LAHORE, July 3: The Kinnaird College is introducing a one-month “Art Therapy” short summer course to impart skills to students and women and enable them to become an effective citizen of society.

Asim Amjad, an art therapist and psychodramatist, will be coaching students and women art therapy course that is new for any educational institution in the country. Technically, the course is called “Psychological communication through art and drama”.

The course being launched under KC’s Programme for Women Improvement has been designed by Mr Amjad himself. It will be attended by the students studying psychology, social work and fine arts as well as common womenfolk.

Mr Amjad has practiced art therapy and art drama at Fountain House for almost eight years ago that triggered creation of an Art and Drama Therapy Unit in 2007. He was also conducting individual and group sessions as a professional psychologist.

Talking to Dawn, Mr Amjad said he had conducted a qualitative research spanning over a decade that how different psycho-therapeutic techniques could be derived through painting, drama, story-writing and music.

“I want to bring forth art as a therapeutic force,” he said.

Stating that he was writing a book on techniques of art therapy, Mr Amjad said he had conducted a series of lectures in various academic departments of the Punjab University. He said he shared his research with the International Expressive Art Therapy Association, California, which offered him associate membership.

Mr Amjad, who is a member of the Pakistan National Council of Arts and the Artists Association of Punjab, said a regular course of art therapy would be launched for evening students at the Kinnaird College in near future.