The playing adult steps sideward into another reality; the playing child advances forward to new stages of mastery.
- Erik Erikson
Creativity is non-verbal and sensory-based art expression is a form of non-verbal communication. Children can use art to express themselves when they are unable or afraid to speak about specific events or feelings. It is also a sensory-based approach that allows all people to experience themselves and communicate on multiple levels—visual, tactile, kinesthetic and more—and to not only be "heard", but also be seen. For children who may not be able to articulate thoughts, sensations, emotions or perceptions due to a limited vocabulary or because they have experienced difficult or traumatic experiences, it is a useful way to convey what may be difficult to express with words
Self-Regulation. Neurobiology continues to inform mental health professionals about why art-based activities, within the context of therapy, may be helpful to children and adults as well. The sensory characteristics of making art are effective in improving mood, sensory integration, and calming the body and mind, especially with children who have experienced traumatic events.
Making Meaning. Imagination, art and play provide an opportunity to express metaphor through creative expression. the strength of using creativity in ta therapeutic setting is the ability to encourage and enhance storytelling and narratives. Storytelling about a drawing, painting, collage or construction does not have to be literal to be therapeutic. In fact, a child who has experienced traumatic events or is challenged by an emotional disorder may only find it possible to generate imaginative stories. With the support and guidance of the therapist, these narratives serve as a way to slowly and safely release disturbing or terrorizing experiences.
Right-Hemisphere-to-Right Hemisphere. Whether or not creative interventions are employed in session, all therapy is based upon a relationship with a helping professional. All psychotherapy is inherently relational because it involves an active, sensory-based dynamic between the clinician and the individual. This emphasises the “right-hemisphere-to-right-hemisphere” (the creative and emotional hemisphere) of the brain connection between child and therapist. In this sense, art therapy can be helpful in promoting emotional healing by tapping into those early relational states that existed before words are dominant. This experience allows the brain to establish new, more productive patterns of functioning. Therapeutic creative expression adds to these positive relational experiences on multiple levels involving sensory, affective and cognitive channels of communication.
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