Art therapy is often insight-oriented

I am not sure if the presenter you described was an art therapist, but the presentation you described sounds contains elements present in most art therapy. Art therapy is often insight-oriented.

I personally work mainly with women survivors of childhood sexual abuse: we work on expressing and managing feelings and post-traumatic effects, debriefing traumatic incidents, and improving present day functioning and relationships, much as a primarily verbal therapist would. Verbal processing generally takes about half the session time.

In terms of incorporating art into your therapeutic work, it is necessary to have graduate-level (masters or equivalent) training specifically in art therapy to ethically describe what you do as art therapy. That said, if a client brings in their art to you and you wish to discuss it with her/him, or you wish to provide art materials for use as another mode of expression in the sessions, I suggest you let the client tell you about the art and what it means to her/him. It is important not to interpret the art for the client, but to let the client interpret what the art represents and means. This is mainly to respect cultural and personal variations in symbolic meaning, but is also important in preserving a climate that is open to whatever the client wishes to express.

Thanks for your response, Sophia Kelly

Replies:

A Rose by any Other Name . . . ., by Carol Shauger, 7/4/96 Art Therapy Guidelines, by Sophia Kelly, 7/6/96 london art therapy internship sought, by f, 11/18/96 Need information on internship, by judy capote, 10/5/97

| Behavior OnLine Home Page | Disclaimer |

Copyright © 1996-2004 Behavior OnLine, Inc. All rights reserved.