“The focus of my Art Therapy practice is for a client’s brain to function at its highest possible level.”

The largest and highest functioning part of the brain is the cerebrum, consisting of the left and right hemispheres (Serendip, n.d.). Each of these two hemispheres has different functions that are specific to the correlating side. The left hemisphere is associated with language and logic and is linear—to name a few; whereas the right is correlated with the synthetic, analogical, and spatial functions, among others. The more an individual can cross over these connections made by the corpus callosum, the more the brain will communicate and the higher the brain will function (Mayfield Clinic, n.d.).

Art in Therapy

One of the main reasons art is beneficial in therapy is because a major function of art is that it contributes to the understanding of the brain’s perceptual capabilities—it helps the brain register objects, form abstractions, and synthesize them (Zeki, 2001, pp. 51-52). The process and study of art is used to gain knowledge about how oneself as well as others perceive the world. Art is putting ideas into form; the more one can practice the communication of the brain hemispheres, the higher the brain will function.

Developmental

While children are still developing brain function they will encounter the world experientially instead of cognitively because the frontal lobe (the rational part) is not fully developed yet. Due to development children have an easier time expressing themselves through metaphors and symbols in order to identify feelings. The external expression becomes a narration of a child’s internal state. Once a child is able to name experiences it allows an understanding for his or her feelings. Through the process of Art Therapy, a child’s brain function is strengthened so that he or she may gain rational coping skills.

Therapist in Castle Rock, Tonja Graves, ATR, is a Registered Art Therapist who practices Psychotherapy and Expressive Arts Therapy and provides art therapy for children in Douglas County, Colorado and surrounding areas such as Monument, Colorado Springs, Palmer Lake, and Larkspur.