Art therapy, the healing antidotum prescribed by Adrian Hill

  Art, self-expression, healing, therapeutic influence of creativity on mind, body and soul ...   Art is the self-expression of human creativity, skills, imagination, emotions, feelings, and thoughts. It is the non-verbal form of communication that thanks to pictures, colours, shades, hues it serves as a canvas for translating intangible expressions into tangible forms. For [...]

 

Art, self-expression, healing, therapeutic influence of creativity on mind, body and soul …

 

Art is the self-expression of human creativity, skills, imagination, emotions, feelings, and thoughts. It is the non-verbal form of communication that thanks to pictures, colours, shades, hues it serves as a canvas for translating intangible expressions into tangible forms.

For many of us, the perception of art is associated with hobbies, leisure time or luxury, for some art is a way of living as they are those lucky ones that get financially rewarded for own creations, for others art is a therapeutic way of managing difficult emotions or experiences, and finally for some art is a profession. Art, without a doubt, is a very powerful notion of possibilities, it allows our minds to be absorbed in a way it is both beneficial to our imagination as it creates new neuro paths to discover yet to be explored meanings and also advantageous to our well-being as it channels our attention into a creative state of focus while soothing nerves and hyperactive emotions.

 

 

 

According to art therapy leading thought, it is very important to express feelings by the use of art rather than keeping them hidden and bottled up. The modern movement of art therapy is founded on the principle of the healing properties of art as initiated by Adrian Hill, in 1942, who saw the potential and strength of art as a tactic to the recovery of patients through art-making doodles, water-paintings and other activities.

Artful forms of expression provide a platform for people to translate their emotions and feelings into a canvas of non-verbal masterpieces. Therapeutic capabilities of art heal emotions, nerves and direct our attention towards the aesthetical world of positivity and open possibilities.

 

 

Art is not definite and this is the most favorable element that speaks out all benefits associated with creativity. Tapping into art requires curiosity, imagination, and willingness to self-discovery, connectivity with the emotions of own selves and other. Expressing our own feelings through art allows engaging deeply with our own identity that allows learning, self-discovery, and the time to understand what moves us and how we wish to express inner feelings and emotions. The ultimate starting point shall be others, as there is an incredibly powerful potential associated with discovering creations completed by other artists.

 

 

Movement, sight, touch … just a few senses that are tightly linked to art. art therapy allows individuals to discover the potential their imagination can unravel.

 

 

One of the greatest misconceptions about art is that it is a frill. Recent research is proving just the opposite: Art is not an extra; it is an integral part of learning. Art therapy takes this [concept] a bit further by emphasizing not only the application of art activities with children with disability challenges but also the importance of a relationship with a helping professional |

{ Malchiodi, the president of Art Therapy Without Borders }

 

 

Art therapy, the term is being originated by Adrian Hill, who is known as the founder and father of modern art therapy. His book “Art Versus Illness” uncovers the birth of this path that was being brought to light as a result of personal experiences of the author when due to tuberculosis he spent some significant amount of time in the sanatorium that allowed him to use the time in a creative way by the “simple act of drawing” that served more of escapism rather than anything else.

 

 

I became… a diligent and leisurely composer of precise pencil productions, each of which, in the terms of my restricted medium, sought to express my personal reactions to the unreality of my existence

{ Hill, 1945, p.14 }.

 

 

 

To be happily occupied is at all times a gift from the gods, and in a period of long convalescence, it is a positive saving grace… The Art germ once it becomes firmly planted in the mind and the heart, is far more difficult to dislodge than another germ with which you are all more familiar. Indeed the former germ can help enormously in banishing the latter bug”.

{ Hill, 1945, p.30 }