Neuroscience continues to provide an ever-widening understanding of how the brain and body react to stress, trauma, illness, and other events. It is also central to understanding how images influence emotions, thoughts, and well-being, and how the visual, sensory, and expressive language of art are best integrated into treatment or teaching.
According to art therapists, Art is not only a nonverbal communication; it has also the potential for healing. The positive enjoyment found in creative activities, such as acting, drawing, ceramics, and others — if experienced regularly — can improve one’s mood in a fashion similar to the way an effective antidepressant results in chemical changes in the brain.
Dr. Taj Kachaamy’s most interesting activity introduced art application as a healing therapy for finding joy in everyday life. She explained how the brain reacts to certain stimuli and how these reactions affect and change one’s overall mood. She emphasized the fact that continuous and regular applications of art may act as stimuli to send “happy” messages to the brain in the same way that an antidepressant sends chemicals to the brain.
Kachaamy was born in 1974 in Lebanon. She has a B.A. in Graphic Design from NDU, an M.A. in Graphic Design and Visual Communication from the Lebanese University, and a Ph.D. in Art from the Lebanese University. She is currently pursuing another M.A. in Animation at the Holy Spirit University (USEK) and an MBA in Film Producing at the John Paul the Great Catholic University in California, USA. Kachaamy has a diploma in Spiritual Accompaniment from Saint Joseph University (USJ), and has completed trainings in Relational Needs, Healing Wounds, and Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP). She currently teaches at LIU and MUBS. For more information about her lecture, please contact us at benedict.chair@ndu.edu.lb.