African Heart Art with professional art therapists building a specially made art therapy program for children in Africa to ease their pain and help release some of the burden they carry from life traumas.
This specially built art program will be recognized in learning institutions that teach art therapy, so that the project will be an option for therapists that have finished their study and wish to contribute 3 months of voluntary work with the children in Africa.
Our basic belief is the importance to work on the reinforcement of feeling of the pride, the security and the self respect of the children, because they receive a recompense to the fruit of their creation through therapy and not a contribution for being a child born in Africa.
We consider the combination of other methods of treatment, In addition to painting, there are many elements to art therapy; psychodrama, music, gardening, dance are all a method of treatment, this will enable the child of additional options to pass the art therapy treatment by different techniques to her/he's enjoyment.
Art therapy is a form of expressive therapy that uses art materials, such as paints, chalk and markers. Art therapy combines traditional psychotherapeutic theories and techniques with an understanding of the psychological aspects of the creative process, especially the affective properties of the different art materials.
As a mental health profession, art therapy is employed in many clinical settings with diverse populations. Art therapy can be found in non-clinical settings as well as in art studios and in workshops that focus on creativity development.
Art therapists work with children, adolescents, and adults and provide services to individuals, couples, families, groups, and communities.
According to the American Art Therapy Association, art therapy is based on the belief that the creative process of art is both healing and life-enhancing. The art therapyists use drawing, painting, and other art processes to assess and treat clients with emotional, cognitive, physical, and/or developmental needs and disorders. Using their skills in evaluation and psychotherapy, they choose materials and interventions appropriate to their clients' needs and design sessions to achieve therapeutic goals and objectives. They use the creative process to help their clients increase insight and judgment, cope better with stress, and work through traumatic experiences, increase cognitive abilities, have better relationships with family and friends, and to just be able to enjoy the life-affirming pleasures of the creative experience. Depending on the state, province, or country, the term art therapyist may be reserved for those that are professionals trained in both art and therapy and hold a master's degree in art therapy or a related field such as counseling or marriage and family therapy with an emphasis in art therapy. Other professionals, such as mental health counselors, social workers, psychologists, and play therapyists apply art therapy methods to treatment. Art therapyists are licensed in one of the following fields: creative arts therapy, art therapy, professional counseling, mental health counseling, or marriage and family therapy.