Art Therapy for Adolescents
Adolescence is often filled with emotions, often confusing and new ones, and new experiences. Having to put these feelings and emotions into words in a traditional talk therapy session with a psychotherapist may not work for all teenagers.
Art therapy allows teenagers to dig deep into their feelings without being forced to verbalize the feelings. Getting to know the emotions, processing them, becoming familiar with them could be the first step before diving into talking about them or exploring its roots. Art therapy can help teenagers deal with anxiety, depression, body dysmorphia, OCD, Eating Disorders, anger and aggressive behavior, trauma (physical, emotional, sexual), fears and phobias, social anxiety, symptoms of ADHD, peer and romantic relationships.
To find out more about our art therapy services for teenagers or to book an appointment, contact us.
What is art therapy for adolescents, and how does it work?
Understanding adolescents and their behaviours is a massive challenge for parents, teachers, and health professionals. Adolescents suffering from mental health conditions, such as stress, depression, and anxiety, have a lower quality of life. These conditions affect the young individual’s day-to-day life and prevent them from doing well in their personal and school lives.
Although a doctor can treat physical symptoms, identifying and treating psychological issues with disturbing feelings and emotions require thorough understanding and preparation. Adolescents are very sensitive about their self-image, self-exploration, and self-esteem.
Likewise, this group has problems with their parents, teachers, and peers and usually finds themselves at emotional risk. Art Therapy is an evidence-based approach to help adolescents express their thoughts, feelings, and emotions.
What are the advantages of art therapy at Therapedia?
Adolescents’ ability to draw a picture on paper, make a collage, or shape a small piece of clay demonstrates their challenges/difficulties and why they seek art therapy to resolve their psychological issues.
At Therapedia, our professional art therapists do not analyze or interpret the artwork. Instead, we encourage our clients to continue drawing or taking pictures and ensure they share their expressions with deep meanings through the art.
In addition, art therapy allows adolescents make graphical depictions, draw symbols, make photos/collages, and use art as a language to express their thoughts. The purpose is to encourage young individuals to put their suppressed thoughts and emotions on a piece of paper, which are otherwise impossible with verbal communication.
Express Feelings Through Art
Art therapy is an expressive language that explores adolescents’ creativity and encourages them to use non-threatening techniques to communicate their thoughts and feelings.
Therapedia has been offering art therapy services for many years. Our qualified therapists have helped hundreds of adolescents and teenagers express their thoughts and emotions via art and reflect on their emotions.
We provide adolescents with different drawing materials, artwork accessories, and other forms of media. We invite them to draw anything they want and make statements in photos/images that showcase their emotions.
Our professional art therapists have a profound understanding of art therapy’s evocative powers. Based on the individual’s specific therapeutic needs, we provide them with clay, paint, oil pastels, and felt pens.
Each form of art therapy or drawing allows adolescents to streamline their expressions and put negative thoughts/feelings on a piece of paper or canvas. Our therapists inform our young clients that they won’t judge the artwork, so they feel free to draw anything and express themselves through imagery.
Promotes Personalized Communication
Image or photo is a sophisticated extension of conceptualization and memory processes because it introduces metaphorical and symbolical language, allowing adolescents to express themselves and promote personalized communication.
For example, if a young client wants to tell the therapist about their problems at home and what parents need to do to fix them, they can convey the message through an image or drawing.
Visual representations depict power meanings and convey the correct scope of a specific situation. At Therapedia, we aim to encourage adolescents to express their repressed feelings in powerful images/drawings.
Sometimes, adolescents suffering from emotional distress or trauma can’t express their feelings through words. So, photos/images/drawings provide them with a proper structure to express their anger and frustration.
Not only does this communicate an adolescent’s message to the therapist, but it also allows the professional to come up with actionable solutions. For example, disputes and disagreements between teenagers and adolescents is oftentimes the main reason of mental health issues for teenagers. Adolescents will be encouraged to communicate their needs with their parents in a respectful yet assertive manner. The goal would be to improve the dynamic of the family relations, which in return, improves the well-being of teenagers.
Overcomes Depression/Stress
Depression or stress can take a massive toll on adolescents’ quality of life, preventing them from developing or maintaining a positive self-image or self-esteem. No matter the cause of stress or depression, art therapy can help adolescents to express themselves and convey their message to the therapist.
The therapist and the client work together to find out solutions and the adolescent will be encouraged to express their anxiety or stress through art therapy. The more the young person expresses themselves, the more the therapist knows about the problem and develops a tailored solution to overcome stress.