Introduction
Hello and welcome! 😊 This LibGuide goes over the benefits of art and creativity on mindfulness and mental health. Mental health remains a major issue in the US: researchers found that 44% of teens experienced persistent thoughts of sadness or helplessness during the pandemic (Jones et al., 2022). Meanwhile, 12.5% of US adults have persistent feelings of anxiety (FastStats, n.d.). This shows that many people can have difficulty dealing with the stress of everyday life. Luckily, mindfulness based art therapy has been shown to have lasting benefits on mental health and healthy habit building to combat stress (Beerse et al., 2019). Many therapeutic art practices can be done with accessible supplies and are easy for beginners to get started, no matter your experience or skill level with art.
Using This Guide
LibGuides are tools that librarians use to share information and manage content. This guide is appropriate for teens and adults who may feel overwhelmed, isolated, or are struggling with stress, and want to look towards art and creativity to help make it through life's challenges. It is not intended to replace a licensed therapist, but rather to empower you to use your creativity to cope with these problems. This guide will deepen your understanding of mindfulness, art, and mental health.
The guide can be used to find resources for your personal use or to help with research for school on topics such as art therapy, meditation, and psychology. It is a comprehensive guide that includes sources such as academic papers, articles, books, videos, databases, websites, and search strategies. You can use the navigation menu on the side (on desktop) or on top of the page (on mobile) to browse the pages of this guide.
"Art Therapy" by thart2009 is licensed under CC BY 2.0.