Who are Art Therapists? 

Art therapists are trained health professionals and art psychotherapists who are expected to exercise clinical judgement and expertise in a professional and safe manner. To practise art as therapy professionally you have to be trained and qualified under the registration of The Health Professionals Council (HPC). This is their registration document 

However, to run non-professional/profitable classes then this is not essential which leads onto…

Do I have to be good at or trained in art to use art as therapy or a hobby?

Absolutely not! Art is a form of creative expression and whether you have a degree in Art or have never even picked up a paintbrush, art therapy can be beneficial to one’s recovery from cancer. The form of visual expression has been recommended for its power to get in touch with one’s self. Being able to freely create, draw, paint, sculpture can offer help one to cope with their emotions a emotions and discover an inner voice which one may not be able to speak openly about.

Have studies really proven art as a complimentary therapy to standard medical treatment?

Yes, complimentary therapy including art, alongside medical treatment have been proved to add a positive outlet to their treatment and care which help patients to cope better with the physical symptoms and side effects.

Where can I find an Art Therapist?

The British Association of Art Therapists (BAAT) is the professional organisation for art therapists in the UK and is renowned for its Ethical Code of Conducts. They regard art therapy as and “aim to enable clients both to discover an outlet for often complex and confusing emotions that cannot always be expressed verbally, and to foster within themselves self-awareness and growth.”

Here’s an idea to remind you to relax in order to be more productive.

            If there is an art to serving as President of the United States, I’ll vote for President Dwight Eisenhower.

President Dwight Eisenhower painted more than 260 works of art.

          Eisenhower, an artist in residence, relaxed between meetings in the White House with his oil painting hobby that eventually created more than 260 paintings.

         Eisenhower said the art hobby he started at age 58 helped him think more clearly. “You put the surface of your mind on the canvas while you work through problems in the deeper recesses of your mind,” said Eisenhower, the former five-star General who commanded the Allies in winning World War II.

Great Britain Prime Minister Winston Churchill

         Eisenhower picked up the hobby from another famous political leader in World War II, Prime Minister Winston Churchill of Great Britain.

       Recreational pursuit in general and the “art” of leadership in particular is lost on too many of us smart-phone wielding 24/7 leaders. Today’s leaders are more apt to define the art of leadership as the ability to Tweet or Text  while driving at 70 miles hour between meetings.

              To help you feel less guilty  putting away  your smart phones, iPads, iPods etc  and picking up a low tech hobby even for a few minutes a day, consider these presidential recreational activities:   Barack Obama’s pick-up basketball games;  George W. Bush’s mountain bike riding;   Abraham Lincoln’s weight lifting and  Harry Truman’s piano playing.

            The Bow That Is Always Bent Will Quickly Break

       Maybe you just can’t relax before a major decision you have to make or an initiative you have to lead.  You’re too tense. The pressure is on.  Let me suggest that this CRUNCH TIME might be just the time for you to try to relax, try to chill out, and go fly that proverbial kite. “You’re nuts,” I just heard you yell at your computer screen.  No leader would shirk his or her duty like that especially when your staff is waiting for you to act on this critical matter. Well, let me give you another perspective on your decision-making process.  Flying that proverbial kite just might help you make a more strategic decision that would enhance your prospects of success.

      Consider England’s Sir Francis Drake. He led the English against the Spanish Armada — but only AFTER he relaxed. While bowling, he was notified that the Spanish Armada had just entered the English Channel. He finished his bowling match; beat his opponent and then defeated the Spanish Armada.

      Drake knew the power in relaxation and recreation (a.k.a  re-creation) in enhancing his job performance. He embraced the playful thought of the first century poet Phaedrus who said: “The bow that’s always bent will quickly break. But if unstrung will serve you in your need. So let your mind take some relaxation to come back to its task with fresher heed.” Remember the fun you had at recess when were a kit. Relive that recess even for a few minutes. Go fly a kite every so often. And turn your leadership into even more of an art

Today’s ImproveMINT
Relax to keep your leadership thinking in mint condition.

You might also like these previous Leadership Mints on Strategic Thinking:

Beware of Jumping to Conclusions

From Fright to Insight

Taking the Scum Off Your Mind

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Another wonderful reason to encourage a child is something we might overlook on occasion. Children, no matter their age, have a hard time expressing themselves verbally- let’s face it MOST adults aren’t exactly great in this area either; hence why so many arguments are started, divorces happen, and the list goes on and on. Now if something is really bothering the child or is worrying them, how do you think they might express it? You guessed it right!! with their Art! Art is a wonderful way to express your emotions and children do this all the time; now am I suggesting that you start to analyze each piece your child draws, paints or sculpts out of play-dough? Of course not! What I am saying though is that if a child is open to art, enjoys creating, this is another outlet for them to use when they’re troubled about something rather than locking it up inside where it can do real damage. Personally, I think that’s something a lot of adults need or should realize as well.
Personally, I like to use myself for an example on this sort of situation; I always enjoyed drawing & doodling for most of my life but was never into it enough to pursue it passionately till a few years ago; this wasn’t due to my parents lack of encouragement; they always thought my work was the greatest even when it really wasn’t. I hate to say it but I just was never interested enough in it to pursue it continuously although I always did add a touch of art to most things I did, whether it was designing my folders I used for school to even one time painting a pair of my shoes partly gold to make them unique hehe. Look at me now, I’m a graphic designer/digital painter and rarely go an entire day without trying my hand at something creative unless I’m in a tremendous creative block in which case I do take a breather so as to keep the frustration from building up.

Naturally, not every child who dabbles in art will become an artist, writer or what have you but by allowing them the opportunity to explore their creativity, their imagination throughout their life through art, no matter the form, you will be helping to raise a human being who will be open to new ideas, explore new paths, never lose their sense of wonder and no matter what career they pursue as they grow up these sorts of qualities will be of a tremendous boom to them and will give them both an edge & an outlet for when things get tough and seem overwhelming.

1-Passion!

The First Key Concept I’d like to discuss is passion. Without passion or desire your art won’t mean too much and will really be just another drawing, painting or what have you. Also, without passion you won’t want to stick with art, not only as a profession but also as a fun hobby! If you are into art and really love it you’re going to want to create things that you’re passionate about; that can be anything from a cause such as endangered wildlife, historical love like a specific time period or perhaps you just love people and want to catch them on paper,canvas or sculpture. Whatever you are passionate about you need to tap into to create really great art- without passion art is very boring just like anything else in life and let’s face it, art isn’t a hum drum area- you want to give it some zest, some life and when you’re passionate about something it shows in your artwork.

2-PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE

The next item I wish to discuss is something that’s very obvious yet often overlooked and that is PRACTICE. You have to practice each day if you want to get better and get to where you want to be. That’s true whether you sketch, paint or sculpt. I’m not saying you have to practice 4-5 hrs each day- the time amount is not as important as sticking with it is. For example, practicing 5 hrs one day and then maybe 20 minutes the next and then no practice for a couple of days will NOT get you as far as simply practicing an hour each day faithfully. If you want to practice 5 hrs each day that’s fantastic but just be sure you can stick to it and make it a reasonable time allotment or you will not get as far as you want to go.

3-Knowing When to Stop

This is just as, IF NOT, more important than practicing because trust me, I’ve been there- you get frustrated with your sketch or painting and if you have a stubborn streak like I have, you want to keep going til you get it JUST RIGHT. Yet the more you keep going, the more frustrated you get and the sketch or painting or what have you, goes no where. Sound familiar? I know it’s hard for some of us to do this but when you get frustrated or are losing focus it’s time to take a break. That could mean 5 minutes, 2 hours or a couple of days; whatever it takes for you to get back in the positive mind set. Trust me, I’ve been in this boat many times and I’m not one to just sit idle; it drives me crazy BUT I know that working further on a piece that’s frustrating me at the time will get me no where but wasting my time and blood pressure. There is no time limit on your creative process ( unless it’s for a class or commission project) So please just take your time and when you feel yourself getting angry & frustrated- take a break and do something else.

4-Keep at It!

This is where many people also get into trouble. They have the desire to draw, paint or sculpt and so they give it a go and in the end the piece doesn’t look anything like they wanted it to and after a couple more tries or sometimes even after the 1st try they give up completely. I’m here to tell you YOU CANNOT LET YOURSELF GIVE UP! That’s the worst thing you can do. There are very few natural artists out there who can whip up a perfect image the first go at it and take a look at your life, very few things have you accomplished on the first try that mean anything of importance; whether that’s learning to ride your bicycle, driving,math, acing tests, etc- it all came to you after practice and trial/error so don’t think that art is any different because it’s not. Stick with it and you will improve.

5-Don’t Do the Comparison Project

By this I mean we all tend to compare our talents or the lack thereof, with other people, whether that’s our friends, family or professionals. It’s only natural to do this but it’s also a superb hindrance! Everyone is different, that doesn’t just mean how we look & act but also our skills and talent and vision. You will never paint like da Vinci or Rembrandt no matter how hard you try so please don’t put a pressure on yourself that you’ll never be able to live up to. Honestly you also don’t want to paint like da Vinci or Rembrandt because they’ve already done that. You have to the be BEST YOU you can be; not a copy of someone else. The sooner you realize this, the happier you’ll be and the more confident you’ll become and that too will show in your work.

6-Final Key- at least for now- Have Fun

I’m sure I’ll be adding a few more keys as time goes on but for now this is my last one and it’s absolutely THE MOST IMPORTANT- have fun! It won’t do you any good if you’re not happy with sketching or painting and just do it cause it’s expected of you. If you don’t have fun at it you may as well find a different hobby or career choice because you’ll become miserable and it’ll show in your work too; you can’t hide such a mindset.