Expressive art therapy helps bring out buried feelings - and in Asia it's growing
Very sick or terminally ill people canhide their feelings, but expressive art therapy aims to help unlock difficult emotions - and the technique is growing in Asia, writes Jeanette Wang
They say a picture paints a thousand words. To expressive arts therapists, it can say so much more. By guiding their clients through different creative art forms, the therapists are able to help individuals express themselves and communicate issues in ways that talking cannot.
"We use arts in an integrated way for personal growth and social change," says Fiona Chang, a registered expressive arts therapist with more than 20 years' experience.
The art forms include visual art, music, drama, dance and movement, and creative writing and poetry. Expressive arts therapy can help people awaken creativity, experience new insights, identify their strengths and inner resources, and foster self-empowerment and self-healing, Chang says.
Many people can benefit from the therapy, she says, including cancer patients, people with chronic illness, caregivers for sick people, elders with dementia, children with special needs and their parents, sexual abuse victims and drug addicts.
"Even for healthy, problem-free people, the therapy can be a very good means to understand themselves further, and also have fun and destress," says Chang. It's particularly effective for people who have trouble articulating their emotions, perceptions or beliefs.