First of all, I would like to start by underlining that art therapy is not a school of therapy, but a technique used only in therapy. In the sessions in which the art therapy technique is used, it is aimed to express the inner experiences of the person and what the person is not aware of, what he cannot say, what he does not know, what he brings from the unconscious, and for the person to discover them. Art is used for all these, and in this way, the inner, complex, unconscious experiences of the person are drawn into the preconscious. The psychologist who practices art therapy is the person who witnesses this life of the client. Healing comes with witnessing. The motivation of all people is the desire to be noticed, appreciated and admired. But in art therapy, the material presented by the person is not interpreted. There is no good or bad - right or wrong. There is only what is, and that is already unique. The artistic material revealed with the understanding of unconditional acceptance is not interpreted by the therapist. The person himself looks at the material that comes out of himself and says what he sees. In art therapy work, most of the time, the person is associated with something through association, and the unconscious is contacted and the person starts to create his or her art. It is important that the art therapist accompanies and witnesses this creation process and result. Because most of the time, we only say something about ourselves when someone else sees or looks at it. That's why art therapies are mostly carried out as group work. The creativity and spontaneity of both the client and the therapist are essential in the art therapy process. In order to better understand the subject, to explain these words, spontaneity; Creativity is to produce something unique and unique when the environment and conditions change, while the inner feelings are able to do this freely and fearlessly in accordance with the external conditions. Art is a field where we can express ourselves non-verbally. Sometimes people have difficulty in expressing themselves verbally or they do not want to prefer it. At this point, it is possible to say that art therapy is just for these people. Nonverbal communication is one of the most archaic and oldest forms of communication. Art therapy also falls within this field, and this For this reason, it is actually regressive. I can give an example of this: With dance and movement, it's actually like going to a baby's stand-up phase. We know that rituals were performed collectively during the shamanistic period. In these rituals, people danced in a circle, and shamans became ecstatic, that is, hypnotic, and performed actions that would reveal the unconscious. It also revealed the collective unconscious of the group. For example, one would be an eagle and it would bring the animal to life. What is done here is actually a kind of drama and dance therapy. In the art therapy we apply, just like in this example, the person's emotional discharge and catharsis are realized through art. If we go to the ancient period, we see that the temple of Asklepion in Bergama was actually the beginning of today's psychodrama meetings.
In short, as an art therapist, I pull the fragmented, chaotic material of my client's unconscious from the unconscious to the preconscious, integrated, restructured and given a name through art, and then consciously by talking and thinking about this material that has been taken to the preconscious. I bring it to the level. Music, drama, sculpture, painting, literature and cinema can be used in art therapy. Their use is spontaneously structured in accordance with the individual or the structure of the group. In some cases, they are also used together. For example, in an art therapy study conducted with group work, I can activate the unconscious of the people with the chosen background music while using the movement and walking the group members freely for the energy distribution in the environment in order to warm them up, and then I can ask each person to verbally reflect the connotations created on them by these experiences. I can ask them to write a poem from these words, then dramatize the poem or draw a picture of it. Or, I can do collage and cinematography works in groups where I work for a long time. It is possible to combine this in innumerable ways, and all these combinations provide healing by causing something to activate in the unconscious of the person. With pure art I can say that I have had positive results with my clients that I have worked with and addiction and that I have witnessed very impressive experiences and expressions as a therapist. Because art is a functional catharsis and the person experiences sublimation by discovering something that can replace his anger or the material he is addicted to. The person symbolizes his inner life and his inner life through art and makes it acceptable to others. I think there is too much to say when it comes to art, and I have a hard time finishing the article. I would like to write my last sentences as follows. Art therapy work is constructive and healing for all age groups. If you want to have a unique experience by accessing your unconscious material through art, gain insight into yourself and see your creativity from your own perspective, you can try participating in an art therapy workshop. At the end of the session, most of my clients give feedback such as "I don't know why I did this, but it made me incredibly comfortable" or "Did I do this now". Sometimes dancing or drawing makes people worry and I come across sentences like "but I can't dance", but I can give you the good news that this has nothing to do with dancing well or drawing a good picture, there is no limit to what you can do just by staying in the moment. . I think art is one of the most fun and beautiful ways to discover yourself. Remember: your art is not about how many people love what you do; your art is about whether your soul and body love what you're doing, and you should never trade that expression for the other's ideas.
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