What Are the Three Elements of Art Therapy in Austin, TX?

Artists often speak of their work in terms of formal elements…those would be line, shape, form, space, value, color, and texture (and some artists would add movement to this mix).  Formal elements are the building blocks or DNA of all visual art forms, and understanding a work of art in terms of its formal elements allows for analysis and appreciation of the artist’s work.

But are the formal elements the same thing as elements of art therapy?  Nope.

An Art Therapist in Austin, TX is Trained to Understand the Formal Elements

While it’s true that all art therapists have a background in studio art (this is a prerequisite for getting into a graduate art therapy program in the U.S.), the formal elements of visual art are not the same thing as elements that combine simultaneously to create the experience of art therapy.

So what are these elements?

The Three Elements of Art Therapy in Austin, TX are Relational

Generally speaking, the three elements of art therapy pertain to relationships among the entities that are present in the art therapy session.  Those entities would be the art therapist, the client, and the client’s art process/art products.

An Art Therapist has to Monitor the Three Elements of Art Therapy

In talk therapy, there are really only two entities present: the therapist and the client.  But during art therapy in Austin, TX, the art process and resulting art products carry their own energy.  They exist outside the physical person of the client, though they typically come from the client (not always—sometimes the art therapist models or demonstrates for the client, and sometimes the art therapist and the client engage in creative endeavors together; it depends on the client’s needs and treatment goals as well as on the setting where the treatment takes place).

In any given art therapy session, the relationship between the art therapist and the client has an energy that needs to be considered, and then there’s the relationship between the client and their art process and products.

The art therapist has to be aware of the dynamics in that relationship as the client externalizes what’s inside and then engages with it.  But the art therapist also has to monitor their own relationship to the client’s art process and products.

An Art Therapist in Austin, TX has to Self-monitor

Why?  Because in the absence of self-monitoring, the art therapist would be prone to judging what they see coming from the client.  Things along the lines of liking or disliking—which are normal human responses—are subjective ways of evaluating a client’s art process and/or products.

And subjective evaluation is not what any client seeks or needs from an art therapist.  Being judged for the aesthetic value of one’s creative output is not part of art therapy, and art therapy graduate students are trained to refrain from doing this so they can see objective data emerge from the client instead.

This objective data will naturally include the formal elements of visual art, and an art therapist in Austin, TX is educated to observe these for indicators of physical, emotional, and intellectual functioning.

Monitoring the Three Elements of Art Therapy Promotes Relational Responsiveness  

So there you have it—the three elements of art therapy include the art therapist, the client, and the art process and products, and the formal elements of visual art are involved as well.  More specifically, the relationships among the art therapist, the client, and the art process and products constitute three elements that are constantly evolving and need to be monitored by the art therapist for optimally appropriate responsiveness in art therapy.

This is true whether the client is seeking art therapy in Austin, TX for anxiety treatment, trauma treatment, or treatment for anything in-between.

Get a Free Art Therapy Consultation for a Relational Approach to Healing and Wellness  

Are you looking for an art therapist to help you externalize what’s inside so you can engage with it differently and create a different outcome?  I provide online art therapy for adults in Texas, Indiana, and Arizona, and I would love to help you improve your relationship with the energy you’re carrying.

I specialize in supporting people who experience anxiety, attachment issues, burnout, depression, grief or loss, self-esteem issues, spirituality issues, and trauma.  Please contact me to schedule a free phone consultation; we’ll explore the outcome you want to create and how my relational approach to art therapy in Austin, TX can help you create it.