Freewriting on Art Therapy

Most of the time when one thinks of art therapy, it is either a small and insignificant thought of a rather useless concept for money and time to be spent on, or confusion and lack of understanding on what exactly it is. Most do not consider the deep psychological insight and workings behind the scenes of using art as a means of therapy. Most do not see the help it provides in many different types of issues, whether children or adults. What I would like to accomplish with this paper is a better understanding of art therapy and to boost its small town status into one of other therapy sources, such as counseling. I can achieve this through providing insight on the different psychological methods used and also the difference art therapy has made in a variety of people.

                The sources I have found provide me with an ethos, information on the psychological side of art therapy, and plenty of examples and stories about lives it has changed. Three of my sources provide ethos, because they are legitimate books, and also a large amount of research material on explanations behind art therapy and the brain. This kind of information will help me better understand art therapy and be able to write and be descriptive with proper knowledge on my subject. I also have on source from the American Art Therapy Association, which will also provide a major ethos effect, and can lead me into writing on the different types of art therapy and how it works as an organization through different groups. Having all these books and formal websites as sources might be hard to comprehend, so I do have another source to help me get a better general understanding through simple terms. Also provided by this source is a look into the different issues art therapy has helped and why, which can lead into my writing on examples of lives being changed and people being helped. I could definitely use more simple sources to help me understand and connect with the more complicated ones, such as the books.

                I expect a lot of problems understanding, explaining, and describing the psychological side of art therapy in ways that are not too complicated or flow easily. My plan to overcome this is to look deep into my sources and spend a lot of time learning about art therapy as a concept instead of looking at what sentences make sense to me and seem simple enough to include in my paper. I want to be able to discuss it like a subject I understand and not one I am completely using my sources to explain for me. I also expect problems from using too many personal examples that will make my paper less informational and more of a story to persuade. To avoid this I will have to pick and choose what I will say about the people it has helped and get peer review to make sure that what I have chosen works well.

Sources for Art Therapy

• http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/07421656.2004.10129496 - This article can help contribute the more anatomical side of the argument I am making. It gives explanations and facts I can use about the connections between art therapy and the brain. Also, it gives me tips on how art therapists use this knowledge to teach.

• http://www.americanarttherapyassociation.org/aata-history-background.html - This article gives me more information about the history and background of art therapy and simple facts about why it works. It also gives my paper ethos because it's from the American Art Therapy Association. It also clearly defines art therapy and can help me understand and portray the concept better. 

• http://www.arttherapyblog.com/what-is-art-therapy/ -This looks like it's going to be my favorite and most used link, there's links all down the side that take me to more specific examples of art therapy and certain things it helps. It gives me another definition and is also simple and not too medical or complicated. One more thing this article contributes is the different angles to look at and consider for my paper.

• http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=kTYI3nzRgLUC&oi=fnd&pg=PR9&dq=art+therapy&ots=6Ire1X1GXn&sig=jes2UEGDtfhzjNPULuKSKG10QNI#v=onepage&q&f=false - This book is a TON of information so there's plenty for me to use. Also, it's more for me to look into and find out more about my subject. It's fairly simple and can provide a lot of random facts and more information to go along with whatever angles I decide to take. 

• http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/13632752.2011.545649 - This article I found through the Clemson Library search and may not be one I use as much, but still provides a lot of information that will help me get a better understanding of art therapy and it's effects. It will also gives me facts and examples to include.

Research Paper Topics

Art Therapy: Art therapy would be a good topic because there's psychological reasoning behind it to analyze and discuss and being a Visual Arts major, I find it intriguing. One thing i'd like to argue about this topic is that it should be more respected and understood as a means of therapy because of how many people it's reached and helped. 

The Holocaust: This topic has always been a strong interest of mine and there is plenty to dig into and write a paper on. An argument to make for the Holocaust is that it should be more frequently used in school curriculum because of it's major historical significance and how deep into history it's roots run. 

Was last night really worth it?

     This anti-drinking advertisement effectively utilizes the rhetorical strategies ethos, logos, and pathos to reveal a strong, solid message to the viewer. Ethos is displayed through including a logo to demonstrate credibility and valid reasoning. Logos is brought into play by the male figure, contrasting the main person of interest. Serving as the most substantial strategy, the use of pathos enabled the photograph to bring emotion to the viewer and contribute to the message being sent.This is all done through the woman curled into the fetal position, eyes cast downward, consumed by a shot glass.

Ads I might use?

Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty.

       Dove's campaign for real beauty presents not only an effectively innovative and new method of advertisement, versus most product ads of that nature, but also an opportunity for much needed change in society. The fact that little girls are considering their body images to the extent of hating parts of themselves most would see as darling, is overwhelming. Kids need time to be kids, not worry about their tummies or freckles, and that's only where it begins.
       Most companies used the same types of advertisement methods, although it seems to vary because products vary. For example, everyone knows that sex sells. Whether it is a new fashion line or a an online website, the spokesperson for such ad is more likely to be an attractive and appealing individual. In the advertisement world Dove faced, most products revolved around having sexy, appealing, and unrealistically "beautiful" models sell them. In completely switching this idea around into the opposite perspective for the viewer by using realistic women and portraying them is obtaining "real beauty", a new direction was born. This new direction enables Dove to display their products with a self esteem boosting aspect and also a rebel-like quality that people crave. This is me, this is who I am, so deal with it.
       This inspired movement to reveal real beauty through Dove and the media stands strong as a beginning to a progressive and benevolent change in the world of women who struggle in this warped society of beauty being one thing, and also the most important thing. Anne Becker, the Harvard psychiatrist, discovered that in Fiji 11.9 % of adolescent girls were developing eating disorders after only three years after the establishment of television in those parts. This fact in itself sends out a clear message of the destruction the media can do on self esteem and body image and also the necessity for change. Through advertising with realistic women who display happiness and acceptance with who they are and how their appearance stands, Dove had created a method of changing viewpoints of beauty and boosting self esteem for not only young girls, but adults as well. 

Rihanna is quite a beauty.

In this Covergirl ad the celebrity Rihanna is used to carry out the rhetorical strategies ethos and logos. Ethos in how she empowers the make up by being well known as a beautiful, sexy, seductive public figure and logos in the idea implied, "If Rihanna is beautiful because of Covergirl then I can also be beautiful because of Covergirl.