Human beings are pack animals and are not designed by temperament or physique to live "totally" on our own. We group together for safety and well-being. Our ability to attract and communicate with others is paramount to our very survival. How we do this, and our expectations with regard to how others will respond to us, is programmed into our behavioural/emotional loop during our earliest experiences. There is some evidence that this process actually begins in the womb before birth and that the unborn infant is aware of it's mother's emotional and physiological responses to it at the most primal time.

Human infants, at birth, are dependent upon their mother, father, or primary caregiver for food, warmth and many other things to survive. It is crucial to the infants that their caregivers be "good". The caregivers must love, feed, and protect the infants well. Further, the caregivers, to the infants, are huge, God-like figures. The realization that primary caregivers may be unreliable, hurtful, or hateful would indicate to the infants that their life is in jeopardy.

Because of this, should caregivers be less than good enough, infants (and this will extend through early childhood years as well as through life) will assume that any detriment is within themselves, that the parent must be good and right and their disturbing behaviour is the resultant of their own behaviour or even existence. The infants, and growing children, and even the adults they grow into, will try to modify their behaviour or even themselves to engage the caregivers' goodwill. They will modify or "interrupt" their natural "contact" to please the caregivers.

Children whose caregivers offer positive responses to them have room to grow, they will sense love and deduce that they are lovable. Children with hateful parents may believe, because that is what they see reflected in the caregivers' eyes, that the world will be better without them in it. It is usually the modifications that the children make, or the "interruption" of "contact" which manifest as emotional or mental illness, though some such illnesses may be caused by organic or physical factors. Therefore it is through awareness of how a person interrupts their contact with the world that we become aware of the distortion of underlying beliefs.

The modification or "interruption" can work several ways. Teachers scolding or physically abusing children may make them become unduly quiet (not only when these particular teachers are concerned but with all authority figures and institutions). Or they may become unduly active and noisy to attract attention of other teachers and authority figures. Children and adults who are told that they are superior, on the other hand, may develop delusions of grandeur. Modifications or interruptions may involve suppression or heightening of the person's reactions to the world and those s/he comes in contact with.

All of us modify or interrupt ourselves at times. No human is perfect and no one has a "perfect" upbringing. Even those of us with the most loving caregivers have learned to modify or interrupt ourselves at certain times and in relation to certain issues. It is through experimentation with new forms of contact (for example through the use of the arts) that the disturbed or the pathological patient may compare "ancient" infantile beliefs with active, current, "reality" and discover and understand these distortions themselves. Therefore contact experimentation through the arts offers all of us the opportunity to understand and express ourselves more fully. Therapy using the arts as a medium is a tool which may bring good health to those that are ill. It is also a tool to bring those in good health to greater health and fulfilment.

The balance within people is usually connected with how much their world make sense to them and how much they feel others that they are in contact with understand the sense they are making. All human beings go by their personal "worlds" containing structures, systems, and values that they believe to be acceptable. Some people feel that they are justified in taking violent actions in order to meet their goals. Obviously, a majority of the people do not agree with the sense that they are making. Contact and expression are keys that can help restore balance. It is through contact and expression that they can explore, express, and achieve balance. As all forms of art (music, literature, art, and theatre) require exploration, expression, and contact, by their very nature, they are the perfect venue for the kind of contact experimentation required to help a person attain or maintain balance.

It is important to note that certain changes take place intra-organismically within a person: such changes do not involve others. These changes help a person define parameters of their capabilities: physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. For example, people can estimate by looking at a huge stone whether they can lift it or not; they can judge whether certain behaviour, like throwing things, will be acceptable to those they love; they can decide whether a certain mathematical problem is within their capability to solve. Such an intra-organismic process allows them to observe and practice existing and new ideas and behaviours. It helps them explore and make sense of situations and emotions. Once they undergo the process, they can understand their feelings and form new courses of action or responses.

Using the arts to understand what they are feeling (a sample exercise can be draw a tree that is shaped like your anger or draw a picture of yourself as a house) helps expression, exploration, and proficiency. It motivates a person to discover or realize more specifically feelings and thoughts previously vague and hidden in them. What they feel about a large body of water may be influenced by an incident dating back to childhood: they may have been forced into a swimming pool.

While many changes take place intra-organismically, "others" can, in many ways, influence the changes that take place in a human being. The eternal relationship of the "reflection" of ourselves in another person enters the picture. The stakes are higher as is the tension level. There is resistance to types of encounter that the client finds unpleasant. There is interest in being involved in encounters that the client finds appealing. The client may see encounters in exaggerated forms and may be willing to take risky actions to avoid such encounters. For example, children may avoid going to school by pretending to be ill, running away from the school bus, and taking other actions because of homework that they have not done. Similarly, "others" can also have very positive impacts on the way people come to terms with the way that they have modified their contact.

Those that come in touch with people at risk can use the arts in positive ways to help them enjoy the process of self-exploration, expression of ideas, and understanding of how other people's worlds operate. Those that come in touch with people at risk may be their loved ones, organizations that are dealing with related issues, volunteers, and administrators. With proper understanding of the arts and those that they are in contact with, they can play an important role in helping them attain or maintain balance.

Since risky behaviour may be the result of the unexpressed self struggling to emerge, by giving them genuine means of expression, the internal pressure leading to risky behaviour may be reduced. Listening, performing, creating, and sharing are aspects that can help people at risk become aware of how their world makes sense to themselves and how others view the sense that they are making. Genuine expression of the real self in a "supportive" environment offers the opportunity for the client to receive a new, encouraging reflection from outside. Esteem, ego, and motivation increase. The client may feel a sense of comparative personal strength not experienced or recognized before. A form of expression different from his/her daily activities may offer escape from inhibitions and defence mechanisms deeply imbedded in customary expressive styles.

Therefore, it is important for individuals, organizations, and those who are at risk to involve themselves the arts in ways that help them explore, express, and understand their "world". As has been said before in this article, all forms of art (music, literature, art, and theatre) require exploration, expression, and contact; by their very nature, the arts are the perfect venue for the kind of contact experimentation required to help a person attain balance. The arts are a medium that can help those in need achieve better equilibrium and they are a means that help each of us attain greater fulfilment.