Art therapists help their clients communicate through the creative process.
They analyze patients' artwork -- or patients' responses to artwork -- and
assist in their emotional, educational or social development. Therapists use
art to free creativity, reduce anxiety and increase self-esteem in their clients.
Because they can learn to draw and paint before they can communicate fully
with words, children are often the focus of art therapy. Children with autism,
youth who have suffered brain damage, adolescents exhibiting aggressive behaviors,
elective mutes and students with mental challenges or schizophrenia are helped
by art therapy.
Janice Hoshino, a certified art therapist and professor of art therapy,
argues age is irrelevant. "An inability to express oneself verbally transcends
through the ages."
Hoshino says that people of any age may be unable to articulate themselves;
they may be severely depressed, delusional or simply unable to speak English
in an English-speaking environment.
Other patients who benefit from art therapy include prisoners, the mentally
ill and people suffering from AIDS or other chronic or terminal illnesses.
People suffering from grief over the death of a loved one or who are clinically
depressed may also benefit.
Art therapists may work in hospitals, seniors' centers, schools, institutions
and private practices. Most work standard 40-hour weeks and those who work
in schools may have summers off. The art therapist may work with physicians,
psychologists, nurses, rehabilitation counselors, social workers and teachers.