From the author: Important tasks of art therapy in working with children. Childhood is a process of growing up through developmental crises. In this process, children encounter various kinds of difficulties, on the successful overcoming of which their future lives depend. This cannot be done without the support of adults. The first important task of art therapy is to discover the cause of the problem, which in itself already produces a therapeutic effect. The fact is that when a child is faced with a situation that he does not have enough strength and ability to cope with, then some part of his psyche is fixed at this moment and stops developing and growing. Every adult can remember quite a lot of such situations from his childhood. These are any physical injuries, quarrels between parents, excessive demands from adults, being ignored by parents or friends, or, conversely, excessive care. In addition, any development is associated with the experience of living through crisis moments, which in themselves can leave a traumatic mark. The simplest example is the birth process, when the baby leaves the cozy mother’s womb and finds himself in a huge, unsafe world. Here, a lot depends on the mother - what kind of meta-message the child sees in her eyes and movements, this is how he will perceive this world and himself in it. The fundamental causes of mental trauma are encounters with sexuality and death, especially when nearby adults themselves cannot answer such important questions for the child due to their own traumatization. The second important goal of art therapy is the development of creativity - the ability to find a fresh, unusual solution when faced with an unfamiliar, complex situation. That is, the child is able to reinvent the way of being in the world and find a different, more comfortable place in it. Interestingly, according to research (there are many tests to identify creative abilities), in children under 3 years of age, creative abilities are developed by 95%! By the age of 10 years, only 30% of these abilities remain. By the age of 15 - 12%, and in adults, and this is very sad, only 2% of creativity is retained... The third important task of art therapy in working with children is to introduce the child to his own diverse inner world, which sometimes frightens parents. The world of feelings, emotions, experiences - it is individual for everyone, it cannot be changed by decree from above, without harm to the little person. But the child himself is capable of much with the competent support of adults. In classes, to achieve these goals, we use different types of art: music, art, dance, dramatization, fairy tales, etc. And a variety of materials. The choice of material and method is very individual and depends on the needs of the child, his age characteristics and personal preferences. A little more about working with children: https://www.b17.ru/article/kak_rabotaet_detskiy_psihoanalitik/