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In Sangeeta's own words...

Choosing to become an Art Therapist

I remember drawing and painting when I was a child. A hobby I loved. I pursued this hobby in college, majoring in Fine Arts. However, a B.A in Fine Arts was not enough. I needed to explore more than just a creative outlet to art. Art was therapeutic to me. How could I make that understood? It was a powerful tool to communicate our thoughts and feelings and everyone had a right to use this tool. Coincidentally, while at the US Embassy library, I found a book on Art Therapy. This was my answer. Art therapy combined the two areas that I found fascinating and interesting – art and psychology. Furthering my pursuit of this fascination, I entered the M.A program in art therapy at George Washington University, which was a wonderful experience. I earned the role played by Art, Communication and the Art Therapist in the
process of healing.

After a period of 20 years in the field of art therapy, and having worked with different groups of people,
I felt the need to share these experiences and knowledge with others. As part of this endeavor, I wrote and published a book, “Creative Expressions: Say it with Art” for teachers, parents and anyone interested in the understanding the role of art in education and as therapy for children. One of the purposes of this book is to bridge the information gap between India and the US in the field of art therapy. I have slowly started making an impact by conducting workshops, bringing in experts in the field of art therapy to India and by setting up an art therapy program in India.

While every society has used art to express their thought and ideas in the past, we are currently
discovering how an individual can use the same process to express their creativity, innermost
thoughts and feelings.

Using Art Therapy

Art surrounded us in every aspect of life in India, right from the ‘Kolams’ (floor drawings) casually rendered every morning in front of our homes, to the beautifully decorated idols in our temples! Almost every festival we celebrated involved one form of art or the other in either the way we decorated, the food we cooked or something as simple as the design on our saris. While subconsciously absorbing this form of art expression, I also realized that art had a therapeutic value. I knew I felt better about myself while indulging in sketching or painting, but there was something more. I was able to expresses my thoughts and feelings through art. The creative process was energizing. My evolution from artist to therapist had already begun and the rest is history.

As an art therapist, I helped others use the art process to work on their self-esteem, concentration and focus, self-awareness, and many other aspects of their personal growth. I have realized that the presence of an art therapist, who has the combined knowledge of psychology, interpersonal relationships and the artistic process, is instrumental in taking this innate humane ability to use art as an expression to a new level of personal insight. It is this therapeutic relationship which develops while working with an enjoyable process of art making, that begins and completes healing. The therapist is sensitive to the skills that are being developed in art making, and is simultaneously working with the person on a more psychotherapeutic level. The goal in a regular art class is primarily to enhance personal knowledge of art and art making. The goal in art therapy, on the other hand is to step into a psychological plateau and help in a variety of ways from building self-esteem to gaining insight into ones thinking process.