Art Therapy
Crescent Moon Counseling, LLC specializes in Art Therapy Counseling in addition to traditional talk-based therapy. Art Therapy is facilitated by Ashley Ramm, MA, LPC, ATR-BC a fully credentialed and board certified Art Therapist. Through the therapeutic use of art making you can uncover thoughts feelings, conflicts, ideas, dreams, desires, and more. This modality offers a way to communicate when words are not enough, or when verbalizing feelings is difficult, painful, or just not possible.
The Healing Potential of Art Therapy
What is Art Therapy?
Art therapy uses the creative process of art making to improve and enhance the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of individuals of all ages (AATA, 2009). Creative self-expression allows you to access experience beyond language, helping you to better understand yourself, your environment, and the people around you. Art making uses the right side of the brain, which is also where trauma is stored, so things can sometimes be revealed through art that cannot be put into words.
In art therapy you will focus on the creative process and meaning making, rather than creating a finely polished finished product. I may facilitate art-based interventions that are tailored to your therapy goals or I may offer an open-ended arts intervention. The choice to create or use certain materials is up to you. There is no need to identify as an artist to participate. All you need is the willingness to try new things.
What Art Supplies can I Use?
A wide variety of art medias and processes can be used and depends on your unique interests. Materials can include paint, clay, wood, fiber arts, collage, found or upcycled objects, materials found in nature, crafts, creative writing, photography, video, music, digital media and more!
Who Can Benefit from
Art Therapy?
Art therapy can be used by anyone and everyone who wants to find a new way to express themselves, manage their mental health symptoms, and/or further their personal development.
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Teenagers and Adults benefit from art therapy as an opportunity to cultivate self-concept, navigate life changes, process difficult thoughts and emotions, and tell their story using a visual medium.
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Children often have a difficult time using spoken language to communicate thoughts, feelings, or experiences. Art making offers an alternate method for them to tell stories about life. The art process can also be extended into play, in turn, offering children another modality to work through unresolved emotions and practice new skills.
How Do I Talk About Art?
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Use of discussion and / or writing can play a part in art therapy to support your therapy goals and insight development. What you share is totally dependent upon your comfort level and readiness for exploration. You may share your thoughts or feelings about the art process at any time during your session. You therapist will ask questions about the art and your art process to assist with meaning making and personal development. Use of writing is also used to encourage reflection and at times may help further develop insight in deeper ways than talking. There may also be times when discussion and language are not prioritized because the art process is providing a springboard for communication in and of itself. What ever is prompted by the therapist during your session is dependent upon your needs, interests, and therapy goals.
Who Can Call Themselves an Art Therapist and What Do They Do?
In order to be an art therapist you must have a Master's Degree in both clinical psychology and the expressive arts. Art therapists are fully trained mental health clinicians. They are knowledgeable about human development, psychological theories, clinical practice, spiritual, multicultural and artistic traditions, and the healing potential of art. They combine the use of this vast knowledge base to help you achieve your unique goals.
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A fully trained and registered art therapist will have credentials of ATR, ATR-BC, ATR-P, or ATRCS. Additional credential letters can also vary depending on where you live in the United States.
Art therapists help guide you to make meaning of the creative process and the art work by asking you questions. They do not pathologize (do not use your art to give you a mental health diagnosis) art work or interpret the art. You are the only one who can determine the meaning of your art.
Learn more about Art Therapy
Visit the American Art Therapy Association at https://arttherapy.org/about-art-therapy/
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Wisconsin Art Therapy Association at
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Minnesota Art Therapy Association at
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