Art Therapy - Purpose

Purpose

The purpose of art therapy is essentially one of healing. Art therapy can be successfully applied to clients with physical, mental or emotional problems, diseases and disorders. Any type of visual art and art medium can be employed within the therapeutic process, including painting, drawing, sculpting, and photography. Art therapy stands in contrast with other kinds of creative or expressive arts therapies that use dance, music or drama. One of the major differences between art therapy and other forms of communication is that most other forms of communication elicit the use of words or language as a means of communication. Studies have demonstrated the efficacy of art therapy, as applied to clients with memory loss due to Alzheimer’s and other diseases; stroke residuals; cognitive functioning; traumatic brain injury; post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); depression; dealing with chronic illness; and aging.

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Famous quotes containing the word purpose:

    Art for art’s sake, with no purpose, for any purpose perverts art. But art achieves a purpose which is not its own.
    Benjamin Constant (1767–1834)

    We need not only a purpose in life to give meaning to our existence but also something to give meaning to our suffering. We need as much something to suffer for as something to live for.
    Eric Hoffer (1902–1983)

    I have no purpose to introduce political and social equality between the white and black races. There is a physical difference between the two, which, in my judgement, will probably for ever forbid their living together upon the footing of perfect equality; and inasmuch as it becomes a necessity that there must be a difference, I ... am in favour of the race to which I belong having the superior position.
    Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)