Art therapy - art treatment. This direction of psychological correction is often used in work with children, it helps them to discharge emotionally, gives them the opportunity to express themselves and gives great pleasure to the participants in the process.
Why do you need art therapy for children
The first art therapy classes were held in the United States at the end of the 40s of the twentieth century with children taken from Nazi concentration camps during World War II. Then, with her help, they tried to find out the degree of violations inflicted on the child's psyche by captivity and the nearness of death.
Later, art therapy began to be spontaneous, aimed not so much at diagnosing psychological problems as at the process itself. Art therapy is widely used for preschoolers and disabled children. Freedom of creativity helps children to liberate themselves and get rid of fears and complexes, increases self-esteem, facilitates the establishment of social contacts, and helps to get rid of negative feelings and emotions.
Very often people use art therapy unconsciously. Have you ever drawn flowers in a boring class or an unpleasant meeting? It was art therapy that helped you calm down and collect your thoughts.
Drawing, modeling, painting classes after a hard day at school, during an illness, just when he is in a bad mood are useful for a child. Try to do this every night, so you can track the emotional state of your child and help him cope with an unpleasant situation in time. And besides that, art therapy classes contribute to the development of fine motor skills, memory, thinking and imagination.
Types of art therapy
To work with your child, choose a type of art therapy that will give him as many positive emotions as possible. Isotherapy is everything that is connected with drawing, coloring, modeling. Bibliotherapy is working with words, writing poetry, fairy tales, and various stories. Dance therapy is a method of treatment through dancing. Sand therapy is one of the favorite methods for children. You can create masterpieces from dry or damp sand, all you need is sand and an area for painting or building.
Each type of art therapy, and there are a lot of them, is based on switching brain activity from the left hemisphere to the right. The left hemisphere is responsible for the mind and analysis, very often it blocks the work of the right hemisphere, preventing feelings and emotions from splashing out. During creative activity, the right hemisphere is unblocked and the paths to the exit of hidden experiences open. As a result of art therapy, both hemispheres begin to work together, the child's complexes, fears and clamps disappear.
