Drawing people and houses is one of the common ways to perform pediatric psychiatric assessments, helping diagnose emotional, behavioral, or developmental problems found in children. 

Many experts have used such techniques to observe a child or a patient’s mental health, especially when the client has difficulty expressing themselves using words. 

This means art psychotherapy can be applied when a person is facing difficulties in vocally expressing one's condition or emotions in detail.

According to BKK-Kids, a Thailand-based education company, Art therapy is a hybrid field influenced by the creative process of art and the attributes of psychology.

It may sound complex but the logic is quite simple.

A child is given a limited time to complete a drawing while following a simple rule, such as drawing a house, people, or surroundings. 

Then, the child answers questions regarding the drawn outcome, such as, “who’s house is this?” or “do you wish to live here?” Questions are asked to assess the patients’ conditions.

Many art therapy practitioners believe that one piece of paper brings a deeper understanding of a client’s emotional, cognitive, physiological, and social involvement, better revealing their current state of mind.

However, many questions may arise because not everyone is a great painter. 

Some may find it more difficult to sketch their minds with utensils and would rather choose to talk.

Some may even question the accuracy of art therapy.

In an interview hosted by ‘Saramdeul™’, Jiyeon Park, who has worked as an art therapist since 2010, explains, “painting and making is an activity that allows you to interact with a psychotherapist”.

She started the interview by emphasizing that art therapy is an activity to assess a child, not a session to heal and cure someone. 

However she further noted, “we can talk together while looking at what the child made or drew, and most children feel quite fulfilled to complete a drawing over a constructive conversation to share their emotions, then we look [to] strategically find a cure”.

Art therapy enables children to engage by showing and telling the things they drew. "I made this" and "I know how to do it" is what you want to hear to open a genuine communication with the child. 

In the book, Art Therapy and the Neuroscience of Relationships, Creativity, and Resiliency, renowned psychologist Noah Hass-Cohen states, “of all senses, sight prevails, and therefore, the power of visual stimulation shakes us vigorously.”

He further noted that art therapy should not only be used for assessment, people must learn different techniques to express their emotions and diverse drawing techniques.

It all comes down to making a bright future for the children. 

There are countless professionals and organizations persistently searching for better solutions to cure people’s emotional hardships. 

Art therapy is not the most well-known solution for psychiatric treatment, but its value is definitely worth a closer look. 

It may not be the best solution to cure people, but if it is more known and applied to the primary level of daily education, wouldn't it be possible to avoid neglecting emotionally difficult people?

Especially after the COVID-19 pandemic, there is sincere hope that the more these good impacts join forces, the more people can get out of their personal constraints.  

The world is hurt, and our pains and sufferings have prolonged for too long. 

As the professionals advise, we can start from notes and scribbles; not everyone is Dali and Picasso. 

Let us not hold onto our emotional grudges and let them eventually grow to become sorrow and pain.         

Jinsol Eunice Lee

Grade 12

ACS International (Singapore)