The Benefits of Art Therapy for Mental Health

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Whileart therapyis its own field, you can also use self-directed art to express your creative side, reduce stress, and get in touch with your feelings. Most of us understood the power of art instinctively as kids: Virtually all children know the joys of sculpting something with play-dough, painting something with fingers, or drawing with crayons and other materials.

Other than making random doodles in the margins of a page, if you’re like most adults, you probably don’t express yourself with art as you did when you were a kid. You may not think you’re any “good” at creating art, or you may not think it’s worth your time, but art is actually a valuable pastime.

There are many reasons that art is agreat stress relief tool, even for those who don’t consider themselves artistically inclined.

Get Help NowWe’ve tried, tested, and written unbiased reviews of thebest online therapy programsincluding Talkspace, BetterHelp, and ReGain. Find out which option is the best for you.

Get Help Now

We’ve tried, tested, and written unbiased reviews of thebest online therapy programsincluding Talkspace, BetterHelp, and ReGain. Find out which option is the best for you.

Benefits of Art Therapy

Whether you could give Vincent van Gough a run for his money or can barely draw a stick figure, art is a fantastic way to reduce stress. Results of a 2016 study published in theJournal of the American Art Therapy Associationfound that just 45 minutes of creative activity can reduce your stress, regardless of artistic experience or talent.

Here are some ways that creating art can help alleviate stress:

The Best Online Therapy for Anxiety, Tried and Tested

Sketchbooks for Stress Relief

Keeping a sketchbook is one of the easiest ways to relieve stress. It can be a form ofjournaling, and like journaling, it can be cathartic, creative, and stress relieving. You can use a journal for personal art therapy and stress management in the following ways:

Art Activities for Stress Relief

A Word From Verywell

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Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Cheron G.How to Measure the Psychological “Flow”? A Neuroscience Perspective.Front Psychol. 2016;7:1823. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01823

Bell CE, Robbins SJ.Effect of art production on negative mood: A randomized, controlled trial.Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association. 2007;24(2):71-75. doi:10.1080/07421656.2007.10129589van der Vennet R, Serice S.Can coloring mandalas reduce anxiety? A replication study.Art Therapy. 2012;29(2):87-92. doi:10.1080/07421656.2012.680047

Bell CE, Robbins SJ.Effect of art production on negative mood: A randomized, controlled trial.Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association. 2007;24(2):71-75. doi:10.1080/07421656.2007.10129589

van der Vennet R, Serice S.Can coloring mandalas reduce anxiety? A replication study.Art Therapy. 2012;29(2):87-92. doi:10.1080/07421656.2012.680047

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