Art therapy as a tool in youth work

Abstract

The title of the project holds the key to what the journey that we are about to embark on is all about. In recent world tragic events, the media showed how children were guided by psychologists and art therapists to face and perhaps understand their feelings about what they had tragically experienced by asking them to draw pictures. Many of these pictures were shown on television and on the internet. Art Therapy exists in Malta too. There are various organisations and agencies in Malta that see to the various problems that young people are facing today. Often young people look for counselling from professionals; but most of them ask for advice from friends or simply follow the trends in what society has to offer to help them face and solve their problems. The project looks at 'Art Therapy' as a tool in Youth Work. The drawings will show how art therapy can be used as a medium that offers solutions to one's problems through self-expression. The exercise sought to highlight how Art Therapy can be used to reveal the reality behind a very important social issue: the many problems related to peer pressure which causes clashes between young people and their parents. What results from the art sessions are: how effective 'art therapy' is, and how relevant it is to help youth take a look at their inner-self by using Art Therapy.