Art therapy is more effective than traditional therapy

Question

This article contrasts the difference between art and traditional therapy. While traditional therapy has been continuously more popular, art therapy invites a new concept of being able to express oneself nonverbally and creatively. Traditional therapy allows more of a therapeutic relationship between the counselor and the client. With these differences in mind, which is more effective?

Comments

From my findings this claim is very individualized because both traditional and art therapies have different strengths so they really cannot be compared. What may be good for one client could be totally wrong for another because everyone copes differently. Furthermore, patients might just be flat out unwilling to participate in activities such as art or music as a form of therapy. So overall this claim could be true for one person but very wrong for another because everyone grieves and copes in different ways. However, art therapy may be a great outlet for people who do not like a traditional therapy environment. Even the Davenport Creative Art Therapy Center, which was linked in the claim, cannot claim art therapy is more effective than traditional therapies simply because everyone is different. I have linked other articles below that lists what art therapy is and benefits of both therapies.

https://buffalohealthyliving.com/art-therapy-an-alternative-to-traditional-talk-therapy/

https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED505742.pdf

Answer 1

This is subjective and can't be proven true of false. Art therapy is a proven form of therapy, according to the Lukin Center for Psychotherapy and the National Library of Medicine. According to the National Library of Medicine, art therapy is "a non-pharmacological medical complementary and alternative therapy, [which] has been used as one of medical interventions with good clinical effects on mental disorders." The article clarifies that art therapy has been used to reduce suffering of patients with mental disorders such as depression disorders and anxiety, cognitive impairment and dementias, Alzheimer’s disease, schizophrenia, and autism. 

The claim above that art therapy being better than traditional therapy cannot be generalized to the entire population, as everyone has different therapeutic needs and everyone's brains work differently. Someone who experienced severe trauma may find art therapy more effective than traditional therapy but someone who benefits from verbal communication may not find it effective. The article cited to make that claim is from Creative Arts Therapy, an art therapy organization. While this could lead to some bias, as the company specializes in art therapy, the article linked above which leads to their blog actually compares the benefits of both traditional therapy and art therapy and explains who might benefit from art therapy and who from traditional therapy. No where in the article does it state that art therapy is more effective than traditional therapy.

https://www.davenportcreativeartstherapy.com/blog/art-therapy-vs-traditional-therapy

 https://www.lukincenter.com/unmasking-the-truth-demystifying-clinical-art-therapy-and-its-benefits/

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8397377/

Answer 2

The comparison of art therapy to traditional talk therapy is noted across many sources throughout the internet. However, due to the individuality of therapy, there can be no concrete conclusion on what is better in general, because different strategies work better for different people with different experiences. Both of the articles I have linked below along with the article that was originally linked in the post explain the differences between traditional therapy and the emerging forms of art therapy, but none of these articles ever state that it is generally more effective for people. They simply share an alternative option for people uncomfortable with traditional therapy.

https://www.communicatingpsychologicalscience.com/blog/art-therapy-an-alternative-to-traditional-treatment

https://buffalohealthyliving.com/art-therapy-an-alternative-to-traditional-talk-therapy/

Answer 3

A claim of one form of therapy being better than another simply can't be right or wrong or true or false. What works best for one individual is not bound to be the best option for another so no definitive claim can be made. Other articles that talk about one form or the other don't go to make such bold claims of one being the end-all be-all answer, it all comes down to every individual, their needs and likely their reason for going to therapy in the first place. Other articles that I have visited don't provide concrete evidence of either form of therapy being more effective or beneficial than the other, they instead provide comparisons or descriptions of different forms of therapy which can let the individual decide what is best for them. When a site is for an art therapy organization, there are always chances of biases or the use of framing to make one way sound better than the other and make the receiver possibly think there is a more effective method but this is ultimately something that cannot be true or false as it comes down to one's personal preference and needs.

https://www.communicatingpsychologicalscience.com/blog/art-therapy-an-alternative-to-traditional-treatment

https://wellpointcare.org/media-and-events/blog-stories/art-therapy-proven-to-be-successful-alternative-to-traditional-talk-therapy

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8397377/