Words Niamh Leonard-Bedwell Photographs Stocksy
Art therapy is based on the idea that you can work through your feelings and emotions by undertaking creative practice. Inspired by psychoanalysis and the importance of the subject’s internal world, one of art therapy’s early pioneers was Austrian-born Edith Kramer, an astute follower of Sigmund Freud. She used his theory of ‘sublimation’ (the idea that we transform socially unacceptable impulses into acceptable behaviours as a defence mechanism), and believed that ‘art tells the truth’. Kramer was employed as an art therapist in a school in 1950 and her seminal text, Art as Therapy with Children, was published in 1971.
Today, art therapy is available for children and adults. It’s still seen as a type of psychotherapy, but it’s influenced by a range of theories. Meditation-based practices have hit the mainstream in the form of colouring books, but therapy sessions can also help subjects explore feelings of compassion and social engagement.