Art-therapy...

...is an interesting and culturally enhancing form of trauma healing, which allows in the same time to develop personal creativity with the pleasure and empowering that it naturally provides, and, through this, to develop self-confidence and strengthÉ

It specially allows to express freely, safely and profoundly the traumatic memories and their unconscious material in the form of various artistic works, without having to touch nor confront directly the extreme pain of re-activating such memories (which are most often considered as re-traumatizing). Such means of expression should allow the child a new mental space for elaborating and perhaps creating a new life. These techniques can also be applied to adults.

Although arts-therapies are practiced in some psychiatric structures they also offer the alternative or the privilege of appearing more artistic than medical. They can be used therefore in various structures like schools, arts-workshops, care centers, community work, (etc) , rather than only in hospitals or psycho-dispensaries. Arts-therapy also can be used at different levels of psycho-social action, like : prevention, primary care, specific therapy groups, individual therapy, and as a complement or parallel to psychiatric intervention.

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