Child Art Therapy

Terminally Ill Child Creates Art, Inspires Others

File another story under our “Inspiring Others to Create” awards (coming soon). This time it’s about a 5 year-old boy who’s hanging on to life with a thread.

Leo Haines was born prematurely and the doctors didn’t think he would survive 9 times in the last 5 years. However, creating art and painting has changed his life.

Even though Leo needs oxygen and drugs constantly because of pulmonary vein stenosis, and even though he has various cerebral palsy symptoms, around the age of 2 things began looking up for him and his family.

Little Leo took after his grandmother and began painting. And he LOVED it. He’s been doing it ever since and has built up quite the fan base. He’s even sold his art to help raise money for the hospital that took care of him when he was a baby.

Because of art therapy and sign language, Leo and his family are making the best of their seemingly short time together.

Read more about this inspiring story here.

And thanks Leo, for inspiring others to create.

Art Therapy With Children and Teens in Bangkok, Thailand

Sabine de Raaf, an art therapist from the Netherlands contacted me about re-printing an article in which she was a contributor. It’s a great article, and definitely deserving of a reprint. Thanks to Sabine de Raaf for sending this along… Continue reading »

Art Therapy Helps Teenagers, Children, Juveniles in Louisiana

Four of every five children and teens that end up in a juvenile justice system have one, or a combination, of the following characteristics:

1. The child or teen is under the influence of alcohol or drugs while committing their crimes
2. The child or teen tests positive for drugs
3. The child or teen is arrested for committing an alcohol or drug offense
4. The child or teen admits having substance abuse problems

The report, Criminal Neglect: Substance Abuse Juvenile Justice and the Children Left Behind, is the most comprehensive study of substance abuse and the state juvenile justice systems. Astonishingly, the report found Continue reading »

Art Therapy Changes Lives of Abused Children

**The following press release was originally written by Cathy Malchiodi, ATR-BC, Professional Relations for American Art Therapy Association (AATA).

Art Therapy Program Heals Hearts and Empowers Young Survivors

Child abuse is widely recognized as a serious problem, not only because it results in long-term trauma reactions, but also because it involves an abuse of power by adults over children in their care. Violence and assault to children results in attachment, mood, and behavioral disorders as well as acute or posttraumatic stress disorders, among other problems. Art therapy, a form of intervention thought to be effective in the treatment of trauma disorders, is being increasingly used to address child abuse and is often a primary  form of therapy with children who are recovering from physical or sexual assault, verbal abuse, and neglect. For more than three decades, art therapy has been documented as an important method in addressing the emotional pain of young survivors of violence. Continue reading »

How Art Therapy for Children Can Help

Art therapy for children can provide kids with an easier way to express themselves since children are more naturally artistic and creative. A young child is likely to be more comfortable initially expressing him/herself with some crayons and markers, for example, than he/she is going to be at expressing emotions and feelings through words.

A question and answer type of format can be daunting and intimidating for a child, especially when they have to try and explain themselves with their already limited vocabulary. Because of this, art therapy for children can be a much more viable solution for communication than simply having a conversation and talking about things. This can be especially true when it comes to children and traumatic events. Continue reading »