Creativity is one of the most important skills in therapeutic practice, whatever the approach. From the Latin term creare, to make, and from the Greek krainen, to make, creativity is one of the skills that can be developed if exercised.
It is through the process of creativity that the individual, given the optimal conditions, creates a product considered new and valuable, a process that supposes the questioning that already exists.
Creativity is one of the basic processes developed by the human being since the mother-baby relationship, in which the individual has a natural tendency towards self-realization. However, along the way we can find and build barriers or psychological defenses that block the creative process.
Potentialities
Upon realizing his own potentialities, the individual assumes a range of possibilities through which he can fantasize and create, providing him with pleasure, expanding his capacity for expression (of thinking, smiling, crying, falling ill), which consequently affects his lifestyle. . (NASCIMENTO, 2004).
Through several creative steps, the individual goes through a process of several elaborations until reaching a final product that is appropriate to his reality and that makes sense to him.
Survival
Some psychologists report that creativity is indispensable for survival, for dealing with life. In this step by step, the individual acquires overcomes that produce new behaviors and, consequently, new situations, new visions in relation to a situation, conferring an existential value for him.
Characteristics
But it is necessary to respect the individual characteristics of each individual to be able to provide the best conditions for the expression of their creativity and the flow of their self-realization.
When the individual feels that he is in a safe environment to manifest himself as he is, he takes advantage of this freedom to learn by listening and behaving, starting to respond more appropriately to the stimuli received.
Threat
But in our society, creativity is often considered dangerous, because it gives the individual freedom to choose how he wants to live. Growth is feared for bringing responsibilities up to the mark, as well as the fear of excessive knowledge, whose reflections can take place in a melancholy way.
Phases
NASCIMENTO (2004) reports that there are five phases in the creative process:
- Apprehension: the individual realizes that there is a problem to be solved;
- Preparation: investigative phase in which the subject will think about the problem from different angles;
- Incubation: consequence of the preparation, where several conscious or unconscious hypotheses arise about the information obtained previously;
- Lighting: peak phase of creativity, where the idea can emerge in a state of relaxation or actively in daily life, clearly or through metaphors, allowing a greater relationship between the imagined and the thought idea;
- Verification: a conclusive stage, where the creator shapes his ideas and classifies them as feasible or not, that is, whether they can be put into practice or not.
Viewpoints
It is through the creative process that the individual changes his points of view, modifies perceptions, feelings, thoughts and behaviors, in addition to being able to contribute more from a professional point of view. Creativity within the therapeutic setting is anchored in the bond between therapist and client and is the cause of the results obtained in therapy.
Flexibility
It is through a creative eye that the therapist can adapt to the different languages and situations presented in his practice. It is also through it that it can intervene in a unique way for each subject, adapting the techniques used to the demand of each client.
So that your client has an expansion of his understanding and can create a new way of being closer to what he wants.
And you, the therapist, consider yourself a creative professional? Is creativity a technique in your therapeutic practice?
References
NASCIMENTO, S.M. Psychotherapy and creativity – reflections on the process of change in the clinic. CBT. UNICEUB. 2004.
SAKAMOTO, C. K. Psychological clinic: managing the setting and the creative potential. Bol. Psicol. 2011; 61 (135).