Art Therapy...wha?

I must admit- when Tessa Graf from Aperion started talking about art therapy, I wanted to tune out. I am not an artist and I don't really enjoy drawing. According to Graf, art therapy can be very therapeutic and can significantly reduce stress levels, regardless of the type of art. She research studies done with art creation and also psychotherapy- where the patient interprets a previously made piece. She even looked at women in textiles, who created sewn or knitted "works of art.". In all these studies, stress was significantly reduced in all settings. Art therapy can even be used by people with physical disabilities, such as vision or hearing problems.

As I researched what to write about for this post, I realized that art therapy can be a wide range of things. On the LifeHack website, I found the post 20 Art Therapy Activities You Can Try At Home to DeStress. This post outlines 20 different ways to incorporate art therapy in your own life- from things like designing a post card and using magnetic words for poetry, to gardening and redecorating a room (which I LOVE).

I also love photography, which I think could definitely be considered a form of art therapy. It calms me and creates a sense of peace in my life when I can look at nature or beautiful things and capture it on my camera. It is therapeutic for me and I want to start intentionally devoting time to photography.

How do you use art therapy in a college setting to reduce your stress? Read the article above and tell me your favorite activities!

I took this picture on my mission trip to Honduras. It was
 a huge fruit stand on the side of the road. We stopped on our
6-hour drive into the mountains. Adventure!