Danielle Berube
Professor Jeanette Novakovich
English 213
March 20, 2011
Benefits of the Creative Arts
Throughout history, humans have shown a need for self-expression, from ancient cave paintings to medieval theatre and musical masterpieces, creative therapies have been around for thousands of years. Expressive arts rooted in Freud and Jung's theories of the subconscious and unconscious, this form of therapy is “based on the premise that visual symbols and images are the most accessible and natural form of communication to the human experience"(Ford-Martin, 2001, p. 48). In 1988, a 17 year old girl named Shari Lynn Beame was victim of a car accident; she suffered brain injuries leaving her paralyzed. In the next two years, she had to relearn everything, as well as walking and talking (Morel, 2010). Without the ability to communicate verbally, Beame turned to Art, expressing her emotions through painting. The accident was terrible but her recovery ignited a passion for therapy. Shari Lynn Beame, now 40 years of age, is a certified mental health therapist specializing in art therapy. Although mental and physical problems, like brain injuries, cannot be prevented, there are numerous ways to help. Using creative art therapies such as visual arts, music and drama, specialists can help children, teenagers and adults overcome or alleviate these mental and physical conditions.
Background information
Where did the urge to suddenly express oneself come from? There is a time in our evolutionary brain where it suddenly had the impulse to express itself in an intelligent fashion, thus creating art. Different art forms were created, for example; painting, music and drama were used to evoke emotions in an environmental setting not based on animal instinct. “Archaeological evidence suggests that early humans began to make art paintings, sculpture, music, dance, and drama between 45,000 and 35,000 years ago at the same time they became capable of symbolic, metaphoric thought”(Bailey, 2010). The arts have been connected to healing and meaning; ever since Freud, Aristotle and the beginning of World War I, this shows how vitally important creative arts are to health and to civilization.
Art therapy
“Painting is a blind man’s profession. He paints not what he sees, but what he feels, what he tells himself about what he has seen” (Picasso).
Visual arts rooted from Sigmund Freud`s theories of the conscious and unconscious, his thoughts of art as therapy perceived from his ideology that neurotic symptoms developed as consequences of the battle between the pleasure and reality principals. David Edwards, the author of the book Art Therapy, explains that “for Freud, the unconscious mental process operative in the neuroses, dreams and creation of works of art (including condensations, displacement and symbolization) functioned in similar ways” (Edwards, 2004). Freud regarded the reason of these forms as a display of the pleasure principal, such as play, day dreaming and other creative activities, to gain pleasure by re-arranging reality. Sigmund Freud believed that “due to ‘primal repression’ some aspects of life could only be represented indirectly via symbols, thus putting repression and the potentiality for neurosis at the heart of dreaming and creativity ” (Bateman & Holmes, 1996). Educator and therapist Margaret Naumburg was a follower of Sigmund Freud, she incorporated art into psychotherapy as a means for her patients to visualize and recognize the unconscious. In 1915, she opened the Walden School in New York City; the educational focus was on letting children develop their own ideas and interests. Naumburg was considered the founder of Art Therapy in the United States, even though it was not a distinct profession until the 1940s. In 1969, The American Art Therapy Association (AATA) was founded (NCCATA, n.d.).
Art therapy is a way to help communicate through healing and growth. It can help people express emotional conflicts and expand self-awareness. Art therapist work to uncover unconscious or emotionally charged feelings that may be hard to express verbally. “The visual medium of art provides an avenue for symbolic and metaphoric expression that can lead to a deeper understanding of personality, experiences, concerns, interest and other critically important facets of an individual’s make-up”(Tennyson, n.d.). Painting is productive for problems requiring adjustable thinking and intuitive solutions; “painting exercises mostly the right side of the brain, and prevents the more logical left side of the brain from dominating. It is useful when goal-setting, because it does not impede you with logical constraints, and allows you to think about what you really want to aim for, not what you think you ought to”. (Art Therapy).
Music Therapy
"Music expresses that which cannot be put into words
and that which cannot remain silent." (Victor Hugo).
and that which cannot remain silent." (Victor Hugo).
The idea of music as a healing influence which could affect health and behaviour dates back to the ancient times, there is evidence in biblical scriptures and historical writings of ancient civilizations. The profession of Music Therapy began during World War I and World War II when music was used in Veterans Administration Hospitals as an intervention to address traumatic war injuries. Musicians of all types would visit hospitals around the country to play for the thousands of veterans suffering both physical and emotional trauma. Veterans engaged in music activities that centered on relieving pain perception. Numerous doctors and nurses witnessed the effect music had on veterans' psychological, physiological, cognitive, and emotional state. The first music therapy degree program was founded in 1944 at the University of Michigan. “The National Association of Music Therapy (now the American Music Therapy Association) was formed in 1950, founding a constitution, setting professional goals, developing membership categories, and appointing a standing committee for research ”(Newton, 2003).
The American Music therapy association explains that “Music therapists assess emotional well-being, physical health, social functioning, communication abilities, and cognitive skills through musical responses; design music sessions for individuals and groups based on client needs using music improvisation, receptive music listening, song writing, lyric discussion, music and imagery, music performance, and learning through music; participate in interdisciplinary treatment planning, ongoing evaluation, and follow up”. Also, there is evidence that by using various music therapies, speech and language can be improved, through the stimulation of both hemispheres of the brain (Turner, 2001) Music can be used to rearrange and compose your mood, also to orchestrate your emotions so they supercharge you throughout the day. Harmonious and discordant chords and different intervals between notes influence your pulse and respiration; sustained chords lower your blood pressure, and crisp, repeated chords raise it (Simkin, n.d). Since music connects with ones feelings, it is well suited to work with extreme emotional states. If stressed, use music to relax.
Drama Therapy
“I regard the theatre as the greatest of all art forms, the most immediate way in which a human being can share with another the sense of what it is to be a human being” (Oscar Wilde)
During the Palaeolithic period, Shamans and priests began utilizing the arts in their healing and religious practices. Experts around the globe are in utter disbelief on how sudden the arts burst onto the human scene. Religion and art coincide because the arts naturally provided effective symbolic ways to express abstract religious ideas. “Dance and drama, in particular, were used in rites to create sympathetic and contagious magic and to embody myths and rituals. The arts have been connected to healing and meaning -- making since their origins, shows how vitally important they are to health and to civilization” (Bailey,2010). In the course of time, religious rites and rituals progressed into the art of theatre, and western theatre history began with ancient Greek theatre. “Religious festivals dedicated to Dionysus, held in Athens in early spring, featured tragedies, comedies, and satyr plays written by citizen-poets and performed by citizen-actors for the entire populace. During a choral presentation at one of the festivals around 560 B.C. Thespis, the first actor, stepped away from the chorus to take on an individual character for the first time, and theatre as we know it was born” (Brockett, 1968). Jacob Levy Moreno is the father of psychodrama (Lewis & Johnson, 2000). The American Society for Group Psychotherapy and Psychodrama (ASGPP) was founded in 1942 by Moreno and several others.
Psychodrama, or drama therapy, is usually conducted in groups, though there are some who use it in individual, couples, or family counselling. Bailey explains that “for some groups, the action methods of drama therapy are more effective. Recovering substance abusers are notorious for being disconnected from their feelings, for making up endless excuses for their behaviour, and for “being in denial” about their addiction and addictive behaviours. Drama therapy bypasses the excuses and denial, getting right to the behaviour. Other types of groups for instance, nonverbal clients or children who aren't good candidates for verbal therapy can often participate successfully in drama because they can show, rather than verbalize, how they feel”. By adopting different roles, the actor is imagining a situation, and in some ways it gives a greater emotional freedom to react to it. The actor can release himself to the deepest emotions of pain and suffering, knowing that after the performance, he can distance himself from those feelings. Therefore, because theatre is not “reality”, it is a safer place to express emotions than in real life.
Children
Art therapy helps with phobias and social skill problems by showing their fears in a concrete form making it easier to confront and allowing them to understand. Victimization issues are dealt with by addressing these issues through art giving them a safer sense of the issue. For loss, abandonment, and grieving, Tennyson explains “the visual medium of art provides transitional objects for children moving through loss issues. It helps children move forward to new attachments while concretely leaving adverse situations or people” (Tennyson, n.d.).
Adolescents
Tennyson informs us that when teenagers “use alcohol and drugs, it often includes cultural imagery and symbols of issues that can be expressed and explored through art, music or drama. Substance abuse masks feelings of anger, pain, and loneliness. Art provides a way to release these feelings”. When parents are faced with behaviour problems and refusal to engage in daily life, drawing or painting can organize and “establish a means of expression for the adolescent”. Teenagers can often feel alone and confused when it comes to their emotions. Art therapy is used to challenge depressed symptoms and ideas. Adolescents go through physical and mental changes and for some the transition can be very difficult. Creative therapies, such as music, can help their state of mind.
Adults
Creative arts can help various problems in an adult’s life; it is very useful in marital and family dysfunctions because with art we are able to recognize family issues and patterns by externalizing the problem and making it more accessible and accurate. As we know, stress and anxiety are common in an adults everyday life, making art by drawing or painting how you feel provides a “powerful physiological effect” (Tennyson). Another popular issue in the 21st century is divorces. In 2002, forty-six per cent of marriages ended in the United States, Tennyson explains “expressing the stress of relationships, feelings and loss in a visual form provides clarity and acceptance. Communication is clearer and less distorted when expressed visually”. Sue Wallingford, an Art Therapist from Colorado, informs us on an easy way to help children who are in the middle of their parents’ divorce. “For children, like their parents, divorce is often a traumatic and life-changing event. Unlike their parents, however, children often lack the verbal skills or emotional maturity adequately to process their feelings with words” (Wallingford, n.d). Art is an alternative that allows children to express their feelings through drawing, painting and sculpture.
REFERENCES
Art Therapy (n.d) Rainbow inc. Retrieved http://rainbowarttherapy.com/visualarttherapy.htm
Art Therapy (n.d.) National Coalition of Creative Arts Therapies Associations. Retrieved from http://www.nccata.org/art_therapy.htm
Bailey, S. (2010, December 22). What is Drama Therapy? Drama Therapy Central. Retrieved from http://www.dramatherapycentral.com
Bateman, A., Holmes, J. (1996). Art Therapy. London, UK: Sage Publications.
Brockett, O. (1968). History of the theatre. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, Inc.
Edwards, D. (2004). Introduction to psychoanalysis. London, UK: Routledge.
Ford-Martin, P. (2001). Art Therapy. In E. Bonnie Strickland(Ed.), The Gale encyclopedia of Psychology(Vol. 2, pp. 48-49). Detroit, Michigan: Gale.
Lewis P., & Johnson D. R. (2000). Current approaches in drama therapy. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas Publisher.
Morel, L. (2010, July 18). Health: Brain injury ignites passion for art therapy. Retrieved from http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/07/13/1727193/brain-injury-ignites-passion-for.html
Newton, C. (2003) Music Therapy: The Power of Music in Therapy. Retrieved from http://www.camnewton.com/music_therapy.htm
Simkin, G. (n.d.) The Science of Music. Retrieved from http://home.centurytel.net/
Tennyson, D. (n.d.) Art connects us: Art Therapy. Retrieved from http://www.artconnects.us
Turner, J. (2001). Music Therapy. In E. Bonnie Strickland(Ed.), The Gale encyclopedia of Psychology(Vol. 2, pp. 443-444). Detroit, Michigan: Gale.
Wallingford, S. (n.d.) Divorce Resolutions: Kids Art Gallery. Retrieved at http://www.coloradodivorcemediation.com/art/
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