Use of art therapy in health: A literature review

Abstract

Ismail Bicer

Art therapy is a form of expressionist therapy using art materials. The psychological aspect of the creative process combines traditional psychotherapeutic theories and techniques, especially with understanding the emotional properties of different art materials. It includes applications in all areas of art such as painting, music, theater, cinema, movement, and dance. Despite an intense history of the links between art and health, art therapies have emerged as different, consistent disciplines and professions from the past to the present. In some countries, art, music, drama and dance movement therapy have been recognized as occupations informal health disciplines and existing health and care services. In the 1940s, art therapy stemming from art and psychotherapy was applied to improve the wellbeing of patients with tuberculosis during treatment in order to develop a psychotherapeutic relationship between the therapist and the patient. As the disease progresses, patients’ daily life and cognitive abilities gradually decrease, and their existing language skills make it impossible for them to spread their negative emotions, thus making them susceptible to behavioral and psychological symptoms such as anxiety and depression, leading to poor quality of life. Art therapy provides patients with a non-verbal style of expression through an intuitive graphical visual presentation that helps prevent negative emotions and alleviate behavioral and psychological symptoms and thereby improve quality of life. As a result of the literature review, many studies on the use of art therapy in the field of health have been found. The qualifications were made according to the keywords and the articles directly related to the subject were evaluated. Considering the importance of the use of art therapy in the field of health, the studies conducted between 2000-2019 have been discussed. Literature review clearly shows that art therapy; Mental health, anxiety, ancillary reproductive therapies, cancer diseases, post-traumatic treatments, psychiatry, mental illness, sexual health therapies are widely used in health care areas.