All these facts, observations and regularities served to create one of the original directions in modern psychotherapy, called "therapy with creative self-expression". Its founder is a well-known domestic psychiatrist and psychotherapist Mark Evgenievich Burno, who published many interesting works on the detailed development of this method.

ME Burno defines his method as a clinical, non-psychoanalytic, psychotherapeutic method of treating people with painful experiences of their inferiority, suffering from anxiety and depressive disorders. The method is based on the following two main ideas:

A person suffering from some kind of psychopathological disorder, in the process of creativity, can better learn and understand the features of his character. And, having recognized his strengths and weaknesses, the patient can mitigate his negative state, because our shortcomings are an extension of our virtues.

Any creativity releases a large amount of positive energy, so any creativity is healing. It is as a result of this that positive changes occur in the psyche. TTS lessons. practiced by M.S. Stormy, held in a relaxed atmosphere, by candlelight, over a cup of tea, to the melodic classical music. Patients in the process of group meetings approach each other, often becoming friends who support each other.

In the classroom, they listen to the stories of their comrades about themselves, about artists, sculptors, writers and musicians, trying to understand the peculiarities of their characters. Members of the group see through living examples how creative activity has helped many people. Therefore, looking at them, they can begin to live their own creative life, which can take many forms - from correspondence with a doctor to keeping diaries and inventing their own stories and novels.

As M.E. Burno, the TTS method is especially effective in the treatment of patients with various defensive disorders and as a prevention of nervous pathology in healthy people who experience mood disorders of a defensive nature within the normal range.

The term "defensive" (from Latin defensio - defense, protection) accepted in clinical psychiatry is opposite in content to the term "aggressive" and implies a mixture of passive defensiveness with vulnerability, accompanied by an experience of a feeling of inferiority.

Defensiveness is found as a leading disorder in many patients with neurosis-like schizophrenia, in psychasthenic and asthenic psychopaths, in defensive schizoids, cycloids, epileptoids, defensive hysterical psychopaths, in patients with alcoholism and drug addicts of the warehouse. There are a huge number of such people in the Big City.

Mood disorders of a similar nature are not uncommon in healthy people, especially those who are classified as so-called accentuated personalities. TTS helps all such patients to feel healing creative inspiration, to learn how to overcome difficulties in moral self-expression, without resorting to drugs, alcohol or drugs to alleviate mental tension.

Creativity in the TTC is understood broadly - as the implementation of any socially useful deed in accordance with its unique spiritual characteristics. Therefore, creativity cannot be reactionary, immoral, it is always creation, bearing in itself the positive individuality of the author.

Since the main instrument of any creativity is a manifestation of a living spiritual individuality, both a sick and a healthy person recognize their uniqueness in creativity, become themselves and free themselves from the painful uncertainty that is always present in mood disorders.

The main and specific mechanism of creative self-expression therapy (which unites on a single basis treatment through communication with music, painting, architecture, treatment by creating creative works, etc.) is a healing revival of spiritual individuality, bringing patients to the opportunity to experience creative experience- inspiration.

Specific methods of therapy with creativity according to M.E. Stormy include:

Therapy of creating creative works (stories, drawings, photographs, etc.) in order to discover in all this one's personal peculiarity and compare one's creativity with the characteristics of the creativity of one's group mates;

Therapy by creative communication with nature (with the search for oneself in nature through consonance and dissonance with certain plants, insects, landscapes, etc.);

Therapy by creative communication with literature, art, science (search for consonance in various works of culture);

Therapy by creative collecting (collecting objects, consonant and dissonant - to clarify their characteristics);

Therapy by penetrating and creative immersion in the past (communication with childhood objects dear to the soul, with portraits of ancestors, studying the history of one's people, the history of mankind - in order to more clearly know oneself in harmony with all this, one's "roots", one's non-randomness in the world);

Therapy by keeping a diary and notebooks (various creative notes reveal, emphasize the features of their author);

Therapy by home correspondence with a psychotherapist (as an opportunity to show a personality trait in live correspondence);

Therapy with creative travels - searching for yourself in the knowledge of the new, unfamiliar on the journey;

Therapy with a creative search for spirituality in everyday life - to see the unusual in the ordinary, the opportunity to see and feel the world around you only by knowing the ordinary in your own way, personally).

All these types of creative activity contribute to the enrichment and development of the personality of both the patient and the healthy person. The main thing is that patients observe and be guided by three fundamental provisions for themselves:

Know the characters of people;

Find among them your character and its inherent inclinations and aspirations;

Choose for yourself, according to your character, the path in life, occupation and hobbies.

The following musical and psychotherapeutic formulas aim a person at search activity and form the necessary attitudes towards creativity. They are the fruit of the collective creativity of the group involved in musical psychotherapy.

Creative self-expression therapy, applied in the field of psychological impact on a person for both therapeutic and non-medical purposes, invariably reveals the ability to help a person to know and study himself through creative activity, to consciously and purposefully clarify his individuality and significance. It helps to find one's place in society, to find oneself in creativity, helps to actively find means to overcome crisis conditions and rise to a new stage in one's development.

personality, health and creativity

All other things being equal, a creative person, as can be concluded from what has been said above, is more tenacious and healthier. Therefore, increasing creativity is important not only for professional growth, but also for well-being.

The features of a creative personality, according to the American psychologist K. Taylor, are: the desire to be at the forefront in their field; independence and independence of judgment, the desire to go their own way; risk appetite; activity, curiosity, indefatigability in search; dissatisfaction with existing traditions and methods, and hence the desire to change the existing state of affairs; non-standard thinking; the gift of communication; foresight talent. (Goncharenko N.V. Genius in art and science. M., 1991). Other researchers point to such traits of a creative personality as a wealth of fantasy and intuition; the ability to go beyond the usual ideas and see objects from an unusual angle; the ability to resolve impasses in cases where they do not have a logical solution, in an original way.

A creative person is ready to create and create something interesting for him without any material reward, because the greatest joy for him is the very process of creativity. And in the end, he benefits from this in terms of his health and joyful attitude. This is not given to a little creative person, because, as Elbert Hubbard said: "He who does no more than what he is paid for, will never get more than what he receives."

Modern psychological research suggests that the attitudes characteristic of a creative person can be brought up. To do this, in the book of Stenberg R. and Grigorenko E. "Learn to think creatively" the following 12 strategies are given. For this purpose, the teacher must:

Be a role model.

Encourage doubt that arises in relation to generally accepted proposals and assumptions.

Allow making mistakes.

Encourage reasonable risk taking.

Include sections in the curriculum that would allow students to demonstrate their creative abilities; to test the acquired material in such a way that students have the opportunity to apply and demonstrate their creative potential.

Encourage the ability to find, formulate and redefine the problem.

Encourage and reward creative ideas and results of creative activity.

Provide time for creative thinking.

Encourage tolerance for uncertainty and incomprehensibility.

Prepare for the obstacles encountered in the path of a creative person.

Stimulate creative development.

Find a match between the creative person and the environment. (Stenberg R., Grigorenko E. "Learn to think creatively"

12 theory-based strategies for teaching creative thinking. Basic modern concepts of creativity and giftedness. M., 1997. S. 191-192.)

The American psychologist Torrance identified in creative people such personal traits as the desire for superiority, for risk, for disruption of the usual order, for independence, radicalism, assertiveness, stubbornness, daring and courage. These personality traits are associated with a certain amount of aggressiveness. It can be assumed that the cultivation of healthy aggressiveness in oneself, associated with general sthenicity and the desire for positive self-affirmation, is one of the ways to health. One of the positive qualities of aggression is that it is able to suppress fears and anxieties, which are the defining properties of a neurotic personality.

The dominance of the emotion of fear, according to a number of researchers, is an obstacle to the formation of creativity traits. Fear makes a person rigid, predetermines attachment to traditional forms, limits the desire for independent searches, in fear people are easier to suggest. When the feeling of fear is removed, creative indicators increase sharply. Therefore, when using the brainstorming technique aimed at finding a solution to a problem situation, any criticism of the proposals made is strictly prohibited. Such a simple rule of work greatly increases the chance of creative finds.

Burno Mark Evgenievich - psychiatrist-psychotherapist, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor of the Department of Psychotherapy, Medical Psychology and Sexology of the State Educational Institution of Additional Professional Education "Russian Medical Academy of Postgraduate Education of the Federal Agency for Health and Social Development of the Russian Federation" (Moscow).

Born in 1939, graduated from the 2nd Moscow State Medical Institute. Pirogov in 1963. From 1963 to 1965 he worked as a psychiatrist in the Kaluga region, and from 1965 to 1970 as a psychiatrist-psychotherapist and narcologist at the Psychoneurological Dispensary No. 2 (Moscow).

In 1969 he defended his dissertation for the degree of Candidate of Medical Sciences “On Personalities Particularly Predisposed to Alcoholism”. In 1970, he was elected on a competitive basis to the post of assistant of the Department of Psychotherapy of the RMAPO, in 1976 - to the post of associate professor. In 1998, he was invited by the Federal Center for Psychotherapy (at the Bekhterev Psychoneurological Institute in St. Petersburg) to defend his doctoral dissertation on the report "Therapy with creative self-expression". By that time, this psychotherapeutic method, developed by M.E. Stormy, developed into a domestic school-direction. He defended his doctoral dissertation in the same year. In 1999, he was elected by competition to the post of professor of the department.

He has more than 200 publications, of which 7 books and 4 chapters in manuals. Since 1983, responsible for the department for work with clinical residents. Under the scientific guidance of M.E. 4 Ph.D. dissertations were vigorously defended. He reads the main courses of lectures on psychotherapy, teaches students and clinical residents the methods of clinical psychotherapy, which he owns from an early age.

Books (5)

Clinical theater-community in psychiatry

The book summarizes the experience of 15 years of work with a special medical theater in psychiatry. This is not Psychodrama or Drama Therapy.

This is a particle of the domestic clinical and psychotherapeutic direction-school - Therapy with creative self-expression by M. Burno. A real theater community helps to live with a healing light, meaning in the soul - even for severe patients with chronic anxiety and depressive disorders, experiencing their inferiority, feelings of loneliness, the meaninglessness of their existence.

For psychotherapists, psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, social workers.

About the characters of people

I consider this essay psychotherapeutic in a broad sense, and because, perhaps with relief, we will see and feel from it the characterological naturalness of some of our weaknesses, painful experiences, misdeeds, etc. Let us forgive ourselves what is possible to forgive. Let us forgive others their natural weaknesses. Let us see in other people an experience that is important and valuable for us, a skill that is not available to us.

How important it is, especially for an original, talented person, to be himself on his life path in Humanity, to do his Good in life, to improve in his own, that is, in what is better than many others, and better than other you...

A Practical Guide to Creative Expression Therapy

Creative self-expression therapy (TTS) is a domestic psychotherapeutic method created, developed (in its present state) by Professor of the Department of Psychotherapy, Medical Psychology and Sexology of the Russian Medical Academy of Postgraduate Education M.E. Burno and many of his followers. The roots of the method are in the classical clinical psychotherapy of the countries of the German language and Russia, in Russian culture and nature.

For more than ten years, the method has been used, developed in our country and abroad by psychotherapists, psychologists, teachers; new variants of the method are being created (including non-curative ones).

This Guide has been created by practitioners working at TTC. The manual will help to practically apply this complex spiritual method in various mental disorders and "healthy" difficulties.

The book is addressed to psychiatrists, psychotherapists, psychologists, teachers, theorists of psychotherapy, philosophers, culturologists, and all those interested in spiritual culture therapy.

Creative expression therapy

The book presents many years of experience in the effective psychotherapy of psychopathy and low-progressive schizophrenia with defensive manifestations.

The psychotherapeutic technique developed by the author — creative self-expression therapy — is described in detail. The reception includes various methods of creativity therapy - therapy by creating creative works, creative communication with nature, literature, art, creative collecting therapy, etc.

Creative self-expression therapy (TTS) is a therapeutic (psychoprophylactic) method that can seriously help, first of all, people with feelings of inferiority. This is a method that came out of the psychotherapeutic direction "Therapy with Spiritual Culture". The essence of the psychotherapeutic mechanism underlying this direction is creative inspiration, healingly enlightening the soul, softening tension with a sense of one's spiritual features, riches, and understanding the meaning of one's life. Psychotherapeutic impact of this kind V.E. Rozhnov (1985) calls it “emotionally stressful” in a broad sense, in the sense of “elevating” a person with beneficial emotional excitement.

At the same time, M.E. Stormy emphasizes the difference between the concepts of stress and distress, introduced by the creator of the classical doctrine of stress, Hans Selye. So, G. Selye complains about this one-sidedness: “In everyday speech, when they say that a person is “stressed”, they usually mean excessive stress, or distress, just as the expression “he has a temperature” means that he has elevated temperature, i.e. fever. Ordinary heat production is an essential property of life” 10 . Also, emotional stress - a protective and adaptive rise in vitality caused by emotional influences, can be sharp, "noisy" and outwardly quiet in its healing and harmfulness.

Emotionally stressful psychotherapeutic influence is biologically based on the beneficial healing work of emotional stress. In different people, in different ways, depending on the mental and physical make-up and the nature of the disorders, this healing excitement of vital forces is formed, and, therefore, it has to be called up in different ways.

M.E. Stormy distinguishes two stages of training according to the TTS method 11 .

1 stage of classes:

self-knowledge ("know thyself" - "nosce te ipsum", lat.) - the study of one's own painful disorders, one's character;

knowledge of other human characters (“to each his own” - “suum cuique”, lat.) - classes on the typology of characters; the study of mental disorders.

2nd stage of training:

Continuing to know oneself and others in creative self-expression (“gaining strength in motion” - “vires que acquiriteundo”, lat.), with awareness of one’s social benefit, with the emergence of a stable bright worldview on this basis - using specific methods. These specific techniques are:

therapy with the creation of creative works;

creative communication with nature;

creative communication with literature, art, science;

creative collecting;

penetratingly creative immersion into the past;

keeping a diary and notebooks;

home correspondence with a doctor;

creative travel;

creative search for spirituality in everyday life.

M.E. Stormy writes that the essence of any (including healing) creativity lies precisely in its own, individual, and therefore always new, fresh look at things, in an original attitude towards them. Creativity (in a broad sense) is understood as “the performance of any socially useful deed in accordance with one’s spiritual characteristics. Therefore (as opposed to simply “self-expression”) creativity cannot be reactionary, immoral, it is always a creation that carries the individuality of the author” 12 .

An artistic attitude to life, unlike a scientific one, reveals not only a peculiarity of thinking-judgment, but also one's personal, individual experience about some events, relationships with people, with nature. In this sense, not only a poem or a watercolor landscape, but every creative photograph or slide is a self-portrait of the author. Prishvin wrote: "The landscape is the totality of animals, plants, stones and all other components of nature, related to the personality of a person" 13.

Creativity clarifies, delineates, builds and affirms the personality of the author. A person with mood disorders, as already noted, in the process of creativity finds himself, his certainty, getting out of mental disorder, painful confusion, anxiety and uncertainty.

The author of the concept of probabilistic forecasting I.M. Feigenberg believes that emotional tension and anxiety are caused not so much by the situation of danger itself, but by the "uncertainty of the further development of events", in which a person who is ready for a variety of actions "does not yet know what kind of actions will be needed." The creative state of the soul introduces a certain certainty into the confused, amorphous soul (including, if not primarily, the certainty of the forecast), which is practically expressed at least in the realization of who I am, what I stand for, what I can do, what I must do in life, and in what situation, what, most likely, I will feel and how I will act.

M.E. Stormy notes two polar characterological structures - authoritarian (authoritarian-aggressive) and defensive (passive-defensive), characteristic of the so-called "weak" people (with the experience of their inferiority).

This "weakness" has its own strength.

This property has its prototype in the life of animals. And in the animal kingdom, as you know, a mother often does not spare her life, protecting, saving her children. But animals of a melancholic temperament (“weak type of higher nervous activity”) are distinguished by especially gentle, affectionate, sacrificial care for each other. The main behavioral reaction of melancholic (“weak”) animals in danger is a passive-defensive reaction, that is, the desire to leave an unpleasant situation with their tail between their legs, while “strong” animals behave predominantly aggressively in danger - they attack by baring their teeth.

But at the same time, people of a melancholic temperament (for example, Darwin, Pavlov, Chekhov) are distinguished by especially deep conscience and the spiritual, morally reflective depth associated with it, which sounds in everyday life, in scientific or artistic creativity. That is why a passive-defensive “weakness” persists in the world: behind this mask of innate physical clumsiness and impracticality lie closely related inclinations of qualities highly respected by people that develop and flourish in public life - heightened morality, conscientiousness, delicacy, and sometimes the ability to subtle analysis, extraordinary spiritual creativity.

Thus, while preserving the primordial essence of the individual, the TTS seeks to reveal the creative potential of a person, to raise the level of his personal spiritual culture.

The TTS method, created for the treatment of a variety of defensive anxiety and depressive disorders, has been widely used in the practice of psychologists and educators.

The first experience of using TTS elements in pedagogical practice belongs to Academician A.E. Shterengerts. In the mid 1980s. A.E. Shterengertz, in the process of teaching and educating children with cerebral palsy, explained to them the characteristics of people's characters, the strengths and weaknesses of each character, focusing on the provisions of the TTC.

In 1991 E.A. Poklitar and A.E. Shterengertz in his work on the study of the psychological mechanisms of TTS showed that the method of M.E. Stormy is a kind of way of refraction through the internal laws of the subject of the conscious and unconscious mental and spiritual impulses inherent in his personality, which, ultimately, is manifested by the mobilization of the reserve capabilities of the human psyche, forms a new honest and correct attitude to the world, people and his attitude to life.

In the mid 1990s. E.A. Poliktar developed, and T.E. Konrad-Volodina introduced a method of forming the creative individuality of primary school students into the process of school education. The technology of classes fully correlated with the TTS technologies.

At present, based on the method of M.E. A methodology for the prevention of bad habits (smoking, the use of alcohol, drugs and toxic drugs) in youth groups (L.I. Burcho), a method for correcting deviant behavior of adolescents (A.V. Lupol) is being vigorously constructed.

Book V.P. Volkova "People with a difficult character" is very close in its approach to the description of the characters presented in the works of M.E. Stormy, and contains preventative tips and advice for teachers and high school students.

However, none of the works cited by us considers specific approaches to psycho-correction through creative self-expression of the defensive features of the character of adolescents. The available data are either fragmentary or relate to certain aspects (for example, the work of T.E. Gogolevich with autists and psychasthenics using the TTS method), certain categories of patients (for example, the work of E.A. Dobrolyubova on the TTS of patients with schizotypal disorder; S.V. Nekrasova about training in TTS patients with mild schizophrenia).

An analysis of the literature on the problem of psycho-correction by creativity showed that, basically, these are works of an educational and preventive nature that do not contain a clear methodology for psycho-diagnostics and psycho-correction by creative self-expression.

Taking into account the importance of adequate adaptation in society of a significant number of adolescents and youth with defensive characteristics, the lack of specific developments on the problem of psycho-correction by creativity in conditions of additional education, we came to the need to create our own version of the method, due to the specifics of the individual age characteristics of children seeking help from the Psychological Service City Palace of Children's (Youth) Creativity. We designated the version of the method that we developed as a psycho-correctional version of Therapy with creative self-expression.

Thus, a feature of psycho-correctional classes on TTS is that teenagers who come to the Palace are sometimes even motivated to creatively realize themselves in various circles of the GDD(u)T. And classes on the psycho-correctional method of TTS are organically included in the educational programs of teachers of additional education.

The name "art therapy" is translated from Latin as "treatment by art". This area of ​​psychotherapy is relatively young, but rapidly developing due to the effect that is achieved in the course of treatment. She has many species and subspecies, opening up wide opportunities for getting rid of.

What is art therapy?

Initially, it was about drawing therapy, that is, treatment with the fine arts, but later other types of creativity appeared - singing, dancing, acting, modeling and others that help a person not only relax and get distracted from pressing matters, but also know oneself more deeply. , your inner "I", thus getting rid of your complexes and contradictions, improving your mood, harmonizing your state of mind. Art therapy does not have unwanted side effects and does not cause resistance in a person, because the process itself is important in this matter, not the result.

What is art therapy in psychology?

This concept was introduced by the British doctor and artist Adrian Hill, who worked with tuberculosis patients and noticed that drawing helps them fight the disease. Art therapy in psychology was also used during the Second World War in relation to children released from concentration camps. Today it is carried out both in the form of individual and group lessons. You can do art therapy without even leaving your home by buying an anti-stress coloring book invented by Joanna Basford.

Goals of art therapy

While undergoing art treatment, the client carries out self-knowledge, self-expression and introspection, which allows harmonizing it. Creative therapy aims to improve the psychological and emotional background, relieve tension, get rid of fears and phobias, aggression, anxiety, apathy, depression, increase vitality and mood.

In addition to harmonizing the mental state, the psychologist's classes with elements of art therapy pursue the following tasks:

1. To reveal a person, his talents and abilities.
2. Accelerate recovery from many diseases.
3. To establish contact between the therapist and the client, to establish a trusting relationship between them.
4. Help the patient to concentrate on inner experiences and learn to control their emotions.
5. Help the person socialize.
6. To give impetus to the expression of their feelings and thoughts that a person cannot or does not want to express in the usual way.

What are the benefits of art therapy?

Art therapy affects the psyche gently, unobtrusively, because the process of treatment itself is like a hobby. Often the patient is in a depressed state and it is difficult to establish communication, and the possibilities of art therapy allow you to express your "I" through visual art. The method of such treatment is based on the principle that the contents of the patient's inner "I" are reflected in visual images at the moment when he sculpts, draws, dances or sings, as a result of which the state of the psyche is harmonized.

Such treatment does not cause rejection or rejection in the client, which is very important for people in a state of stress. It is always voluntary and safe. In the process of projecting internal experiences onto his creation, a person does not realize that they unconsciously come out. If we consider the process from the point of view of psychoanalysis, then its main mechanism is sublimation. Through artistic visual images and objects, the interaction of the unconscious with consciousness takes place, and the therapist helps the patient understand what his "unconscious" wants to tell him.

Types of art therapy

This technique is of increasing interest, which creates the prerequisites for expanding its boundaries and the emergence of new "tools" of medical art. Art therapy methods include:

• isotherapy - painting and drawing;
• color therapy - a person is exposed to light of various colors;
• music therapy, which consists in listening to various compositions;
• sand therapy - sand painting;
• video therapy - it means watching a video in which the hero has the same problem;
• game therapy - during the game, the necessary mental functions are formed;
• bibliotherapy - this method uses literature to treat with a word;
• fairy tale therapy - writing fairy tales, analysis of existing works;
• mask therapy - a three-dimensional image of the patient's face is used, which allows directing his emotions and experiences in the right direction;
• drama therapy, that is, dramatization, playing out a plot;
• phototherapy - photographing, creating collages;
• dance therapy - dancing;
• art synthesis therapy - it combines painting, versification, cartoon, color, mask, phototherapy, etc.

Art therapy for women

In the modern pace of life, when people are regularly exposed to stress, art therapy helps to understand oneself, one's place in life and find ways to fulfill one's desires. Art therapy for adults provides an opportunity to strengthen one's own energy, gain self-confidence and calmness. Through artistic visual images, a picture of one's own life is created - the way a person wants to see it.

Art therapy for the elderly

The direction of treatment is always chosen by a specialist, taking into account the complexity of each type of creativity. And if teenagers are more suitable for playing in amateur theater or dancing, then art therapy for the elderly provides for the choice of more calm and uncomplicated techniques that are easy to handle and do not require special skills. When working with the elderly, it is very important to encourage a person to start and not strive to achieve any specific result. This is the most difficult stage, because many people at this age no longer believe in themselves, besides, they believe that this requires a special talent.

Art Therapy - Exercises

There are many ways to solve your internal problems. Here is some of them:

1. When working with a child, ask him to draw his fear. In order for the frightening to turn into the other side, it must be made funny and funny. For example, add a bow to a crocodile, and pink wings to an angry dog.
2. Art therapy techniques include an exercise called “Kalyaki-Malyaki”. The patient is invited to draw nonsense, and then carefully consider it and highlight a meaningful image, circle it, draw it, and then describe the drawing.
3. Art therapy techniques include the "collage" technique. In the context of a given topic, glue, sculpt and draw anything on paper. The analysis is carried out taking into account the size and position of the elements, color, plot, harmony, etc.

Art Therapy Books

Creative self-expression therapy is covered in the following works:

1. "Techniques of body-oriented art therapy" A.I. Kopytin. A practical guide to help you deal with various traumas and addictions.
2. "The practice of art therapy: approaches, diagnostics, systems of classes" L.D. Lebedeva. The author in a simple and accessible form provides a detailed description of art treatment techniques, lists everything necessary for this, describes diagnostic methods.
3. "Therapy with creative self-expression" M.E. Stormy. The book provides a full range of treatment techniques based on art and creativity.

If you take a sheet of paper, paints or pencils and draw everything that comes to your mind, then a good specialist will be able to determine your psychological state from this drawing, read your problems and fears. Complete this task and take a look at the drawing that you get. Empty middle or not? Is the entire sheet occupied or is it grouped somewhere in one place? What colors predominate red, black, brown or light? Or maybe the lines are correct, even, but dead and soulless? This can be seen not only by a specialist, but you yourself can determine that it is time to treat the soul. This is what Art Therapy studies - it is a method of healing through the creativity of human souls.

Everyone is capable of self-expression in various ways, through the selection of hairstyles and clothes, through movement, through drawings, through poetry and prose. For any creative person, this is the only opportunity to express themselves, to talk about their feelings, experiences and thoughts. It is not correct to divide people into uncreative and creative. All people are capable of creating, only the need for this is different, someone is stronger, someone is weaker. It is Art Therapy that provides an opportunity for self-expression, to meet their needs. This is her main task.

Art therapy uses the creative possibilities of a person. You don't have to be an artist to express yourself through drawing. The inner world is more important than the correct execution of the drawing. Understanding the language of creativity, the ability to use it helps to discover new qualities in yourself and other people. Allows you to better understand your desires and needs, contradictions and resources. It is not so easy to master these qualities, but their possession gives new opportunities, opens up new horizons. The task that art therapy sets and solves is not to teach a person to draw, compose music and poetry, but to teach to create in the broadest sense of the word. Create your own destiny, your life, as this is what the person himself wants.

Today, alas, a creative approach to one's life is forgotten. Now most people are of the opinion that people's lives are predetermined from childhood, they are sure that society itself dictates its conditions to us. Today, people increasingly live in a constant struggle for survival, the main thing is resourcefulness, speed, assertiveness, strength. We are increasingly accustomed to looking at things from a practical point of view, from the point of view of personal gain. If there is a problem, there is and there is a solution. We need to do one thing, then another, we must. What and to whom do we owe?

Symbolic images are used in art therapy, it is through them that we have access to these unknown opportunities and abilities, various ways of thinking develop, perception changes, it becomes more complete. There is an opportunity to understand yourself better, to gain more confidence. This is an opportunity to clarify the meaning through the formation of an understanding of the uniqueness of one's personality.

We refer to creativity as various types of human activity in order to achieve a specific goal. Creativity is modeling, and drawing, and dancing, and composing poetry and music, and many other types of action.

Art therapy is a relatively new direction in psychiatry, although the basics go back to the same Z. Freud. This is not a drug treatment of a disease, but a method of unwinding the internal capabilities and abilities of a person, promoting creativity, inner harmony and human development. Art therapy relies on the ability of a person to reflect his inner state in visual images.

A person who feels grief or joy, pain, defeat or victory, can draw his state, express it in poetry and dance, can reflect this state in music. The techniques used by Art therapy allow you to relieve psycho-emotional stress, discover creative abilities, change your attitude to the world, to relatives and people around you. You do not need to have professional training to work in this direction, you do not need to have any special abilities. The most important thing is to enjoy the process itself from what you are doing.

Pay attention to the paintings of various authors, because each of them carries its own emotions, this is a splash of emotion, somewhere positive, somewhere not. We can see a similar phenomenon in literature and music. Creativity allows you to look at your inner world from the outside.

Music for the liver!

No need to prove and explain that music has an amazing effect on us. Now you can find various music albums: "Liver", "Migraine", "Digestion". This music is very popular for the treatment of various body systems. The action takes place on a psychological level, the music causes shock, excitement. Try to find your own piece of music that will reflect your emotional state at a given time, calm or invigorate. Music always evokes strong emotions in the soul, carries a charge of energy, and has a beneficial effect on a person.

Try to hear the "inner child"

Thoughts may arise, it is shameful and frivolous in adulthood to engage in modeling, drawing, but this is a big delusion. And in the soul of every very serious and very adult person there always lives an inner child who is just waiting for his owner, having removed all the restrictions and stamps of "seriousness", to again touch the bright and beautiful world of creativity and childhood.

What does science say about this?

Physical pain decreases from the contemplation of beauty - this is scientifically proven by neurologists from the University of Bari (Italy). The participants of the experiment chose from hundreds of paintings provided to them 20 beautiful and 20 ugly paintings (according to the participants). Then, with the help of a laser pulse, painful tingling was caused in them and they were asked to look through the selected pictures without stopping. When summing up the results of the experiment, they noticed that when the subjects looked at beautiful paintings, including Botticelli, their feelings were almost a third less than when viewing an “ugly picture” or an empty canvas in general.