The healing power of art

Hyderabad: Art is not just a hobby but a tool to express emotions that lie buried, says Saher Ali, a holistic psychologist and Gestalt practitioner based in Hyderabad. Unlike the usual one-on-one therapy sessions on the couch, Saher’s Totums Art Studio at Somajiguda is a vibrant place that welcomes one with bottles, canvas and walls […]

Hyderabad: Art is not just a hobby but a tool to express emotions that lie buried, says Saher Ali, a holistic psychologist and Gestalt practitioner based in Hyderabad.

Unlike the usual one-on-one therapy sessions on the couch, Saher’s Totums Art Studio at Somajiguda is a vibrant place that welcomes one with bottles, canvas and walls painted by her clients. With her practice crossing 20 years now, Saher believes psychotherapy requires support of alternative forms of healing.

On why she chose art therapy, Saher says she found her solace in painting. She started painting 10 years ago in an attempt to cope up with her father’s demise and found painting heals her. It was then that she decided to integrate art into her process.

“When you are using art, there’s a heightened state of self-awareness which facilitates introspection,” she says, adding that being judgmental was not a part of her process.

Saher believes that it is important to be in touch with one’s creative energy, be it painting, gardening, singing, dancing and more to connect with one’s inner self so that it makes the healing process easier.

“Becoming self-aware makes it much easier to understand and accept oneself. Acceptance, after all, is the key to healing,” she says.

Through art, Saher uses Gestalt principles — a form of psychotherapy that is centered on increasing a person’s awareness, freedom, and self-direction focusing on the present moment rather than past experiences, helping one establish a mind-body connection through heightened self-awareness and sensorial connection with one’s own breath.

Art therapy, according to Saher, has helped to eliminate the stigma around the term ‘counselling.’

“”My first priority as a therapist is the comfort of my clients. I want them to feel welcome here. I’m very aware of the stigma associated with mental health, which is why I call my counselling centre a ”studio,” but when people discovered that I was using art as a medium in my practice, my clients more than doubled,” she says.

The therapist, who currently provides individual and family counselling at her studio, also works as a counselling psychologist at Nalsar University of Law in Hyderabad and at Stork Home, Fernandez Hospital.