On The Healing Function Of Art

Art has the healing power and has been connected with the human body, mind and spirit since it was born. However, almost of all existing researches on functions of art ignore the aspect of healing, demonstrated by lacking of systematic and comprehensive discuss. Aiming at this problem, methodologies comprising of interdisciplinary, literature and qualitative research are used to sort out and analyze previous findings on healing functions of art, which are scattered in art history, art theory research, education, psychology, physiology, anthropology and other disciplines. In addition, three case studies are taken to verify healing functions of art.In this thesis, the theoretical basis, main characteristics and application status of art therapy healing function are respectively carried out to make comprehensive study combined with the verification of actual cases. At last, we get following understandings:(1) Brain lateralization and characteristics of cerebral cortex in response to the image stimulus are physiological foundations; psychology schools with people’s self-fulfillment function as the core foundation are psychological foundations; art historians, neurology, psychiatry, anthropology and other related subjects provide a broader theoretical basis for healing capabilities of art.(2)Mechanisms of art healing function include such three levels as imagery, self-exploration and integration of mental and physics; main ways to achieve healing process are creating, inspecting, appreciating and being nurtured by art; the effects are reflected in the mental, physical and spiritual level; holding comparable advantages to speech therapy.(3) The United States and Europe have the art of healing features to a number of industries, but domestic has just recognized the importance of the urgent need to develop.In the people-oriented modern society, human health problems have become increasingly prominent, and the value of healing function of art will be manifest in wider areas. A systemic research about healing function of art is a valuable exploration for the popularization of art therapy in China.