A few months ago we shared a video of Yayoi Kusama, who is now 87 year old and the most celebrated Japanese artist alive. Kusama is a  writer, sculptor, performance artist, painter and philosopher and has been turning the art world upside down for over 60 years with her psychedelic, radical style of art, greatly influencing several generations of her contemporaries. Diagnosed with severe depersonalisation disorder as a girl and permanently living in a psychiatric hospital, Kusama is a shining example of how art can be a vehicle for finding strength and beauty amidst disability. If you missed the video of her in action (which is truly mind-boggling) you can check it out at: https://mycarespace.com.au/article/legendary-artist-combats-mental-illness-through-her-craft

At a recent exhibit of hers in New York people were so keen to share images of themselves enjoying the impressive Instagram-friendly exhibition that one of the exhibition's acrylic pumpkins – valued in the vicinity of $1 million (US $785,000) a pop – was reportedly smashed by a rogue selfie-taker last month. 

As for myself,  someone who has been greatly shaped and defined by music, I am a big believer in the arts as a vital part of a person’s wellbeing. Being able to write a song, paint a sunset, express emotions through dance…these are all uniquely human activities that help us gain access to the hidden depths of our being, and no amount of medications, surgeries, or have the same effect on us. In my experience, I feel the most mentally engaged, happy, at peace, and rewarded when I am playing piano.  From a psychological viewpoint, this is known as being in a state of “flow”  in which people derive deep satisfaction from being completely focused on a physical process. This very real physiological and psychological experience is the essence that all therapy based in the arts is built on, and it is what makes these types of therapies unique and powerful. Art Therapy is an even lesser known service than Music Therapy, despite it being equally beneficial for people with disabilities. 

Christiana struggled with depression in high school and found it hard to open up during talk therapy. So she began working with an art therapist at Children's Colorado and learned to deal with her emotions through art.

Marine Corps Captain Jason Berner initially resisted art therapy as a treatment to his PTSD due to his identification as a tough, strong veteran who didn’t need art. Yet, he recounts that every time he did art therapy he “felt better because there was something in me that was dying to get out. And through art, I was able to express it.”

So what is Art Therapy?

Art therapy is a fairly young mental health profession that arose in the 20^th century as a form of, psychotherapy. Arts therapists are trained professionals that use creative, arts based processes such as the visual arts, dance, or drama to improve the physical, mental, social, and emotional well-being of their clients. Working one on one with clients, art therapists use varied approaches in their practice including humanistic, systematic, analytic, and systematic approaches. Arts therapy is used in many settings, including medical settings, schools, business, community centres, and nursing homes. Arts therapy differs from traditional arts because it is an evidence based practice that focuses on the process of making art and the meaning behind rather than the final art products themselves. It is accessible to people of all ages, disabilities, and skill levels, and it can be coupled with more traditional forms of therapy, such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, to increase their effectiveness.

Art therapy is applied to a whole range of physical or mental disorders and disabilities, including but not limited to:

• Depression and anxiety
• PTSD
• Chronic Illness
• Brain Injury
• Trauma and Abuse
• Dementia
• Autism

In essence, art therapy allows people to tap into their unconscious mind in order to discover and express latent feelings and issues through the act of creative expression. By producing a concrete representation of their inner thoughts, people can learn to better communicate the feelings, fears, and shame that they struggle to put into words and identify ways to grow past them. For children—especially kids who have faced emotional trauma or are on the Autism Spectrum—it can be especially hard to find the words for what they are feeling. Art therapy can tap into childrens’ natural free energy and creativity to strengthen their communication skills into adulthood. http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/entry/art-therapy-children_n_7113324

Art therapy also has many other benefits, and the act of creating art can help reduce stress, improve concentration and motor skills, manage addictions, and improve social skills.

Art Therapy is included in the NDIS

For individuals with disability who qualify for an NDIS plan, it is possible to receive funding for art therapy. However, as an alternative therapy that receives less attention from the NDIS, it will likely be harder to get art therapy approved in your plan. If you feel that art therapy can help you achieve your goals and aspirations, then these goals must be clearly stated in order to make a strong case for why art therapy is reasonable and necessary. As with any supports included in an NDIS plan, it also needs to be directly linked to a person’s disability. With a little bit of research and planning, art therapy could be included your plan. Should you be struggling to find the evidence and research to support art therapy, we have done it for you:

Research supporting Art Therapy

Today, the body of research supporting art therapy is in its infancy and most of it based on case studies and surveys, not quantitative methodology:

• Rao et. al. (2009) found that it improved the physical symptoms of adults with HIV/AIDS.
• A study¹ investigating the effectiveness of art therapy for children with asthma found a significant increase in quality of life and self-esteem that persistent for 6 months after treatment.
• Another study found that short term art therapy reduced the number of depressive episodes in women with depression⁴.
• There is some evidence supporting its usefulness in helping people cope with cancer. Svensk et. al. (2009) found that women with breast cancer were able to cope with breast cancer better after art therapy intervention.

Finding an Art Therapist on MyCareSpace

MyCareSpace has a number of NDIS registered Art Therapists on our directory. You may want to try and find one or two in your area. The quickest way to find an NDIS registered arts therapist in your local area is to go to our home page and in the browser where it says ''enter key word or business'', simply enter “art therapy” and click on NDIS registered. This should bring up a comprehensive list of NDIS registered therapists will appear.  You can further refine your search by entering in your post code.

If you are self-managing or are not eligible for NDIS funding, or would like to explore the diversity of art therapy available in Australia, follow this link: https://mycarespace.com.au/resources/anzata-art-therapist. 

Looking to become more involved in the arts? Want support as an artist, or interested in starting lessons as a beginner? Here are a few other useful resources:

• Arts project Australia https://www.artsproject.org.au
• Arts access society https://www.artsaccess.com.au/
• Tutti Arts http://tutti.org.au

This article was written by Kate Miller, a musician and speech pathologist student working with MyCareSpace.

Sources

¹ Beebe, A., Gelfand, E.W., & Bender, B. (2010). A randomized trial to test the effectiveness of art therapy for children with asthma. Journal of Allergy & Clinical Immunology, 126(2), 263-266.doi:10.1016/j.jaci.2010.03.019

² Rao D, Nainis N, Williams L, Langner D, Eisin A, Paice J. Art therapy for relief of symptoms associated with HIV/AIDS. AIDS Care 2009;21:64–9. 10.1080/09540120802068795

³ Svensk, A-C., Öster,I., Thyme,K. E., Magnusson, E., Sjödin, M., Eisemann, M., Åström, S., & Lindh. J. (2009). Art therapy improves experienced quality of life among women undergoing treatment for breast cancer: a randomized controlled study. European Journal of Cancer Care. 18(1), 69-77. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2354.2008.00952.x

⁴ Thyme, K. E., Sundin, E. C., Stahlberg, G., Lindstrom, B., Eklof, H., & Wiberg, B. (2007). The outcome of short-term psychodynamic art therapy compared to short -term psychodynamic verbal therapy for depressed women. Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy, 21(3), 250-264. doi:10.1080/02668730701535610