We all like beauty and art is the highest expression of beauty. But art can serve other purposes too. Art is a way of expression and for a patient it can open a window out of the loneliness of suffering. In art therapy, the art itself is not the main focus of the exercise. This is the point that makes art therapy different from art classes. In art therapy the therapist is there to give guidance and courage for the patient to start expressing themselves through art creations. It does not matter who good or bad one is in their art talents. The point is to unload the inner pressure of being sick, in pain and feeling lonely on the piece of art the is being produced. The quality of art that is being produced is not important at all. Many schools of psychology have done significant amount of research work on the use of art for psychotherapy, from diagnosis of different conditions to providing different types of therapy. The beauty of this technique is that you don’t need to be an artist or be good at any form of art to benefit from it. Just use a pen and paper and draw what comes out of your mind. It may not even mean anything, but nevertheless it is your expression. Art is an expression beyond the boundaries of language. Your expression in art is allowed to be free and open from restrictions of any language for meaning or validity. So use your pen and paper, or use any color you like, or make a shape out of a formless object, or sing your heart feelings out, or dance the way you like or dress the way you feel lik, find a way to express yourself, unload the pressure and bring out the true meaning of your life by being alive.
