Introduction
Art therapy in a psycho-educational group aimed at improving respect, and studying prejudices, has a personality-oriented character. The ideas of Carl Rogers are that people are constantly engaged in self-knowledge, even against their will, and the most important is how a person perceives his inner world (Corey, 2015). Self-awareness is best revealed in a social group; in other words, the unconscious will surface when a person interacts with others. Since this therapy aims to increase respect and destroy prejudices, the group was selected accordingly: it is represented by high school students of different sex, nationality, and social status.
The two most essential factors in building activities and relationships in a person-centered group are the qualities of the group leader and the type of activity itself. Empathy, agreement, and congruence are critical skills in the first case. They facilitate various mechanisms for the development of communication within the group, from memories to confrontation, openness, and behavior change (Corey, 2015). As for activities, it is necessary to select art therapy with an integrated approach, involving at least two sessions. Natalie Rogers cites as an example that creative people, before, for example, painting, play music and, perhaps, vice versa (Corey, 2015). Accordingly, the work after the manifestation of creativity and creativity will come from the depths of the unconscious, making a person more holistic.
Activities
As a result, it is possible to release hidden emotions in art therapy participants. For this, two possible activities that, according to Natalie Rogers, can transmit feelings to the outside world will be taken: listening to music and drawing (Corey, 2015). Dancing can be confusing for art therapy participants, especially if this is their first meeting. Listening to music and picture is less willing at the first stage to open movements and express emotions. In addition, thanks to such practices, according to Natalie Rogers, all the negative emotions that could be current among the participants for various reasons are released into creativity (Corey, 2015). As a result, high school students will approach the conversation and letters that follow the first stage of art therapy without unnecessary negative emotions that could be reflected in personal attitudes towards others.
Moreover, by channeling the flow of anger or other negative emotions into art, the participants move closer to self-knowledge. At the moment, a revelation can happen to them if they were previously unaware of this side of themselves. In these seconds, emotions are best opened, and this process contributes to integration into a social group (Corey, 2015). Since participants can experience this sensation to varying degrees, the effect of adaptation through conversations will gradually occur memories of the past, a gradual reduction in distance, and resistance to self-expression due to modesty and insecurity (Corey, 2015). Because the participants experienced similar emotions, the integration process will be accompanied by a sense of belonging, involvement, and community, furthering the original goal of mutual respect.
Conclusion
Finally, the final part of art therapy is a creative and creative writing task, where each participant writes a few lines to the other about what they saw good in a high school student. In this way, the group can develop a sense of positive observation that promotes a presumption of respect and inclusion in dating (Corey, 2015). As a result, everyone will receive several letters equal to the number of participants, and after that, the relationship of high school students will be recorded and compared with the state before the start of the first therapy by listening to music and drawing.
Reference
Corey, G. (2015). Theory and practice of group counseling. Cengage Learning.