 63-73. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 12 July 2010. <http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=aph&AN=35781300&site=ehost-live >
Hartz, L. (2005). Art therapy strategies to raise self-esteem in female juvenile
offenders: A comparison of art psychotherapy and art as therapy
approaches. Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy
Association, 22(2), 70-80. <http://www.americanarttherapyassociation.org/upload/OutcomeSingSubjectStudies2007.pdf>
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