Have a doodle art saved your heavy mind from all the workload? Does drawing a leaf or strokes help you to calm down? Any form of drawing has somewhat released most of our stress. No matter how mundane life affairs are, art therapy would never fail to save you at the right time. This therapy is open to everybody. Art therapy ideas are numerous and suitable for all kinds of ages.

Whether you are a student or a working person, art therapy ideas are easy and can be tried out. The main essence of these ideas root from the need to find an effective way of releasing one’s emotions. Art therapy, however, is not like your regular art sessions. You cannot claim to be practising art therapy by enrolling in any art classes. These art therapy activities require you to be properly taking a psychiatrist’s help, who will further suggest how to process it. 

Understanding what art therapy is essential to know how art therapy ideas can be followed. In this article, there will be a complete elucidation to what art therapy is. Further, there will be an explanation to how exactly art therapy helps people of all age groups. This article will also provide an informative detail on simple art therapy ideas that one can try out. 

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Art Therapy – What Does It Mean 

Art therapy, in the most generic sense, refers to the psychotherapy that induces art to let people express, grow and achieve better in future. Here, expressing refers to letting people use any form of art to tell about their real feelings and emotions. This also includes letting them understand what exactly they are feeling, and whether those emotions are causing them hindrance.

Art therapy activities are also meant to let the person grow. This growth can be out of traumatic or stressful experiences. It can also be about how an individual finds a new path or purpose to lead life. Further, art therapy also lets the person achieve, which stops due to mental adversities. Achieving enables the individuals to set their goals, and provide with their best efficiencies. 

The entities who lead art therapy are known as art therapists. These art therapists are essentially important to not only imply art therapy but also look at its progress. Art therapists follow along the lines of some important principles. These principles determine whether the art therapist is eligible to cater to the concerned individual’s need in art therapy. These principles of art therapists are defined broadly as: 

• To initiate the trust building with the patients and deal honestly with each of them. 

• Maintain accuracy while bonding with each patient who seeks art therapy. This also includes hearing and providing space for the patient to express completely. 

• Having patience is essential for any art therapist. It should be understood that patients take various times to express or open up. This would require the art therapists to listen entirely to the patient, patiently. 

• Being truthful and promising to work. Art therapists are required to be promising the work and fulfilling it truthfully. 

Art therapy is classified into various forms. These forms differ in terms of how they are applied and executed. Broadly, art therapy is categorised into four forms- painting, drawing, collage and sculpture. In addition to this, art therapy activities are also considered to be drama, music, and various other visual art forms. A person who seeks towards art therapy activities is free to take up the desired art therapy types. The main goal of all these art therapy forms should be to let the individual find comfort in art. 

Art therapy engages the human mind, body and spirit in a way that is different from verbal articulation. Here, the individual has no physical body to express to. The person can seek art to express what they have been feeling. This is also a boon for art therapy to be taken up by so  many people. Some of them might feel insecure in speaking out to the psychiatrist, hence they sought out art therapy, which is non-verbal way to communicate. 

One of the strongest boons of art therapy is its indirect way of boosting up a person’s creativity. All the art therapy activities do not set any barrier on a person’s creative thinking process. A stroke to an entire page of paint, will boost up the creative abilities of a person. It penetrates deep into the subconscious thoughts of the individuals, and promotes them to release them through art forms. 

In a nutshell, art therapy is the safest psychotherapy to help the person get back with a better mental health. The process of art therapy to show results is slow, however, it is effective as it uses the meagre artistic abilities of a person. 

There are various ways in which art therapy helps people of various ages. This is elaborated in the next section. 

How Art Therapy Helps People 

There is a lot of guidance and assistance that art therapy does for the people of various age groups. It primarily helps to workout on various issues and improvements that are common to all the age groups. These are all elaborated below:

Provision of Communication Medium 

Art therapy activities are the medium of communication for people of all age groups. Be it a school going student or an old person, art helps them to communicate. With art therapy, the person can find a reliable channel to communicate their repressed thoughts or an instance which they cannot communicate verbally. Further, it also helps the people to connect with others, who share similar kinds of instances, experiences or past. 

Streamlining Stress Release

The meaning of stress is very subjective and it can differ from person to person, and across various age groups. However, it is to be understood that stress is prevalent in all ages. The students might be stressed about academics, adults about work and old people about the lack of support. Apart from these, there can be various stresses that can come along with different ages. Art therapy, in this context, works to let people release their stress through art. By doing so, a person puts out the stress in a safe manner and without being aggressive or harming others. 

Dealing with Unwanted or Strong Emotions 

There are various emotions that a person can go through at the same time. It can be bothersome, at some point to maintain these emotions. Further, the external and internal factors can als aggravate or bother in handling these emotions. Art therapy helps the person to dispense and deal with these unwanted or strong emotions. It helps them to put it out through various art forms and get the right help. Further, art therapy activities are essential in such cases, to reduce the obstruction that is caused by these emotions. It then helps the person to look beyond these emotions and control them efficiently. 

Having Optimistic Perception 

People who generally seek art therapy, view life from a pessimistic perception. This might be indicative through how they analyse the downfall of a situation. Further, the symptoms of self-loathing, regretting, and more, can be contributing to the pessimistic perception of the person. With art therapy, one can have an optimistic perception towards life.

It might help the person learn that life has both good and bad experiences. Further, when these individuals would connect with each other, it would help them in knowing that they are not alone. This would also initiate a collective feeling of striving towards optimism together. 

Increases Self-Regulation 

Self-regulation is how an individual is organising oneself. Art therapy helps the person to self regulate themselves. This self-regulation not only expands to the physical well being of the person, but also to the mental state of the person. Once a person seeks art therapy, they will find it easier to regulate their emotions, thoughts and health. Eventually, this will also be reflected in their physical being and day to day activities. 

These are the ways in which art therapy activities help the person of all the age groups. Art therapy helps the person to navigate their way back and find the purpose to lead their life. 

There are various simple art therapy ideas that one can try during their free time. These ideas are not complex and will also release a certain amount of stress level. These art therapy ideas are elaborated in the next section. 

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10 Ideas to Try Out 

There are various simple and easy-peasy art therapy ideas that one can try out. You can try them in your free time or when you want to take the break. These simple art therapy ideas are: 

Drawing Emojis

Not only during texts, but you can also draw emojis when you are relying on art to release your stress. There are various options of emojis that you can draw. If you are sad, you can draw a sad emoji. If you are stressed, you can draw a face with stressed and clumped teeth. By doing so, the person would be able to reflect on what exactly they are feeling. 

Calligraphy on the Spot 

Calligraphy is yet another effective art therapy idea to try out. It is easy, and smooth to try out. You can just do a random word calligraphy or write a sentence that you are relating to at that moment. This will eventually divert your mind and reduce stress. 

Doodling 

Doodling is one of the best art therapy ideas to try out. All you need is a pen and paper to start doodling. You can combine the clouds, faces and various objects while doodling. This will shift the focus of the person towards doodling. Further, it will broaden the creative horizon of the person. 

Random Painting 

Painting is an easy art therapy activity and is most suitable for the students and kids. Random painting is where you do not have to focus on any kind of specific painting. You can just dip your colours and let your paintbrush drag your hand. Most of the time, random painting depicts the internal state of mind. 

Making Origami

How hard is it to make a paper plane or a paper bird? One of the ideal and affordable art therapy activities is making origami. You do not require specific colour papers. You can use any paper, including newspaper or spare paper. This will again help you leverage your creative potential and help you make the best out of paper! 

Keep Going in Circles 

If you are stressed, just take a paper or keep circling on the page. This idea might sound absurd, but it is really effective. Drawing circles on the paper will help you reduce your stress level. It will also divert your concentration and take your mind away from disturbing circling thoughts. 

Playing the Piano Offbeat 

Another effective art therapy idea to try out is playing the piano. However, the catch is, you do not have to play it on beat all the time. All you can do is, sit by the piano side, play the music and let your fingers feel the piano tiles. By doing so, you can relax and avoid the nerves from becoming jittery. 

Straw Painting 

In this art therapy idea, you need a straw, a paper sheet and your blowing energy. Dip the straw in paint water, blow them on the page. Voila! You would get a very abstract and artistic pattern that had helped you release your stress. By doing so, you would not only deviate your thoughts but also have a chunk of happy laughter while doing so. 

Write a Journal Entry 

Journal entry is one of the easiest and most personal ideas amongst the art therapy ideas. You do not have to use some various extensive terms. All you need is a pen, your journal and your thoughts. Keep writing. By doing this, you would understand your emotions and articulate them more effectively. 

Inking Butterflies 

One effective art therapy idea is to ink some colourful butterflies. All you need to do is drop an ink between the paper, smash it and you will get your butterfly. This activity will not only boost your enthusiasm but also make you do it more, as it’s easy and well. 

These are the 10 art therapy ideas that you must try out. These ideas are very easy to try and can be done, anywhere, anytime, with minimal resources. 

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Parting Note 

In this article, we understand what art therapy is all about. Art therapy, in the most generic sense, refers to the psychotherapy that induces art to let people express, grow and achieve better in future. Here, expressing refers to letting people use any form of art to tell about their real feelings and emotions. This also includes letting them understand what exactly they are feeling, and whether those emotions are causing them hindrance. 

This article also summarises what art therapy does for people of all ages. The ways in which art therapy works for all age groups are: 

• Provision of Communication Medium
• Streamlining Stress Release
• Dealing with Unwanted or Strong Emotions 
• Having Optimistic Perception 
• Increases Self-Regulation 

Lastly, this article also elucidates 10 simple art therapy ideas that one can try with only minimal things. These are:

• Drawing Emojis
• Calligraphy on the Spot 
• Doodling 
• Random Painting 
• Making Origami
• Keep Going in Circles 
• Playing the Piano Offbeat 
• Straw Painting 
• Write a Journal Entry 
• Inking Butterflies 

Commonly Asked FAQs

1. What do you mean by art therapy?

Art therapy, in the most generic sense, refers to the psychotherapy that induces art to let people express, grow and achieve better in future. Here, expressing refers to letting people use any form of art to tell about their real feelings and emotions. 

2. What does art therapy do for people?

Art therapy helps the people by:

• Provision of Communication Medium
• Streamlining Stress Release
• Dealing with Unwanted or Strong Emotions 
• Having Optimistic Perception 
• Increases Self-Regulation 

3. What are some simple art therapy ideas?

The simple art therapy ideas are:

• Drawing Emojis
• Calligraphy on the Spot 
• Doodling 
• Random Painting 
• Making Origami

4. Is art therapy successful?

The success of art therapy depends on the person’s progress. Art therapy might be slow and or high in progress, from person to person. 

5. Is art therapy the same as art classes?

Art therapy is not the same as art class. Art classes help the person to strive towards perfecting artistic skills. Whereas, art therapy is inclined in providing a channel for the person to express.