Professor Rainbow T.H. Ho, The University of Hong Kong states:
“Incorporating expressive arts into everyday life enables people to express their emotions through artistic creation. Not only do artistic activities such as writing, painting, music, and dancing cultivate our temperament, but they also allow us to reveal our emotions and ideas through the creative process, thus providing a platform for self-inspiration. Appreciating the artworks of others is also an opportunity to understand and explore (our) inner worlds through non-verbal means.”
Expressive arts (including visual art, movement, music, writing, drama, and other creative processes) have been an integral part of life as a means for expression, connection and understanding. Engaging with art carries therapeutic benefits, reducing stress, anxiety, and depression, and promoting overall mental health.
Put simply, Art Therapy and Expressive Arts Therapy are mental health professions that use art to help people share and process feelings and memories that may otherwise be difficult to express.
Discovering, understanding and the releasing of these feelings can lay the foundations for enormous personal growth and emotional well-being. Art Therapy is not about being skilled at or learning to master the art forms used. The focus is on the process and experience, not the resulting work.
While Art Therapy focuses primarily on visual arts, Expressive Arts Therapy embraces a wider range of artistic expressions. Expressive arts therapists encourage clients to move fluidly between different artistic modalities, allowing for a more holistic exploration of their inner experiences. Both approaches help our beneficiaries access deeper levels of self-awareness and potential in solving their struggles.
Expressive Arts Therapy helps individuals deal with anxiety, depression, PTSD, and other mental health conditions while aiding in managing emotions and developing healthier coping strategies
The therapy facilitates healing from past traumas by allowing safe exploration of difficult experiences.
It supports recovery from physical disabilities through movement, body connection, and creativity incorporated into therapy
The therapy encourages self-awareness and interpersonal skills in group settings, while also assisting individuals in navigating major life changes such as loss, divorce, or career shifts
The Sovereign Art Foundation (SAF) has been running Make It Better (MIB), an expressive arts-led community outreach programme for children in Hong Kong, since 2013. The programme, which is designed to promote the wellbeing of children with special educational needs, is run by an expert team of registered Art and Expressive Arts Therapists and art facilitators who are experienced in working with young children. In addition, SAF has been funding arts-based therapeutic programmes for children internationally since 2003.
Click below to read about the international community arts programmes we support.
Associacão SAF, the Portuguese arm of The Sovereign Art Foundation, launched the Make It Better programme in 2021 to support disadvantaged children in Portugal. Click below to read about the programme.
