Art therapy, according to the American Art Therapy Association, is a kind of treatment that integrates mental health and human services by using active art-making, creative process, applied psychological theory, and human experience.

Dr Cindi Cassady, Senior Clinical Psychologist at Caraes Ndera Neuropsychiatric Hospital/Icyizere Center, describes art therapy as a technique based on the idea that creative expression can foster healing and mental well-being.

"The goal of art therapy is to utilise the creative process to help people explore self-expression and, in doing so, find new ways to gain personal insight and develop new coping skills,” she says.

"People have been relying on the arts for communication, self-expression, and healing for thousands of years. But art therapy didn’t start to become a formal programme until the 40s in the US,” Dr Cassady adds.

The creation or appreciation of art, she continues, is used to help people explore emotions, develop self-awareness, cope with stress, boost self-esteem, and work on social skills.

How it helps a person

"As clients create art, they may analyse what they have made and how it makes them feel. Through exploring their art, people can look for themes and conflicts that may be affecting their thoughts, emotions, and behaviours,” Dr Cassady says.

Rachel Nshuti has gone through this kind of therapy since 2019. She shares that it has helped her heal from her issues through reflecting on herself.

"My therapist used it because I couldn’t open up and talk about my issues. He told me to draw a tree, saying that it didn’t have to be perfect. He asked me to imagine its roots as my past, stem as my present, and the branches as my future. At first, I hated it because I didn’t want to think about my problems, but later it helped me when I kept reflecting on that artwork,” she says.

"This kind of therapy gave me a reflection about myself as I kept drawing. The more I did it, the more I thought of my issues and communicated them, hence opening up. I got used to my issues and they never hurt like before,” Nshuti adds.

Pacifique Niyonsenga, the founder and managing director of Niyo Art Center that holds art therapy sessions in partnership with Caraes Ndera Neuropsychiatric Hospital, shares how it helps people.

"This therapy helps a lot. When patients paint according to how they feel inside, they vent their feelings, give a particular message, and as well as relax,” he says.

He adds, "A person is mentally ill because of being deviated from what he has lived or has gone through. So, when they get time to relax and interact with art which is also spiritual, it helps them a lot psychologically. When they paint, their creativity demonstrates what they think and they can heal through that.”

Who needs art therapy and what conditions can it treat?

According to Dr Cassady, art therapy can be used to treat a wide range of mental disorders and psychological distress. She reveals that in many cases, it is often used in conjunction with other psychotherapy techniques, such as more traditional talk therapy; for example, CBT, narrative therapy, or psychodynamic therapy.

"Some conditions that art therapy may be used to treat include ageing-related issues, anxiety, cancer, depression, eating disorders, emotional difficulties, family or relationship problems, medical conditions, psychological symptoms associated with other medical issues, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), psychosocial issues, stress, and substance use disorders,” she says.

"People do not need to have artistic ability or special talent to participate in art therapy, and people of all ages, including children, adolescents, and adults, can benefit from it. Some research suggests that just the presence of art can play a part in boosting mental health,” Dr Cassady adds. 

How does it differ from art class?

People often wonder how an art therapy session differs from an art class. According to Dr Cassady, an art class is focused on teaching techniques or creating a specific finished product, while art therapy is more about letting clients focus on their inner experience.

"While creating art, through art therapy people can focus on their own perceptions, imagination, and feelings. Clients are encouraged to create art that expresses their inner world more than making something that is an expression of the outer world,” she says.

"There is a neurological basis for creativity that affects mental health. The field of neuroaesthetics offers research-based evidence that a variety of art-based approaches may work to improve quality of life, mobility, mental health, speech, memory, pain, learning, and more.” 

Dr Cassady reveals that through advances in technology and imaging, researchers now know that trauma can disrupt the speech-language region of the brain (Broca’s area), making it difficult for those with PTSD to verbalise and process their experiences. 

She says that therapists use art-making as one non-verbal alternative to help people who are exposed to trauma, adding that studies also show that creating art stimulates the release of dopamine, a chemical that is released when people do something pleasurable that basically makes them feel happier.

"Increased levels of this feel-good neurotransmitter can be very helpful if you are battling anxiety or depression,” Dr Cassady says.

Art therapy in Rwanda

"I don’t think many therapists or psychologists in Rwanda are using art therapy, primarily because it is a new concept here for working with mental health disorders. We also don’t have any trained or certified Rwandan art therapists that I’m aware of,” Dr Cassady says.

She adds that it’s important to note that art therapists first must have at least a Master’s degree in psychology and then further training in art therapy.

"Art therapy is a unique blend of psychology and art that requires formal academic training. It would be wonderful to see a Master’s level art therapy programme affiliated with a university here in Rwanda so we could train anyone interested in pursuing a career in art therapy,” she says.