Art therapy is not just drawing, you don’t need to be close to art, know the basics of painting... be able to hold a brush in your hands... not at all. Here you just need to be open to research, open to the method, not to be afraid of it (if you are not you know how to draw). Paints and brushes are just a tool for understanding your personality, just like a conversation and a psychodiagnostic test. *Art therapy is a type of art therapy. In general, art therapy can be expressed not only through drawing, but also sculpting, dancing, photography, playing musical instruments... and much more. If we look at history, art therapy arose under the influence of psychoanalysis. Psychoanalysts (such as Jung, Freud, Margaret Naumburg and others) came to the conclusion that art therapy can have several effects on the client: the first effect is the study of the unconscious part of the personality. It is through spontaneous drawing/dance/sculpting that unconscious manifestations emerge. The second effect is the healing side of the very process of the client creating this “creative product”, i.e. the process itself is already effective. Art therapy, or rather the process of creating something - your creativity - under the supervision of a psychotherapist/psychologist, allows you to make the unconscious visible and through verbalization (verbal designation, when we find a “word” to name it) helps a person realize and process your past experience at a new level. That is, it is a process of creation or expression in which your “inner” is manifested, and when it comes out, it is transferred to the surface of the “conscious.” Another effect of art therapy is the free expression of feelings in a safe way. The peculiarity is that it is not you who talks about your problem, about something that worries or bothers you. And your hands create “something” (sometimes you don’t yet suspect what you are creating), which itself comes to the surface. Free self-expression - this is how you can call it described above. One of the tasks of art therapy is to focus attention on our sensations and feelings . See what we are used to suppressing. Help you find an acceptable outlet for both positive and negative feelings. In this approach, you will need more imagination than drawing skills. According to Jung, art therapy is a process of “active imagination”, during which a person observes the development of his imagination without consciously trying to influence on her. When we work through art therapy - we... - strengthen contact with our feelings, - find a safe way to relieve stress through the process itself, - address our internal conflicts in a safe space, - master new forms of experience. When we capture our the unconscious through art technique according to Freud - we are faced with our needs, according to Jung - we have the opportunity for personal growth, i.e. the opportunity to restore mental balance. You can experience the features of art therapy in group work at our meeting on self-exploration, you can read it at the link https://vk.com/psy.home?w=product-202321843_7616942 Art therapy - this is a meeting with the unconscious, a healing, free, spontaneous, safe, active exploration of oneself.