wild at art: 🌻🌻🌻Wild at Art Studio News June 24th ! 🌻🌻🌻

Hi Everyone

I have recently been reminded that when people hear the two words Art Therapy, they often think of colouring books, crayons and children! Since I am often asked about this, I thought I would unpack a little of what Art Therapy is and can be over the next couple of weeks.

One of my wise teachers, Cathy Malchiodi reminds us that Art as Medicine is an age old practice, humans have used the arts for thousands of years as a way to communicate not only experiences of celebration and beauty, but also those of struggle, crisis and trauma. As many of you know, in the right setting, we can use hands on art making to manage stress, build resilience, find growth solutions, develop coping skills and to strengthen a sense of self. This is very pertinent in a high-pressure environment like Hong Kong.

We know that people benefit from seeking support from various types of helping professions at different times in their lives. Many of us are used to being the experts of our own problems and generally access this knowledge via our cognitive brain. Expressive art-making can provide a conduit to thoughts, self limiting beliefs and feelings that are buried very deeply and help people to access and work with those in new ways.

Nowadays Art Therapy is a fully recognised mental health profession requiring specialised graduate level training. It can now be found widely in Hong Kong, in a number of clinical, private and educational settings, Art Therapists need to be fully accredited and affiliated with the Hong Kong Association of Art Therapists who offer a very clear summary of what Art Therapy is and what it can be : What is Art Therapy ?

At Wild at Art Studio my group workshops are designed with a focus on emotional health, well-being and creative self-care. Some workshops facilitate decompression and mindfulness through art, others help people explore stories and events through art making which can help to reframe challenges, to develop new perspectives and to help people access sensitive topics in a safe moderated situation.

So colouring books might offer an opportunity for a therapeutic moment of quiet in a stressful week and this can be the first step to recognizing the benefits of how it feels to enter a flow state, this is your jumping off place to dive a little deeper in finding ways to make and create your own art.

I leave you with a beautiful and powerful film that says of all of this so very well: Can Art be Medicine ?