Trakia Journal of Sciences, No 3, pp 197-202, 2016 Copyright © 2016 Trakia University Available online at: http://www.uni-sz.bg ISSN 1313-7069 (print) ISSN 1313-3551 (online) doi:10.15547/tjs.2016.03.001

Original Contribution THE ROLE OF EXPRESSIVE IN THERAPEUTIC INTERACTIONS; ART – EXPLANATION OF THE CONCEPT

B. Hoffmann*

Institute of Applied Social Sciences, University of , Warsaw,

ABSTRACT is a form of psycho-corrective interaction, using different artistic means to facilitate a patient to express emotions. It helps to meet the emotional needs, build self-acceptance, increase self-esteem, reduce anxiety, meet the cognitive needs and develop social skills. Art therapy develops imagination and creativity, empathy, forms pro-social attitude, and what is important, shows that artistic abilities do not any role in the process of creation. More examples show that participation in different kinds of art therapy investigate emotional states, provoke positive changes in cognitive development, bypass the communication barrier. The scope of the benefits of art therapy seems to attract to this form of therapeutic and educational activities. Art therapy techniques are a great way to promote development of a child, and this is the reason of the wide application of the art therapy in education. Art therapy can be used both to healthy people and patients, children and adults. It should be emphasized that the art therapy is perfect way of nonpharmacological interventions in the patient's life.

Key words: art therapy, artistic means, visual arts, creavity, therapeutic activities

The word "art therapy" is derived from the An important point of this view is its focus on Latin arte (ars, artis), meaning craft, education and recreation, as well as the handicraft, and also art, and the Greek word prevention and correction of disorders. (3) therapeuein - treatment. Etymologically the word means "therapy through art". On the other hand, according to A. Janicki art therapy is a treatment method based on various In Polish literature, this form of psycho- theoretical concepts, merging with corrective interaction is also called "art occupational therapy, sociotherapy, education therapy", "treatment by visual arts" or "visual through art, and pedagogy. (4) arts therapy", and as in the field of art therapy there are not only artistic techniques, this form The person who conducts art therapy is called of work with a patient is sometimes called art therapist, with appropriate preparation and therapy through creativity. (1) knowledge of visual arts, psychology and . (5) Similarly, as is the case with other forms of psycho-corrective interactions, there are many Basic techniques of art therapy (6) scenes in art therapy. One of the most common Art therapy includes , is the concept of W. Szulc whereby art therapy chronotherapy as well as therapeutic activities involves the use of different artistic means for using theater, film, visual arts: painting, expression of emotions. (2) sculpture and drawing. Artistic means used in art therapy also include: poetry, any form of According to W. Dykcik, art therapy is creative writing, as well as creation of sand. (7) "spontaneous, uninhibited creativity of a man So music therapy uses music to achieve associated with the use of widely understood positive changes in the physical, mental and works of art and doing arts (e.g. drawing, social functioning. Theatre therapy encourages painting, modeling, sculpting, singing, to rebound repressed emotions, affects dancing, poetry, biographies and memoirs, development of self-creation, allows an entry reading etc.). into other social roles, helps in reinforcing ______positive behavior and develops intellectual and *Correspondence to: Beata Hoffmann, Institute of esthetic needs. Choreotherapy is based on a Applied Social Sciences, University of Warsaw, belief that movement and dance integrate Poland, [email protected] emotional, cognitive and physical realm of a Trakia Journal of Sciences, Vol. 14, № 3, 2016 197

HOFFMANN B. man. This technique contributes to the Objectives / functions of art therapy acceptance of one's physicality with which According to M. Kulczycki, objectives of patients often have a problem. therapy through art can be boiled down to three basic functions: recreational, educational and Bibliotherapy is to use books or materials not corrective. The first of these is to enable printed, to meet the goals of revalidation, detachment from the problems, relaxation, and rehabilitation, prevention and general rest. development. (8) Artistic expression is spontaneous. It is shaped by experiences, The second function is to provide information feelings and insights of a young man who to help reflect on the meaning and purpose of manifests this way his own attitudes, feelings life, as well as the disclosure of one’s own and values. The classes use creative activity: desires and needs, development of sensitivity drawing, painting, and modeling. Artworks and formation of aesthetic feelings. The allow you to reach thoughts, dreams, desires, objective of the corrective function is to joys and sorrows of the author. For some transform harmful mechanisms, causing people it is the only indirect form of mainly negative self-image and relations with externalizing their own world of experiences others, into the valuable ones.(15) by using symbols. It allows to release from established behavior, compensates for the Basing on the views of Polish and foreign shortcomings, realizes intentions and desires authors one can generalize that the purpose of that do not had a chance to be fulfilled in art therapy is to help meet the emotional needs, reality. (9) building of self-acceptance, and consequently - increase of self-esteem, reduction of anxiety, Another, equally creative technique is the sand meeting the cognitive needs and development therapy, also called a therapy in the sandbox, of social skills. "Its purpose is to stimulate involving spontaneous building of a "miniature activity and provide the means to meet, world" in a box filled with sand. The process organize, express, understand one’s own of creation is itself a process of creative emotions and unload and relieve negative for transformation and integration. (10) The art health states of frustration and tension in a way therapy also covers movie therapy understood socially acceptable "16 of course as a technique in psychotherapy, in contrast to the use of a movie in The history of art therapy psychoeducation, prevention or other forms of Although the expressive therapy appears to be psychological support and personal relatively a young field of therapeutic development. (11) Educational and at the same reactions, Mc Niff notes that yet in antiquity time therapeutic aspect of a movie is based on art was an important element of human life. a conviction that it can significantly affect the (17) That time "art therapies" were primarily emotional and volitional sphere of a man preventive and educative acts. (18) causing a change in behavior of an individual, According to the preserved remittances, the based on internalized by an individual Egyptians insisted on encouraging people with standards taken from the hero of a movie. (12) existing mental disability to get involved in Although in Poland film therapy is relatively a artistic activities. (19) The Greeks used drama new form of therapeutic reactions, it is a and music in pedagogical activities, attaching valuable tool to support professional great importance to the calming qualities of psychological help. music. (20) Created and defined by Aristotle's, In the art therapy may or may not be applied the concept of catharsis has just been only one of the techniques described above. If referenced to art, becoming a feature of the in the therapeutic process are used more forms, ancient tragedy. The tragic events had to then we are talking about the so-called an liberate pity and fear in a viewer by showing integrated approach or art therapy using his own fears and problems on a stage. various techniques. Art therapy usually takes He had to understand from “external” position the form of group workshops (13), and a the impact of the weakness on his "inside" and choice of the techniques themselves depends thus led to the purification of these emotions primarily on the objectives to be achieved, and to the inner peace. (21) recommendations of doctors and therapists, as well as the preferences of a patient. Regardless In Renaissance Europe, thanks to the English of your choice, artistic activity is not the aim humanist Robert Burton and his treaty The but a means of achieving a positive change. Anatomy of Melancholy (1621), the attention (14) was paid not only to the medical and psychological aspects of depression, but also

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HOFFMANN B. the role of the imagination in the process of enormous potential of the non-verbal treatment. Thus, music and dance have become techniques: painting, making music, dancing. a platform for contributing to improving the well-being of patients. The renowned hospitals and clinics, such as the Menninger in Kansas and St. Elizabeths in The concept of using art as an adjunct to the Washington, DC, incorporated the elements of psychiatric treatment appeared in the period visual arts and dancing into their therapy from late 1800 until 1900 with the creation of program. The art therapy has become part of psychiatry as a field of medicine. The research university programs as well as therapeutic on the creative personality was conducted in training. Thanks to the relevant methodology two directions. The first one was to find as well as and the theoretical grounding, mechanisms of personality which are the cause research on expressive therapies were of creative behavior, the second one – to put intensified. Also the number of publications on the objective to detect some typical personality this subject increased. traits common to creative individuals. (22) In the second half of the twentieth century, Psychopathological theory of Cesare there was a further increase in interest in art Lombroso's proclaimed close relationship therapy. In 1959 there was established the between genius and insanity. (23) "Due to the Société Internationale de Psychopathologie de fact that originally the art therapy was used in l'Expression in Paris. Also in the United States, the case of mentally ill people, this theory gave in 1960 there was established the first art therapy that extra sense – it was not only to professional association of art therapists and help diagnose disorders of a sick person, but they began to teach in this direction and issue could also lead to the discovery of talents and professional newspapers. (27) achievements of high aesthetic value.” (24) One of the leading figures of this period Achievements of Jacob Moreno on the ground became Anna Halprin. Connected with modern of psychiatry and psychology have contributed dance and also activities promoting human to popularization of in the development through dance, she laid the treatment of psychiatric disorders, and thus groundwork for the modern . showed how important it is to allow (28) Her educational and therapeutic activities incarnation into significant to someone included not only the problems of an character or, impossible in many therapeutic individual, but also important social issues: situations, reversal of roles.(25) Carl G. Jung marginalization of people living with HIV and also encouraged patients to express emotions AIDS, racial problems as well as cancers, through visual arts. (26) which directly related to Halprin. As she emphasizes herself, after being diagnosed with Interested in developmental psychology, cancer in 1972, a special place in her thinking American from the first half of took the mutual relations between body and the twentieth - Florence Goodenough - mind. (29) contributed to the use of drawing techniques to measure intelligence of children. At the same The development of the modern Polish art time, a British psychologist of the childhood - therapy is dated on the 90s of the twentieth Margaret Lowenfeld has developed, the hugely century. In 1989, there was founded The Polish popular, educational techniques, with Committee of the International Society for particular emphasis on the use of children’s Education through Art. drawing both in diagnosis and treatment. It gathered people of culture, art, science, As a pioneer of Polish art therapy is considered education, management and animation of Stefan Szuman – an educator, a psychologist culture, artists, teachers and educators. (30) In and a doctor. In 1927, he defended his doctoral 2003 there was founded the "Kajros" thesis entitled: "The Art of a child. Psychology Association of Polish Art Therapists and then of drawing creativity of a child" and a year other institutions promoting art therapy. later he published the first written in Polish article about art therapy titled The impact of Objects under influence of art therapy fairy tales on the psyche of a child. Expressive therapies have been incorporated into a variety of programs to improve mental In the 30s and 40s of the twentieth century, health, rehabilitation, becoming an element of there was an increased interest in artistic both the basic and supportive treatment. (31) creativity and its use in the therapy. Psychiatrists of that time recognized the They are used in psychiatry, pediatrics, geriatrics and rehabilitation. The art therapy is Trakia Journal of Sciences, Vol. 14, № 3, 2016 199

HOFFMANN B. used in relaxing training as the stress relieving on the techniques used, one can influence on therapy for children with impaired attention, development and improvement of skills and prolonged bed-wetting, in rehabilitation of abilities of a child. Thanks to the music young people with reduced intellectual ability, therapy, children develop their sensitivity and rehabilitation of juvenile offenders. It is used musical imagination, sense of rhythm, they in the treatment and diagnosis of family learn to focus on a specific task, concentrate functioning, as a treatment for people and be disciplined. Skillfully chosen music exhibiting neurotic, psychotic disorders or "silences" excessive negative emotions and behavioral abnormalities. Due to the diagnostic stimulates positive emotions, and thereby and psychotherapy advantages, art therapy is causes physical and mental relaxation, reduces used in psychiatry of developmental age. (32) anxiety, aggression, allowing a child to restore No less important is the significance of its his/ her inner balance. Fairytale therapy preventive function; it is used both to adults contributes to development of social and children and adolescents. sensitivity, imagination, expands the sphere of experience, affects the self-esteem and allows Researchers of the issue as well as believing in someone’s own strength. practitioners point out the particular Relaxation favors mental recovery, affects importance of the use of art therapy in relation well-being, and helps a child in necessary to children with yet limited language. For mental leisure. (33) them, visual arts, movement, music or play often become not only the most appropriate, Of course, children are not the only addressee but actually the only way to express to art therapy. Some techniques, such as music themselves. For this reason, art therapy may be therapy are used in groups of different age particularly important for children of preschool patients treated in painkillers clinics, in age. maternity wards, health facilities of treatment of rheumatic diseases and post-traumatic stress A small child needs a sense of emotional disorder. (34) security. Not being able to talk about his/ her feelings - desires, anxieties and problems, he/ Art therapy is extremely helpful in the case of she locks, adopts an attitude of withdrawal, the "blockage" of a patient undergoing moves away from the others. This condition professional therapy when there are often leads to release of negative emotions in dysfunctional interpersonal relationships the form of uncontrolled explosions, patient – therapist. It is also a perfect inadequate to the stimulus. Emotions complement to verbal therapy. (35) "Painting, demanding the expression can be released as a drawing, playing with color, forms, result of art therapy. This form of therapeutic participants create works that illustrate their will help a child learn to express his feelings in inner experience and become a starting point to communication with others. talk about themselves and the excuse to reinterpret the past experience. Stefan Szuman in his publications drew attention to the genesis of children's curiosity For a therapist, the participant’s creations of world and creative abilities of a child, which constitute the source of information on his can be perfectly used in art therapy. problems, psychophysical condition and a A child in the preschool age has a natural for record of the changes taking place in his inner its age need for creative expression. The work life.” (36) of children is a reflexive action; it can be said fully natural. A child during therapeutic As noticed by the art therapist and the teacher - activities learns to manifest its own Natalia Błaszczyńska, "an art therapist experiences, feelings, understanding and provokes participants to self-effort and acceptance of itself and others. A child has an stabilizes their attention on the effects. Well- ability to meet needs of, among others, safety, conducted art therapy is not just filling the time acceptance, being understood, perceived and and decommissioning of boredom, but appreciated. becomes for the patient an opportunity to establish contact with the environment, find a Thanks to classes of therapy, children receive new passion, rescue and develop what support in the development of the accurate indestructible, what has survived in spite of a control of motions and spatial awareness. disease. Skillful management of art therapy’s activities leads to detect internal inhibitions Art therapy classes enrich the aesthetic and neutralize obstacles to the internal sensibility of a child, develop his/ her interests development.” (37) In turn, presenting the and improve impaired motor skills. Depending works to the public, as it is in the case of visual

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HOFFMANN B. arts, as well as their occasional sale, affects 6. In this passage I used: Malchiodi, C.A., raise of a creator’s self-esteem, increases self- Expressive Therapies, The Guilford Press, acceptance and fosters contacts with other New York, p. 2 – 4, 2006. people. Communing with art enables to divert 7. Malchiodi C. A. op.cit., p. 15 attention from a disease, which is why art 8. Tomasik, E., Czytelnictwo i biblioterapia w therapy is also recommended for people pedagogice specjalnej [Reading and suffering from cancer (38), as pointed out A. bibliotherapy in special education], Halprin. Wydawnictwo WSPS, Warszawa, p. 10-11, 1994. So art therapy techniques are a great way to 9. On the basis of therapy modules using promote development of a child, and this is the visual arts: reason of the wide application of the art http://v045604.home.net.pl/www3/m6.pdf, therapy in education. Art therapy develops access: 09.12.2015 imagination and creativity, develops empathy, 10. http://tomaszjasinski.pl/praktyka- forms pro-social attitude, and what is kliniczna/terapia-w-piaskownicy/, access: important, shows that artistic abilities do not 02.03.2015 play any role in the process of creation. 11. Żłobińska, M., Filmoterapia „w zarodku”. The scope of the benefits of art therapy seems Wyzwania i szanse związane z to attract to this form of therapeutic and zastosowaniem filmu w psychoterapii educational activities. For this reason, [Movie therapy „in the bud”. Challenges especially in the United States and some and opportunities of using movies in European countries therapists are also psychotherapy]. In: Terapia przez Sztukę employed in prisons, addiction treatment Art Therapies, No. 1 (5) 2014, pp. 56-65 centers, nursing homes and hospices. (39) It is Polish Association of Art Therapy (PSTS), worth to increasingly disseminate art therapy Uniwersytet Marii Curie-Skłodowskiej, in various countries of the world. Lublin, 2014. 12. Gwarecka, U., Filmoterapia, pozytywne REFERENCES zastosowanie obrazu w życiu człowieka 1. Górska, A., Arteterapia a uspołecznianie [Movie therapy, positive use of images in osób niepełnosprawnych intelektualnie [Art human’s life] therapy and socialization of people with http://skraweknieba.com.pl/index.php?optio intellectual disabilities]. In: n=com_content&view=article&id=77:filmo Niepełnosprawność i Rehabilitacja, 2: 45- terapia-pozytywne-zastosowanie-obrazu-w- 54, 2009. yciu- 2. Szulc W., Sztuka w służbie medycyny: od czowieka&catid=9:historia&Itemid=25, antyku do postmodernizmu [Art in the access: 9.12.2015 service of medicine: from antiquity to 13. Błaszczyńska, N., Arteterapia czyli sztuka i postmodernism]. Karol Marcinkiewicz twórczość kolorowym lekarstwem dla University of Medical Sciences in Poznań, duszy [Art therapy i.e. art and artistic Poznań, p. 126, 2001. activities as the colorful cure for a soul]. 3. Gładyszewska-Cylulko, J., Arteterapia w MEDI – Forum Opieki Długoterminowej: pracy pedagoga [Art therapy in a work of 3/pp. 22-26, 2009. the educationalist]. Oficyna Wydawnicza 14. More: Gładyszewska-Cylulko, J., op. cit., „Impuls”, Kraków, p. 8, 2011. p. 8 4. Janicki, A., Znaczenie sztuki dla zdrowia 15. Kulczycki, M., Psychologiczne problemy psychicznego [The importance of art in człowieka chorego: z zagadnień współpracy ]. In: Hanek L., Pasella M. pracownika służby zdrowia z pacjentem (eds.) Arteterapia, Zeszyt Naukowy [Psychological problems of a sick person: Akademii Muzycznej we Wrocławiu: 52. the issues of cooperation between a Wrocław, 1990. healthcare worker and a patient], 5. Janicki, A., Arteterapia we współczesnym Ossolineum, Wrocław, p. 55, 1971. krajowym lecznictwie psychiatrycznym. 16. Błaszczyńska, N., op. cit. Uwagi o potrzebie i możliwościach rozwoju 17. More: McNiff, S., The arts and [Art therapy in the contemporary national psychotherapy. Thomas, Springfield, IL psychiatric treatment. Remarks about the 1981.; McNiff, S., Art and medicine, need and opportunities for development]. Shambhala, Boston 1992. In: Karolak, W., Gmitrowicz, A. (eds.), 18. ibid. Znaczenie arteterapii w psychiatrii polskiej. 19. Basing on: Fleshman, B., Fryrear, J., The PK InSEA, Łódź, p. 23–25, 2000. arts in therapy. Nelson-Hall, Chicago1981.

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