Everyone Can Benefit from the Therapeutic Values Inherent in Art

       For a group presentation in my Child Art Therapy course at GWU's Graduate Art Therapy program, a classmate, Stewart Morgan, and I discussed a chapter in Judith Rubin's Child Art Therapy titled, "Helping the Normal Child Through Art." In the chapter, Rubin, who has contributed to the art therapy field for over 40 years, highlights art making as a "primary form of prevention," asserting that all values inherent in art are therapeutic. Rubin lists the following qualities that art making naturally offers children:

• Manage tools and media to make personal statements
• Develop ego strength from mastering, build self esteem
• Think divergently
• Express themselves and acquire  perceptual vocabulary to organize experiences
• Create a form for difficult feelings
• Look with open eyes, encounter world without fear
• Gain insight on dealing with normal stresses
• Explore alternate solutions to problems, take risks, fail, and learn to cope in a flexible way
• Share, respect each others work, and live together in a social environment

       When reading these values, I immediately thought of the art making process with children at Art at the Center. We need only observe the children at work in the studio to see the value of art expression for self-esteem. Creating in the studio allows children to deal with everyday stresses, or even simply to processes their school day, in a productive safe environment. Kathryn has documented her observations of children in the studio and used Project Zero's Studio Thinking Framework Eight Habits of Mind as a way to organize her observations. Click here for a more in depth look at Kathryn's observations organized using Project Zero's framework. In the following chart, you can see the parallels between Project Zero's Studio Thinking Framework, Kathryn's observations, and Rubin's therapeutic values in art for the normal child. Click here to view or download a copy!