The Wiley Handbook of Art Therapy

David E. Gussak, Marcia L. Rosal, David E. Gussak, Marcia L. Rosal

• Verlag: Wiley-Blackwell
• Jahr: 2015
• ISBN:
  9781118306581
• Auflage: 1
• Thema: Psychologie
• Thema: Psychologie clinique

The Wiley Handbook of Art Therapy is a collection of original, internationally diverse essays, that provides unsurpassed breadth and depth of coverage of the subject.

• The most comprehensive art therapy book in the field, exploring a wide range of themes
• A unique collection of the current and innovative clinical, theoretical and research approaches in the field
• Cutting-edge in its content, the handbook includes the very latest trends in the subject, and in-depth accounts of the advances in the art therapy arena
• Edited by two highly renowned and respected academics in the field, with a stellar list of global contributors, including Judy Rubin, Vija Lusebrink, Selma Ciornai, Maria d' Ella and Jill Westwood
• Part of the Wiley Handbooks in Clinical Psychology series

Part I
Historical and Theoretical Frameworks

Introduction

Since the inception of the profession, art therapists have debated the basic tenets of how art therapy works and pondered on the therapeutic value of art processes. As stated in the introduction of this handbook, two perspectives formed the basis of art therapy in the mid-twentieth century. Through the decades, other theoretical orientations have advanced the knowledge base of the profession. Deeper analysis and broader experiences have even led to revisions of the two original viewpoints. The steady progression from our historical roots to the numerous current theoretical models practiced today reveals professionals who value intellectual curiosity and who rarely settle for easy answers. The field simultaneously fragments and becomes stronger through examinations of these various theoretical foci. This section presents a sample of the historical and theoretical frameworks upon which our profession has been built.

A historical overview is essential for a reader to put the theories examined in this section in context. M. Junge provides a foundation for examining art therapy theory through her analysis of the history of art therapy. Wilson also finds history to be vital to the practice of art therapy, but on a micro level. In her chapter titled Psychoanalytic Study of Artists and Their Art: Its Relevance for Art Therapists, Wilson posits that uncovering a client’s personal history informs her work. Through what she terms psychobiography, psychoanalytic understanding of a person and his or her art is vital to the practice of art therapy.

Rubin’s chapter, Psychoanalytic Art Therapy, explores the foundational psychodynamic perspective and its incarnations as the field advanced through the twentieth and into the twenty-first century. In Archetypal Art Therapy, Abbenante and Wix re-introduce archetypal thinkers Hillman, Watkins, and McConeghy, and explore how archetypes can be used in art therapy. These authors rely on the structure and content of the image to inform practice. Archetypal practice embodies the notion that “… the image is core to archetypal art therapy’s commitment to art’s primacy in art therapy.”

Ciornai’s chapter, Gestalt Art Therapy: A Path to Consciousness Expansion, provides the philosophical, theoretical, and methodological foundation of the Gestalt model. Drawing upon authors such as Arnheim, Rhyne, and Gombrich, Ciornai focuses on the primary goal of Gestalt work: “consciousness expansion through the use of creative and artistic resources.”

Lusebrink’s chapter, Expressive Therapies Continuum, outlines an interactionist model of art therapy that informs the therapist’s understanding of the interactions between the artist, the art medium and its process, and the product. Lusebrink revisits this relationship and re-examines the ETC model in this chapter.

Next, Rosal explores cognitive behavioral theoretical perspectives through her chapter Cognitive Behavioral Art Therapy Revisited. She discusses early cognitive behavioral art therapy (CBAT) thinkers and examines how this theory is used in practice today. King provides information about how brain science is impacting the practice of art therapy in her chapter titled Art Therapy: A Brain-based Profession. In the chapter, King argues:

The fields of art therapy and neuroscience are inextricably linked—akin to the consciousness and unconsciousness, mind and body, limbic system and cerebral cortex. Applying art therapy theory, treatment, and research within a neuroscience framework is necessary, and as expansive and limitless as the mind itself.

In Positive Art Therapy, Isis argues that art and art therapy, when used correctly, can contribute to life experiences and to well-being through mindfulness and art-making. In his chapter Essence, Art, and Therapy: A Transpersonal View, Franklin reminds the reader that “transpersonal” refers to “moving through or beyond the personal.” His chapter explores the intersection where spirituality, creativity, and psychology meet to help facilitate a person’s well-being.

The last two chapters espouse diverse practices and perspectives to inform the practitioner. Moon argues in her contribution, Open Studio Approach to Art Therapy, that when allowing free and open expression in a studio environment, the focus is on health rather than pathology, is less hierarchical, and more dynamic. Moon emphasizes both the art-making process and the product.

Lastly, in the chapter titled An Eclectic Approach to Art Therapy—Revisited, Wadeson revisits the chapter she wrote for Rubin’s 2001 volume Approaches to Art Therapy. Wadeson expands on her philosophy that any number of theories can be applied by an effective clinician. She encourages clinicians to encompass and to be open to all theoretical perspectives. She concentrates on how the eclectic approach contributes to contemporary issues such as trauma-based treatment, community mental health, and working from a multicultural perspective.

Together, these chapters form a foundation, a scaffold upon which all the following sections are built. Art therapists are guided by these important theories. The practice of art therapy would not be as robust without these rich and varied perspectives.

1
History of Art Therapy

Maxine Borowsky Junge

Art therapy is an interdisciplinary mix of visual arts and psychology. In the United States, it dates from the 1940s when Margaret Naumburg (called by many the “mother of art therapy”) began publishing clinical cases and, in 1943, gave a name to the new field by calling her work “dynamically oriented art therapy.” The term “art therapy” was used in England as far back as the 1930s (Waller, 1991, 1998), and artist Adrian Hill formally coined it in 1942—about the same time as Naumburg in America. Such use of art is not new.

Since prehistoric times, the arts have played a crucial role in human history, development, culture, and consciousness. Such an understanding goes as far back as cave paintings, when people used imagery to express and master the world. Therapeutic rituals using the visual arts can be found in ancient cultures from hundreds of years ago, such as Navajo sand paintings and African sculpture. These ideas were the precursors of contemporary understanding of art therapy.

Intellectual and sociological developments of the 1940s later provided ground for this new profession. Evolving ideas about psychology, recognition of the unconscious, and the growing acknowledgement of art as an expression of a person’s inner mind gave rise to important notions that led directly to art therapy as an innovative and original mental health discipline. This chapter will provide a brief overview of the evolution of the field.

Ancestors and Influences

Art therapy did not emerge from a vacuum. There were numerous predecessors and cultural influences that eventually lead to the emergent profession we now call art therapy. Several of the influences are discussed here.

Outsider artists and the art of psychiatric patients

“Outsider art” is the term for self-taught artists and the art of the insane. Early on, European psychiatrists such as Lombroso, Tardiu, and Simon were interested in the art of the insane because of its aesthetic value (MacGregor, 1989). Few considered that art might contain diagnostic clues or treatment potential. A Heidelberg art historian and psychiatrist, Hans Prinzhorn, collected more than 5,000 pieces of artwork of psychiatric patients and published a book on his collection in 1922, titled Artistry of the Mentally Ill. (His work was published in the United States in 1974.) Although Prinzhorn’s extensive collection of art of the insane influenced the art therapy community, he was primarily interested in the artwork as compelling and expressive, but not necessarily as potential indicators for diagnosis or treatment.

In the early part of the twentieth century, European psychiatrists Kraepelin, Jaspers, and Aschaffenburg came to believe that the art of institutionalized patients might offer clues to psychiatric and diagnostic knowledge. Later, the Swiss psychiatrist Sechehaye (1951) and the Australian psychiatrist Ainslie Meares (1958) understood the importance of personal symbols by institutionalized and regressed patients.

The American psychologist Tarmo Pasto, a direct precursor of the art the...