Art Therapy
Art Therapy
Art Therapy
Therapy
Elinor Ulman
e-Book 2016 International Psychotherapy Institute
From The Psychotherapy Guidebook edited by Richie Herink and Paul R. Herink
DEFINITION
HISTORY
TECHNIQUE
APPLICATIONS
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Art Therapy
Elinor Ulman
DEFINITION
problems. At the other end of the spectrum, therapy is derived from the
artistic process itself. Its usefulness depends on the age-old power of the arts
to reconcile conflicting forces within the individual and between the
Basic to the art therapists work in all its variations is the use of
expression in the visual arts as a bridge between the individuals inner and
outer experience.
HISTORY
The term Art Therapy was originated in 1942 by Adrian Hill, a British
artist and teacher who started his therapeutic work with his fellow patients in
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a tuberculosis sanatorium. In the United States, Margaret Naumburg was the
foremost pioneer in the field; she began to work in the early 1940s at the New
to theory while Bender, in her work with autistic children, was among the
first to put art to therapeutic use. In Europe, Lombroso, Simon, and Prinzhorn,
with their early investigations into the art of mental hospital patients, were
important precursors.
and to some extent was related to, the rising influence of psychoanalysis on
TECHNIQUE
limited to those that produce effects quickly and without the need for a great
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value, the complete development of expressive art products is not
emphasized.
associations and formulations playing a large part. Provided that the therapist
about significant people to the therapist) may be encouraged and its handling
then becomes an important element in treatment (Naumburg, 1966).
and depth are as fully realized as the individuals capacities permit. Art
materials are selected on the basis of their suitability for this purpose in the
latent as well as the manifest messages contained in the art and to help clients
Art Therapy of this kind does not stand alone as an agent of profound
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symbolic experience, where new attitudes may be tried out, gains deepened
and made an integral part of the person (Kramer, 1971).
There are many variations on these two basic technical approaches. For
example, clients are sometimes asked to collaborate in conducting a
APPLICATIONS
Art therapists have found a place not only in all kinds of psychiatric
centers) but also in private practice. In addition, Art Therapy is used in many
prisons, and centers devoted to enriching the lives of people without any
recognized psychiatric problems.
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psychological assessment, the training of members of other
psychotherapeutic disciplines, intensive individual psychotherapy, formal
Group Art Therapy where art productions serve as a springboard for group
family groups, and adjunctive therapy with patients seen in informal groups.
Because the art product inevitably bears the stamp of its creator, Art
Therapy cannot help impinging on the territory of psychotherapy and
Therapy and other uses of art materials are inevitably blurred. Recreation
and rehabilitation programs use art activity to serve purposes other than
them.
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