Colour My World

Most of us think that art psychotherapy means interpreting a painting to reveal the hidden secrets of the mind. 

Art psychotherapy is basically combining art and psychology. The partnership and interaction of this dynamic duo has proved most rewarding in a treatment set-up. Art psychotherapy is based on the knowledge that every individual, whether trained or untrained in art, has a talent capacity to protect his or her inner conflicts into visual form.

The need for communication is universal to man. However when this need is impaired or rejected in normal mode of communication, art activity substitutes it in the form of ‘symbolic speech’.

There is one basic underlying difference between art and art psychotherapy. In the former, the prime focus revolves around the aesthetic considerations of the art work, where the process of creation is entirely secondary.

Play in art psychotherapy is often considered a waste of time. Actually it is only in play that an individual is able to be creative and use many different aspects of his her personality.

In a way creativity leads to self discovery. Every child is different and unique in their own way. They all possess varied style of learning and grasping capabilities. It is important for parents to find out the most suitable method of learning for their child and implement methods wherever possible.

Giving kids some unstructured time in their schedules allows them to be spontaneous and develop creative interests. This means breaking away from pre-set norms. Nothing is beautiful than seeing the world from a fresh perspective.