In a consumer culture like ours, when considering art, we usually focus on the finished product: the painting framed and hanging in a gallery, the sculpture mounted and displayed in a museum. We marvel at the work and look discreetly for the price tag.

What often gets forgotten is the process of creation. What did the artist have to go through to get those particular colours on that particular canvas? What contortions of her hands were necessary to form that particular shape from that particular stone?

For people with communication difficulties or emotional problems, simply the act of putting paint on paper or shaping clay with their hands may help to release frustration and achieve some balance in their lives.

For the art therapist, the process itself is also very revealing: how does his person sit while working? What sort of brush strokes does she use? Which colours does she habitually choose? How does she handle the clay? The end result, whether it is beautiful or not, also tells the skilled therapist a great deal for the artist’s subconscious mind, as well as her level of development, are expressed through her creations.

In art therapy, the person is encouraged to experiment freely in a safe environment in which there is no such thing as “doing it wrong”. Having permission to express herself through art may lead to breakthroughs in other areas as well.

“Art gave me a way to express myself without anybody interpreting,”

Danny, a young man with severe Cerebral Palsy, explains. “I obey the brush and the brush becomes a force.”