ART THERAPY

Benefits of art as life enhancing is widely accepted from time immemorial, such views exist all around the world as ancient understandings. There is a need for making Indians understand the benefits of art, which is especially useful for children who won’t vent out their difficulties. Many parents do not acknowledge their child’s disorder, and some feel annoyed when administrated to a psychologist, as though we are claiming the child to be mentally ill.

An epidemiological study conducted by NIMHANS, Bangalore found that only about 37.5 percent of the parents were aware of their children having problem. A meta-analysis of psychiatric disorders in India concludes that the reporting system of disorders in child and adolescent are quite scarce. If such is the state of psychiatric disorders, problems in normal children like depression, and anxiety can be more neglected, ignored, or un- detected by parents, and this may lead to producing morbid society for the future. But art therapy can produce a comfortable and non-clinical atmosphere to the children and most welcoming for them to execute and produce something that describes their feelings and emotions. In India, art therapy is one where parents may not feel wrong when administrated to as against to psychiatrists, and children willingly may attend the art therapy sessions as it is more accommodating.

Only a handful of people in India are working towards art therapy, My Journey as art therapist and author was very challenging. Through the training programs, teachings, writings, and art therapy programs we could help providing emotional first aid to the variety of populations.

Most welcomed latest publication is “Using Art Therapy with Diverse Populations, Crossing Cultures and Abilities”, and it treatise on techniques of art therapy with distinct populations. India in its own realm of culture has lot of diversity from north to south and east to west, this within-cultural variation creates a

flowery platform for art therapy with distinct population and would be great to explore. It would take many more years for art therapy to flourish here in India; in the meantime, it can be introduced as social science concept where we can understand the underpinnings of art therapy concepts theoretically. Also, the concept of art as therapy can be Administered to groups of students, artists, families, and non-psychiatric patients.