Art as therapy

Art as therapy, in the sense that by doing art we can cure ourselves, it is possible to find the balance, the well-being and maybe even solve pending issues that for some time created problems. In today’s post, however, I would like to draw the attention above all on the word Art in the binomial Art Therapy. In fact, it is always the artistic part that leads to an evolution, to put into motion, through the artistic process, what for various reasons is blocked, as in a trauma. Art is the pleasure of color, surface and touch through clay or whatever material is taken into account. Art as therapy does not use words as in other forms of therapy, but rather its own language made up of signs, images, surfaces. In this world we lose the sense of time and enter another dimension. The art carries within itself a therapeutic element even when you cut out a moment to pick up a piece of clay or a tube of color, without objectives or particular ends, just for the pleasure of doing, playing with the materials. The therapeutic aspect of art is evident to me for various reasons, perhaps the most striking when I go to the hospital and work with children and families; but there is another aspect, less evident but not less important for those who come to Atelier for a lesson and leave tensions and problems outside the door. Every time I am amazed by what an art lesson can give.