Art therapy

In the Spring 2009 issue of The New Social Worker, we published an article about art and photo therapy, focusing on ways that some social workers are combining these therapies with more traditional "talk" therapy. The arts are very powerful means of expression and are often very effective in getting to a deeper level of emotion than "just" talking.

I came across an interesting example of art therapy...the Children's Art Therapy Calendar.

The artwork in this calendar is from the art therapy program at Aldea Children and Family Services, a California social services agency. The award-winning calendar shows the power of art therapy. According to art therapist Al Friedman on Aldea's Web site, "Words alone are not enough to express what children feel. This is especially true when they are faced with the complex issues of divorce, grief, violence, abuse, neglect or coping with a disability. That is why art therapy has become an integral part of the treatment program at Aldea Children and Family Services."