Benefits of Art Therapy for Children

By Miriam Galindo

As a privately practicing clinical psychologist, Dr. Miriam Galindo draws on 25 years of experience counseling children. With her youngest clients, Dr. Miriam Galindo frequently uses play and art therapy as a diagnostic and treatment tool.

As naturally creative individuals, children often express themselves through art more clearly and vividly than they do through words. Art allows children to give form to a broad range of issues, from life-threatening illnesses to phobias and other emotional issues. As a child creates works of art that represent these issues and his or her own feelings about them, a skilled therapist initiates discussion about the creation and can thus help the child understand his or her feelings.

Introduction

Art therapy can also help children to distract themselves from struggles, such as learning disabilities and trauma. It can be a stress reliever as well as a way of giving voice to a particular issue, the combination of which can aid the child in developing coping skills.

For example, many children who have survived physical abuse are able in art therapy to give voice to their traumas, which may be either taboo or so painful that the brain is unable to verbalize them in another way. The art then becomes an alternative expression that lets the therapist begin to help the child process and communicate his or her experiences.

Art Therapy