Art Therapy provides road to mental health

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For many, art is an avenue for expressing normally unexplored emotions and thoughts. For Tiffanie Brumfield, an art therapist and School of Art instructor, art is a gateway to helping others.

Brumfield defines art therapy as using the creative process as the primary form of expression in a therapeutic relationship. Art therapists use a variety of techniques and materials to diagnose and treat problems in patients.

“Art is basic to society ... We think in pictures,” she said.

The point of art therapy is not to make great art, said Brumfield. Rather, it’s focused on what the process and final product of a patient’s art reveals about them.

The University’s Introduction to Art Therapy course, ART 4020, has been offered on and off since 2011, Brumfield said. There is no class for the fall semester, but Brumfield has high aspirations for art therapy at the University.

She said she is devising an art therapy minor, which would include a materials class and potentially a special populations class focusing on people like Alzheimer’s patients and the mentally ill.

Some students have expressed interest in the minor.

Graphic design senior Marci Hargroder said a lot of her classmates have been talking about going into art therapy and thinks there would be plenty of interest. Studio art senior Emily Seba said she thinks there is great potential for art therapy at the University, with potential jobs at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center.

Seba said she engaged in art therapy when she was in the hospital as a child and remembers it as something fun that helped her pass the time. Brumfield said people stuck in hospitals often feel isolated and the art gives them something to relate with others.

Children are often receptive to art therapy, Brumfield said, adding that “they speak metaphorically and symbolically.”

She said for children who exhibit violent behaviors, sculpting provides an outlet to express their feelings in a constructive way.

Brumfield, who works in Baton Rouge General Medical Center’s Arts in Medicine program, said art can also be a communication tool when traditional methods fail.

In traditional therapy, people can get defensive about their feelings, she said. Art therapy allows them to be less guarded and lets the art piece to function as a liaison. The piece allows the patient to see their progress more objectively.

Brumfield said one of the most popular approaches in her Introduction to Art Therapy class is what she calls an “open studio.” Kids in circumstances out of their control — whether they are in foster care or are in trouble with the law — are given the freedom to do whatever they want in the space.

At the end, they have a show where they can display a new identity through their art.