What is Color Therapy?

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What is Color Therapy?

March is National Color Therapy Month, a month dedicated to increasing awareness of the many benefits color therapy can offer a person. Color therapy has been around for ages, having been traced all the way back to the ancient Egyptians, who would use sun-filled rooms colored with glass to experience a therapeutic effect.

Color therapy has slowly been booming in popularity. However, many scientists and psychologists still find themselves feeling skeptical of the benefits this therapy has to offer. However, it is hard to deny the effects we all have felt from color in our own lives.

What is Color Therapy?

Have you ever heard about the effects certain colors can have on our mood, cognitive functioning, or ability to sleep? Color therapy utilizes the impacts color has on our mental health and emotional wellness in order to reduce symptoms of certain mental health struggles and increase feelings of peace and relaxation.

Color therapy is more commonly used as an alternative medicine, being much less commonly found in Western medicinal practices. The practice has its roots in Ayurvedic medicine, with followers believing that certain colors impact the balance within the body’s chakras.

How Does it Work?

Color therapy can use two different methods. The first method includes the use of sight. In this method, the patient will be asked to look at a color intended to help treat their ailment. The second method can be by reflecting certain colors of light on the patient’s body.

In color therapy, different colors are believed to have their own impact on a person. For example:

  • Red is believed to energize
  • Black is believed to encourage aggressive behavior
  • Blue is believed to increase alertness or encourage sleep
  • Green is believed to relieve stress and encourage relaxation
  • Yellow and orange have been associated with optimistic thinking and improved mood

The Benefits of Color Therapy

Color therapy has been suggested to help treat mental health ailments like:

  • Stress and anxiety
  • Depression
  • Low mood
  • Sleep disorders
  • Aggression

However, there have yet to be any significant findings in research supporting these claims. However, there have been some studies that suggest certain colors can have an effect on one’s mental health, providing benefits like:

  • Stress and anxiety relief. One study examined the effects of pink and blue color therapy. The study found significant reductions in anxiety when compared to the control group.
  • An energy boost. The color red has been suggested to have the potential to act as an energy-boosting stimulant.
  • Relieving symptoms of seasonal depression. Studies have suggested that different light therapies, such as blue, green, and white light therapies, can be beneficial in reducing the symptoms of seasonal affective disorder (SAD).

We Are Here for You

If you feel that your mental health has been struggling, we are here for you. Our highly skilled, passionate, and caring therapists will work to help determine the best plan to get you feeling better as quickly as possible.

References

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4383146/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10513100/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1754638/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1297510/

Keywords: color therapy, mental state, mental health, emotional wellness, therapist

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