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Saturday, April 19, 2014

Some Ideas For Expressive Therapies

By Essie Osborn


Art not only is for pleasure but sometimes it can also be used as a form of therapy in order to open up the mind and even heal some part of it. Expressive therapies by using art are commonly used by a lot of therapies in order to make a person feel better or make him more relaxed with himself. For those who are interested in this type of therapy, here are some ideas that many therapists would use.

Now one of the most common art forms that a lot of therapists would ask participants to do would be none other than the puppet. Now this method is often used on children or even teenagers if they would have a hard time opening up. The puppet gives them an alter ego in which they can communicate their thoughts with if they do not usually open up to people.

Of course if one would make a puppet, then he would need some materials that would help him make his ideal puppet. In a therapy session, the therapist would be the one that would provide all of the items that the participants would be needing. Now depending on the artistic skills of the participant, the puppet can be a very simple one or an extravagant one.

Now there are also those participants who are in general confused about their life and their own identity. For these people, the therapists would usually recommend the paper bag art type of therapy be used on them. This type of activity would help a person know more about himself and will also help him be able to go through his own life the way he would want to without thinking of others.

The very first step here would be to get a paper bag and draw a self portrait on one side of the bag. The second step would be to draw a gravestone on the other side and write down all the fears that one would possess. The last step would be to put some items inside of the paper bag that would represent his own personality and his own characteristics.

Aside from that, one may also do some drama theater arts that will act as a therapy to participants. This will help participants temporarily escape from their current life situation by assuming the role of another character. This will let them have a stronger sense of empathy and will broaden their minds as well as their creative expression.

Now a very good way for the therapist to know what is in the mind of the participant is to ask the participant to draw himself. From there, the therapist and the participant will discuss what the participant sees after drawing the picture. This can also be used as a way for the participant to let out some thoughts.

So as one can see, there are so many ways that art can be used therapeutically. These are not the only art forms that can be used when therapists perform expressive art therapies. These are only a few ideas that most utilize as they are some of the most effective.




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