Creative therapy refers to implementing methods of treating emotional and mental health conditions through the use of art-based activities, such as music, dance, drama, poetry, art and exercise.
The goal of creative therapy lies in the idea of encouraging personal growth through more art -based exercises that will challenge a person to learn about self-awareness in ways that conventional therapies fall short.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that 19.2% of adults in the US had received mental health treatment and that of those 9.5% included counseling and therapy. This illustrates how common there is a need for mental health intervention in the country.
Creative Therapy
The use of creative therapy is not a new idea. For years trained therapists have been utilizing music, dance movements, drawing and forms of exercise to help combat problems related to emotional, physical and mental health conditions. They found that certain activities can help different conditions and doesn’t require that a person be artistic or have creative ability.
Sharing the creative choices and ideas presented by the person to the therapist and explaining the feelings behind the self-direction helps to reveal certain aspects of themselves that lead to greater awareness and personal growth.
Benefits of Creative Exercises
A 2018 study showed the benefits of creative therapy in anxiety patients. It was found that 81% of those people who participated in some form of creative therapy had significant reduction in their levels of stress.
It is also noted that those with dementia, heart failure, cancer, HIV or AIDS all get benefits from adding creative therapy to their health regime, according to a 2020 article.
The American Art Therapy Association states many conditions can be positively impacted by creative therapies such as:
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improvement of social skills
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increase of self-esteem and emotional stability
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increase of self-awareness
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improved physical strength, balance, coordination, motor and cognitive function
Creative therapy when added to other forms of therapy has valuable benefits that can assist a person:
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to find relaxation when needed
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giving a sense of achievement and purpose
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help form better and lasting friendships
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through self-discovery and learning more about themselves
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to reduce pain and discomfort through distraction that fun activities provide
Creative therapy can help with:
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Alzheimer’s disease
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anxiety and trauma
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TBI or head injuries
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cancer and other chronic illnesses
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disabilities both physical and developmental
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dementia and other neurocognitive developmental conditions
Types of Creative Therapy
There are several kinds of creative therapies that deem to be more useful with certain applications for the treatment of specific conditions. Finding out what works best is done by consulting with a creative therapy specialist to learn what the specific benefits are for each particular condition. It is always recommended to work with someone who’s knowledgeable in the area you are interested in. The benefits gained are built into the ability to share what you’ve learned with the professional you are working with. The most common types of creative therapy are: music, dance, art, poetry and drama therapy.
Music Therapy
Music therapy has been used for years in helping people with anxiety and depression to relax and process emotions. This type of creative therapy can be beneficial to all age groups and has been shown in a 2017 study to help people with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease improve depression, anxiousness, orientation and memory.
Music therapy can help people with:
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Alzheimer’s disease
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TBI or brain injuries
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substance abuse
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chronic pain
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mental health conditions
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physical, learning and other disabilities
Positive observable results of listening to classical and jazz music has been shown to have improved mood changes in people with depressive issues.
Both playing and listening to music has been shown to significantly activate certain brain regions that are not being stimulated using other traditional therapeutic methods. Making music a daily part of one’s life experience will create deep lasting positive changes within the neural pathways to affect it’s ability to communicate through improved neural coordination from greater cortical involvement.
Music therapy sessions can involve different aspects of music like:
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song writing
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listening to music
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musical discussions and the use of imagery
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musical performance and improvisation
Dance Therapy
The goal of dance therapy is to assist a person to heal and grow through movement. Dance as a creative therapy can :
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increase body image and self-esteem
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expand and remove restrictions of their body
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encourage self-awareness and develop better communication
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be used for relationship building
People who deal with mental, social, psychological and medical conditions have all see benefits from including dance therapy along with their total heath regime.
Trauma can be stored and trapped in the body while being revealed in the mind. Coordinated movements can help a person to physically activate body awareness in order to help a person make new associations with themselves to help dislodge, reduce or eliminate painful psychological aspects of a condition.
A 2019 study indicated that dance therapy is a great way to improve cognitive abilities while reducing anxiety and depression after only a short time.
Art Therapy
The process of stress and depression reduction can be achieved through the involvement of creating art. Art therapy includes various forms like, sculpting, painting and drawing to help one discover deeper feelings and deal with emotions and self-discovery.
An experienced art therapist can help a person to explore different aspects of a persons life and the feelings attached to past experiences in ways other therapies can’t.
Art therapy can help one to:
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diminish anxiety and stress levels
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enhance a persons self esteem
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better manage ones behaviors
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discover new feelings and expand self-awareness
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deal with conflict and strong harmful emotions
Creative therapy was used on adults over 60 years of age with an increase risk of dementia to improve cognition in a 2019 study done in China. They found that the sessions that included storytelling and drawing gave the best results which lasted six months later.
Poetry Therapy
This form of creative therapy uses the writing or reading of poetry to explore a persons feelings and understanding of current or past experiences. It can also help in finding empathy in other peoples feelings and emotions.
Poetry therapy is a good way to explore and expand ones current method of expression of emotions while creating a sense of belonging.
Drama Therapy
There is some research to suggest that drama therapy can have a positive effect with self expression and self-perception of students with behavioral and other mental health concerns.
The basis of drama therapy is to supply a different structure on which a person can more effectively share their feelings, thoughts, emotions and life experiences through a range of activities that involve, storytelling, improvisation, play enactments and theater groups.
Drama therapy can be of benefit to people :
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as a part of addiction recovery program
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who are older in age
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who are homeless
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who have disabilities
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who are suffering from trauma
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who have served prison time
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who come from broken families
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have mental health conditions or behavioral issues
All forms of creative therapy involve the person being or willing to be engaged in the process. This takes a certain amount of risk-taking and some won’t feel comfortable. But for those who do, the experience they receive when done correctly under the care of an experienced creative therapist can be quite rewarding and feel more comfortable in time.
Creative therapy is a kind of therapy that involves using art-based activities to guide a person towards recovery from depression, stress and other behavioral and mental health conditions.
Creative therapy uses a different approach to addressing behavioral issues in unique ways that access different regions of the brain to participate in the healing process. The results when used with other more conventional methods have shown to be beneficial to those in all age groups.
-A Balanced Brain is a Better Brain-