Art-therapy is known to be rather effective when it comes to treating anxiety and depression. A painting, a photograph, and an essay are among the modern approaches.
A Painting, a Photograph, an Essay: a Modern Approach to Art Therapy
Can you tell what`s beautiful and what`s not? Are you sure your understanding of aesthetics is solid enough to make such a judgment? In general, people have a similar perception of beauty. When it comes to architecture, paintings, interior design, clothes or human faces. Speaking of an appearance, you probably know that beauty standards vary from a country to country. Different nationalities have different perceptions of proportion, a size of lips, and a color of eyes, and a length of hair. However, a social study has reported that when people were shown the most beautiful (as a form of a traditional conception) representatives of a certain nation, they all found them to be attractive and appealing.
So basically, all the people on the planet have a more or less common understanding of aesthetics of a surrounding world. That`s why certain photographers or designers get so many followers on Instagram. For example, one of the most popular Indian photographers Murad Osmann has 4.4 million followers on Instagram. By the way, he was the mastermind behind the “FollowMeToo” movement. If so many people find Murad`s work aesthetically pleasing, then it`s just yet another proof that we have a similar perception of beauty.
In fact, beauty is our
psychological need. We find it pleasant to watch movies with attractive actors and actresses, we like going sightseeing in order to spot some breathtaking buildings or views, we like decorating our homes because being surrounded by something artistic and nice-looking brings us joy. Modern psychology is experimenting more and more with various creative approaches in an art therapy. It used to be focused mostly on painting, collaging or sculpture. And now, creative horizons got expanded and you can heal your soul wounds by the means of photography and writing.
However, writing for psychological purposes and academic writing are totally different so you can`t expect a scientific paper on the history of Ancient Rome to help you get a clear mind. This kind of writing is way too stressful and we need you to be relaxed and calm while reading this article because this way, you`ll perceive the information much better. So let us help you to get rid of that stress with a useful advice. How about addressing a professional website with a simple request: “
Write my essay”? And while we`ve started talking about the art of capturing the moments of life aka photography, let`s see how it can help you with your art therapy sessions.
Your Inspirational Instagram
Let`s start with an example of a life situation when photography helped a person to beat depression and overcome anxiety. If you don`t know who Cole Sprouse is, then you probably don`t watch teen-drama TV-show “Riverdale” but you definitely should have seen “Friends”. Remember there was Ross`s son Ben? The one with blonde locks who repeated all the curse words after Rachel? Yep, he is Cole Sprouse, a child actor who decided to put his career on a pause in order to figure out what it is that he`s most passionate about in life and what profession will be the most suitable for him. That`s a relatable situation, isn`t it?
So he became an amateur photographer working his way up to a high-profile professional industry. In one of his interviews, a young actor shared that he “
was in a dark and sad place” until photography came along and practically saved him. Now, he`s shooting for “Vogue” so it turned out just great. In order to feel full benefits from art therapy, you need to try multiple genres before settling down for one.
Taking pictures of natural landscapes has a very positive effect on your overall mental wellbeing. Professional photographers state that the ultimate way to get the best nature photos is doing it by yourself, without anybody around. Photo portraits are great if you want to get out from the pit of anxiety and learn how to interact with people. By the way, if you practice a lot, you`ll learn how to spot people`s fake emotions and will be able to “read” faces. Isn`t that the coolest skill ever?
Write Your Way out of Stress
The beneficial effect of creative writing isn`t supposed to surprise you. Psychologists have been paying some extra attention to this method recently and their massive work on a research is paying off. They`ve discovered that specific type of writing may release the tension in your mind and body and help you with determining your life goals and accomplishments. Unfortunately, academic writing didn`t get on the list of the helpful types but we`ve told you already how to cope with that problem. I hope you haven`t forgotten about it yet. Just go a little bit up the page, it`s right there!
Anyway,
emotional writing is the one you should be practicing. The simplest example of it is in your diary if you have one, of course. In fact, you should! Especially if you have a stressful job or you`re a student, if you get irritated easily or you`re an emotional mess. Try writing down your thoughts in a form of an essay every evening, analyzing the events of a day and coming up with your conclusions. It will help you to look at situations from a different angle. You can reread the notes that you`ve put down a month ago and find a harmonious way to build a relationship with your inner self.
The Good Old Classics
Painting is the oldest art in the world. This type of expressing your thoughts was born a long time before writing. The cave drawings in the prehistoric times serve as the best proof of mankind`s inclination to create art in a form of paintings. Name one picture that you definitely know the title and the author of. I bet 90% of you have thought of “Mona Lisa”. And a fascinating fact about this world-known painting by Leonardo da Vinci is that he was working on her lips for 12 years. That will be a too long course of art-therapy for you so we`d rather start with something simpler.
The good news is that you don`t have to have any talent whatsoever in order
to get your mental state in a better shape. And more importantly, you`re not supposed to care what others think about your creations. The way you paint, what you paint, and colors you use can say a lot about your personality. Many modern psychologists ask their patients to draw the first thing that comes to mind in order to get the general understanding of someone`s personality. And based on that information, you can be proposed various types of art-therapy.
