Art therapy is a form of psychotherapy that uses artistic creation (drawing, painting, collage, sculpture, etc.).

This practice is widely used in the health sector.

It is used as a form of intervention in psychotherapy, particularly with people who have difficulty expressing their feelings in words, with young children, and in physiotherapy to develop better self-confidence and promote rehabilitation.

The origins of art therapy

It is difficult to pinpoint the origins of art therapy.

Art has been used for healing since ancient times, and the concept of art as therapy can be traced back to Aristotle.

According to this philosopher, theatrical representation would allow people to enter into a process of catharsis, that is, to release their impulses, fears or fantasies by identifying with the characters in the drama.

Is art therapy done in groups or individually?

Art therapy can be adapted to the needs of the 'patients' as it is not a play activity or an art class - although the sessions can be described as 'enjoyable', they provide 'great clarity' and improve the quality of life of the participants.

Whatever the purpose of art mediation, whether to facilitate social bonding or to promote social and vocational integration, the practice does not require people to have prior experience or knowledge of the arts.

Although art therapies are designed to stimulate creative abilities, they are influenced by psychoanalysis and the great clinical psychologists.

In fact, throughout history, most art therapists have been inspired by theories such as attachment-based psychotherapy.

Since then they have developed a wide range of approaches.

These art therapy approaches are patient-centred, such as psychoeducational treatments or cognitive therapies (mindfulness, etc.).

What are the benefits of art therapy?

Visual thinking

 Most of us have visual memories of our lives. This is also true of traumatic events. Art therapy allows us to create these images.

Expression beyond words

Words are not enough to express certain feelings and experiences. Art therapy provides another form of expression.

Releasing emotions (catharsis)

The creative process allows us to release certain emotional tensions and free ourselves from them by illustrating them in order to know better how to talk about them.

Tangible creations

Art therapy is a hands-on activity that uses tangible tools and nurtures our natural human interest in making things.

The accessibility of the approach

No artistic talent is required. Drawing, painting and other visual art forms are accessible to almost everyone, regardless of age or ability. Everyone has the ability to create through art, so all expressions are good.

I offer you a regular exercise in the presence of the moment. Art is always an invitation to leave a visible trace of the moment. These creative exercises are intended to be simple and require few art materials. If you are able and willing to benefit from each of these exercises, I invite you to repeat them
3 times a week. Allow about 15 minutes for each session.

Artistic creation allows us to express ourselves and understand our beliefs and thoughts. In this way we can unravel the explanations behind our suffering, depression or anxiety.

Putting it into practice

Art is always an invitation to leave a visible trace of the moment. 

These creative exercises are intended to be simple and require few artistic materials. 

If you are able and willing to benefit from each of these exercises, I invite you to repeat them 3 times a week. 

Allow about 15 minutes for each session.

First exercise

Materials needed:

• A black ballpoint pen.
• A sheet of 8 1⁄2 by 11 paper
• A box of coloured pencils

Step one

• Sit comfortably in front of your sheet of paper, pencil in hand.
• Close your eyes and slowly place twelve dots in the space on the page.
• Mentally say to yourself I am here and there and also there.
• I am almost everywhere without a centre. 

Step two

• Open your eyes and connect each of the dots in your own way.
• You can connect them with straight lines or with 2 curved lines or a mixture of both.
• At each point you connect, take a deep breath and then go back to another point, in another direction.

Step three

• Add a circle inside or outside your drawing.
• You are fulfilling the need of your drawing.
• The circle is a primal force of self-presence.

Step four

• Use your coloured pencils to paint the different surfaces you have created.
• Choose colours naturally.
• Colours help us to live and reveal the life of our feelings.

Art therapy exercises

Who am I?

• Write this question at the top of your page and write quickly for 20 minutes.
• Each time you feel you are slowing down, write the question again or start each sentence with "I am...".
• Don't stop before the 20 minutes are up.
• When you have finished, draw a spontaneous picture.

What's in my head?

• Draw the outline of your head using the whole sheet of paper.
• Draw symbolically and spontaneously what's on your mind, in colours and shapes, but also in words.
• When you feel you have finished, look at your drawing and note your reactions.
• If you like, use the reverse zoom technique to redraw your head, but this time integrate it into your silhouette.
• In other words, draw your head smaller and draw your body too (the drawing doesn't have to be realistic!).
• If there is an area of your head or a thought that needs attention, apply a soft colour around it.
• Note your reactions.

Solving common problems

• Choose a contemporary problem or challenge.
• Illustrate it and give it a title.
• Choose a person you inspire and admire (it could be a real or fictional character, someone you know personally or not) and write an imaginary dialogue with that person asking for advice on your problem.

My identity: Where do I live? Who am I?

• Where are my roots, my country, my passport?
• Draw the flag that pushes back or pulls forward the most.
• It could be the flag of your host country, your country of birth or your country of residence.
• Inside the flag, write everything that comes to mind, without taboos: the good, the not-so-good, the terrible... the joy, the anger, the hope...

"My heart tells me..." ❤

• Sit comfortably and close your eyes. take several deep breaths, allow yourself to descend into your body and bring your attention at heart level to your emotions.
• What is happening inside you right now? what colours, what shapes are coming to you?
• Open your eyes, draw a large heart on your page and fill it with colours that express what you are feeling.
• Then write for 20 minutes, starting with "My heart tells me...".

Collage your worries and redesign your life

Collages are a mirror of our moods and a great way to express them.

• Prepare your piles of glossy magazines and diaries, cut out images from magazines, photos, pieces of fabric;
• Create the environmental conditions to immerse yourself and give birth to a unique production;
• Allow moments of doubt and hesitation, or even a burst of joy.
• And face the personal work you have just created.

What does it tell you?

As the painter Paul Klee defined it, "Looking at a collage requires you to step back - from above and from all sides - to allow yourself to be deciphered... like life. "

What do the choice of colours and the resulting structure say?

Let the messages you think you read in your painting rest, an inner work of awareness is being done.

Collage is an art when it "makes visible what was invisible".

The colours of my life

• Quietly, on a blank sheet of paper, take the time to dip your fingers into all the colours you have at hand and let your fingers slide, roll, turn, scratch across the paper.

• What colours dominate your page?
• What shapes appear?
• Is there a message in your design?
• Let your masterpiece rest for 2/3 days, then take it back to see if you see a different message.

Send your stress away

• Quietly, on a blank page, take the time to do this exercise.
• Paint your stress.
• Choose colours that represent your stress and cut, scribble and paint your problems far, far away.

"My hand tells me..."

• Quietly draw the outline of your hand on a blank page.
• Then, within each finger, answer the following questions:

• Thumb: Where am I? What is good for me?
• Index: Where am I going?
• Major: What is "boring me"?
• Yearbook: Who/what should I be loyal to? When is it time to stop?
• Little finger: What makes me small in this situation?

Create a positive emotion

• Create a pleasant emotion by remembering a positive event in your life or a wish (love, wealth...) and squeeze your thumb and middle finger (called the heart finger) together.
• Repeat this several times.
• The pleasant emotion will then automatically return.
• Our body is our best ally. Let's use it wisely 🙂 .