Art Therapy: An Innovative Approach In Mental Health Settings

Abstract

Art therapy is one of the therapies which is used along with other psycho-pharmacological therapies in the recovery and rehabilitation of the psychiatric clients. The aim of this paper is to elucidate the importance of art therapy in the clients' assessment and evaluation of their progress in response to their treatment in a mental health setting. In this observational study, the art therapy was used as an intervention in a mental health setting and the clients' responses were noted. The paper presents various clinical observations of clients with different art therapies and its positive effects on clients with different mental health diagnosis. Art therapy was found effective to enhance a clients' focus, attention span and reality orientation. This therapy also helped them to enhance their reflective thinking, express their inner feelings, identify their moods, and to build a therapeutic relationship with staff and other patients. In addition, art therapy also improved problem solving and decision making capabilities in mentally ill clients. In conclusion, this therapy is found effective to evaluate clients' progression of treatment and counseling sessions. Thus, it can be one of the useful tools for a healthcare professional to promote mental health of clients. or paint whatever comes on their mind. To do this task, they were provided with tools like pencils, papers, color pencils and markers. After they had finished their drawings, they were asked individually to describe what they have made to maintain their confidentiality. One of the clients, diagnosed with mood disorder was asked about his drawing in which, he had drawn a picture of his hand, pointing his index finger on to others. On further inquiry, the client shared, "I have drawn a hand, showing that if you point out others with a finger to blame them, in fact, it means that you are only one pointing finger at them and indirectly the other three fingers are pointing your own self". This scenario raised some important questions regarding the importance of art therapy and lead to the formation of the above mentioned objectives of this paper.

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