Someone Important

Ben, 11''x8.5'', pencil, 2009

Haiku:

“Everything is shared,
Everyone always welcome
When Ben is in charge.”

Ethical Issue Directive

An ethical issue that may present itself in Art Therapy is a religious conflict. Suppose your client opens up about exploring YOUR religion and cites information that you believe is false (e.g. misquoting religious texts, presenting extremist viewpoints). It would be very difficult to find a balance between your spiritual and ethical responses to this situation.

Keeping The Faith, 6''x5'', pencil, 2009

Grief Experiential

Double Helix Hurt, 8.5"x11", construction paper and glitter, 2009

For this piece I tried to empathize with my mother, who was adopted and recently lost her biological mother.  I tried to imagine what it would feel like to lose someone so physically connected to me, but hardly emotionally connected.  I put emphasis on the connection between blood, the precious glittery stuff and genetics (DNA…double helix) and covered her mouth with a purple asterisk, because she can’t talk about her grief with her adopted family.  I uprooted the family tree, symbolizing a torn genealogy.

                In hindsight, I feel that I over analyzed the situation instead of really empathizing and creating a work that someone experiencing grief would.  If I were experiencing this, I doubt that I would have the mental coherence to communicate such complex ideas.  This piece feels more representative of a grief situation than empathetic of it.

Music Experiential

Conch, 18"x12", Watercolor, 2009

Playground, 18''x12'', assorted paper, watercolor, and glitter, 2009

These pieces were created while listening to music in class.  The assignment seemed simple enough: listen to the music and paint with the “flow”.  I found this very difficult!  It was hard for me to let go of my own expectations and process of the piece, and strived to accomplish my desired aesthetic.  This can be seen in Playground.  I more or less ignored the music and drew inward for inspiration.  I became aware of this when I found myself frustrated for not having filled in the entire page.  I tried again, and did “paint with the music” more in Conch.  I found this process to be much less energetic, but still difficult and I continued to be compulsive about filling in the entire space.

Learning As We Go…

Drawn after my Art Tx test to revitalize my brain.

The Art Therapy Graduate realized that her training was not exhaustive while attempting to mirror a schizophrenic yoga master.

Notes on The Judy Rubin Reading

Note:  I’ve included parts of Chapter 4 and the end, though this will not be on the test.
Happy Studying!

Art Therapy: an introduction by Judith Aron Rubin

Preface – Map of the Territory
What Rubin felt was needed…
An overview of the field
A guide
A resource
An introduction to Atx
A sourcebook
“If I am successful, the overview provided in this book will give the reader an orientation with which to further explore this fascinating field.”

Chapter 1 – Previews…The Many Faces of Art Therapy

This chapter presents several case studies that give the reader a broad view of the many uses for Atx.
The field is old and young- art has been used for healing prehistorically, but is a relatively new field of study.
“Atx helps people see what they are feeling or thinking”
Portraits: Art Therapy Is…
Margaret Naumburg- founded a school for the arts, developed “Dynamically Oriented Art Therapy”, known as the primary “mother” of Atx
Florence Cane- gifted teacher, wrote The Artist in Each of Us
Victor Lowenfeld- sensitive educator, taught scultupe to blind children, employed “Art Education Therapy”
Mary Huntoon- created one of the first atx studios
Adrian Hill- found painting therapeutic while recovering from tuberculosis, promoted “Art Therapy” in hospitals
Edith Kramer- artists and teacher, defined “Art as Therapy” in her first book
Elinor Ulman- founded and edited the Bulletin of Atx
Don Jones- work with patients in a mental hospital won him an invitation to dvelop art therapy at the Menninger Foundation
Hanna Yaxa Kwiatkowska- developed Family Therapy & Evaluation Through Art at NIMH
Janie Rhyne- “The Great Art Experience” incorporated multiple facets of using the arts for therapy and growth
Robert Ault- applied clinical skills to helping ordinary people at Ault’s Academy of Art
Myra Levick- initiated the first graduate level training program in artx in 1967
Arthur Robbins- Expressive Analysis
Helen Landgarten- Clinical Art Therapy
Harriet Wadeson- trained at NIMH, conducted some of the first research stdies in ArtTx, later trained and wrote many books on ArtTx
Shaun McNiff- “Expressive Therapies”, worked with patients in mental institutions
Mickie McGraw- battled polio, helped her develop an Art Studio in a rehabilitation hospital
Vignettes
Randy (12)- suffered from schizophrenia, created artwork in series to help him overcome the symptom of soiling his pants
Jenny, Nona, and Jon- gives example of Artx used to contain family aggression because of the arrival of a new sibling, anger over a hair cut, and scary monster dreams
Amy(3)- girl anxious over her mother returning to work and staying at home with her father, bossy during roleplay, eventually came to terms with a picture of a King and Queen looking at their beautiful Princess.
Jeff(6)- Artx helped him express his feelings about his brother’s death
Alan(4&11)- anxious over his parent’s separation, expressed boredom in school, was moved to a more creative school
Jane(11)-  blind girl used art therapy tp express her anger about being blind
Jack(12)- art made psychotherapy possible for a very defensive boy
Lucy(13)- painfully shy, became more assertive
Betty Jane(14)- Talented artist, skeptical about therapy, found it to be helpful
Melanie(15)- rebellious child, was able to express her rage in paintings
Sally(22)- grad student, suffered from paranoid delusions, able to attain treatment before psychotic episodes began
James(37)- persistent problems with women, mother died when he was 6, suffered from alcoholism, met a woman who convinced him to go into rehab
Mr. and Mrs. T- Artx helps heal a marital relationship
Elaine(41)- dealt with chronic pain through artx, saw it as a “holding environment”
Hannah(62)- yearned for a sense of self, used art to help her find a direction to explore
Mrs. L(27) – woman who discovered her husband had a girlfriend, used art to deal with shock and anger
Lori(5)- artx helped her to say goodbye to the therapist

Chapter 2
What is Art Therapy
Art+Therapy=?
Therapy- procedures designed to assist favorable changes in personality or in living that will outlast the session itself
Art- a means to discover both the self and the world, and to establish a relationship between the two, the meeting of the inner and outer world
Will art or therapy be the dominant parent in the “custody battle” over this field?
Art Tx: What it is and what it is not…
It is not…
Using art while working with people who are different from the norm
Dependent upon WHO is seen or WHERE the work occurs
Strictly educational, or recreational (though these things can be therapeutic, they are not therapy)
It is…
Dependent upon WHY it is being offered
Inclusive or assessment and treatment
Essential for an art therapist to be trained as a clinician

Art Therapy and Art Education
Naturally there is an element of art ed in artx, but they are very different
A clinician is looking for psychological meaning
Group artx may look like an art class, but the art is secondary to learning abuot the self in relation to other people
Participants knows the differnce “helped with their problems” in artx

Art for People with Disabilities
Educational Settings
There is need for both teaching and therapy with this group
WHAT is done will look the same, but WHY is the “critical variable”
To identify conflicts causing symptoms, a clinician is needed, they are also often     more comfortable working with this population
Medical  Settings
Deep philosophical differences (Joan Erikson argued that using art as therapy     conflicted with its intrinsic healing power.)
Art as therapy approach is similar to this position, but assumes deep clinical     understanding facilitates the work
Room for All: Teamwork
We can all get along and play nice. =)  Benefits typically ensue.

Art Therapy and Child Therapy
Play Therapy and Child Art Therapy- goals are the same, but modality is different
Pediatric Art Therapy and Child Life Programs- overlap between art therapy and pediatric art therapy
Art therapy and Art Counseling- also overlap, counseling can mean “advice” or “psychotherapy”

Other Clinicians Who Use Art
Occupational, recreation, and activity therapists
These usually give a prescribed purpose to an activity
These are adjunctive, while artx is not
Art Therapy and Other Uses of Art in Psychotherapy
Projective drawing tests
What art therapists offer that is unique is a highly developed expertise in the use of art as a central modality in therapy

Art Therapy and Expressive Therapies
Multimodal approaches, “creative arts therapy”, “expressive arts therapy”
They share goals and some modality, but there are two feelings…
1.  Some believe that the specialized fields should not require training in other modes of expressive therapy, fearing a watering down of the field
2. Others believe all art, poetry, drama, dance, and music therapists should be trained in all the creative therapies
What it boils down to:  we can learn from the other modes, but each is still going to excel at whatever they have specialized in
Combining these therapies through collaboration can be beneficial (National Coalition of Arts Therapy Associations, 1979)

Chapter 3
History
In the Beginning: Origins of Art Therapy
Many metaphors can be used to describe ArtTx’s origins: blossoming tree, flowing stream, still water…
Natural Beauty is soothing, it is the “bedrock” of art tx
Creatiing comes naturally to our species
Art for healing is ancient and universal
Cave painting
Protective symbols
Healing scrolls
“magic power of the image”
Climate was ripe for art therapy…
Freud, Jung, psychoanalysts, the idea of the unconscious…these paved the way for Art tx
Psychiatric Interest in Patient Art
Studying spontaneous art of the mentally ill
“primary process”
“body image”
Interdisciplinary Exchange
Creativity and Madness
Did Van Gogh and Munch paint because of or in spite of their ailments?
Art Brut- “raw creations”, like those made by individuals with mental illness, also called “Outsider Art”
Art in Diagnosis and Therapy
“projective testing”
Assessment
Employed as a means of psychotherapy
Therapeutic Art Education
Progressive education- creative experience vital to healthy emotional development
Child study mvmnt (“child art”)
“self identification”
Viktor Lowenfield had a profound impact on Art Ed, developed art ed therapy
Artists in Hospitals
WPA employed artists in the Federal Art Project
Art Therapy is Born
Naumburg and Kramer
Primarily responsible for its growth in America
“symbolic speech”
Unconscious symbol contents
Sublimation, integrating conflicting feelings in an aesthetically satisfying form
Naumburg: rebel, eclectic, open-minded abut visual symbols, primary clinician
Kramer: writer, theorist, emphasis on making the unconscious conscious, ego psychology, adjunctive therapist
Art Therapy in other Countries

Chapter 5
The Basics

The Art Part
Materials-
Tend to be simple and unstructured, sturdy, stored and cared for with respect
Keep up with new media
Understanding and analyzing new materials

The creative process
Goal is to understand and facilitate creative process

Artistic Products
-concrete product
-allows participants to review
-quality vs. communicative value
-”symbolic speech”
Two elements: form and content, also may consider style
Subject matter, grammar, visual literacy

The Therapy Part
Development
Use a picture of normal development to identify deviations
Dynamics
Have a thorough understanding of intrapsychic and interpersonal dynamics
Pathology
Understanding of the kind of languages to use
Planning
Writing treatment plans
I.E.P.’s- individual educational plan
The Therapeutic Dyad
Importance of the relationship
Beware of transference, counter transference
Develop a therapeutic alliance
The Process of Change in Therapy
Stages to go through

Necessary Conditions: The Framework
A “framework for freedom”, physical and psychological factors are to be considered
A supportive setting- “supportive administrative matrix”
Physical Conditions- protected from intrusion, adequate light, working surfaces, accessible water source, storage and display of art materials
Psychological conditions- even more critical…steadiness and predictability

Doing Art Therapy: The Interface
Setting the stage, evoking expression, facilitating expression, looking at and learning from the art and the experience of creating

Indirect Service
Continue to keep in mind assessment, goals, how to proceed in order to achieve them, form an alliance, evaluate whther the goals have been met
Learn from the source (image, patient), let the source speak to you

Why Art Therapy?
It involves the whole person….body, mind, soul…
Primary, secondary, and tertiary processes
Much of our thinking is visual.
Memories may be preverbal or forbidden.
The “dark side” is more easily expressed in art.
Art offers unique possibilities for expression.
The art is a helpful presence.
Art is flexible and versatile.
Art normalizes psychotherapy.
The creative process is also a learning experience.
Art is a “natural high” that also heals.

Why Art?
“Art is a way of making an ordinary experience extraordinary.”

Chapter 6
Approaches
Multiple Paths: Multiple Perspectives
Psychodynamic: Freudian Analysis, Jungian Analytical Psychology
Humanistic: Person-Centered, Adlerian, Gestalt, Eriksonian, Phenomenological, Existential,
Behavioral and Cognitive Approaches
Behavioral: Behavior therapy, behavior modification, reality shaping, implosive art therapy
Cognitive: rational-emotive therapy
Developmental and Adaptive Approaches
Adaptive: normalization, “Funtional Art Therapy”
Art/Image Based Approaches
-empahsize art, or the image…”Image Therapy”, “Creative Analysis”, “Color Integration”
Spiritual Approaches:  “Common Ground: The Arts, Therapy, and Spirituality”, Psychobiological, “twelve-step method” “Tanspersonal Approaches”
Family and Group Art Therapy
Theory, Technique, and Art Therapy
In many ways, art therapy is “a technique in search of a theory”
Unspoken perspective
Selective Electisicm
Is theory really necessary?  Differing views…

Chapter 9
People We Serve

Art therapy is especially good for…
Those who have no words.
Those who are resistant

Art therapy for all ages…
Children
Adolescents
Adults
The elderly
The disabled
The family of the disabled individual

Some problems helped by Art tx…
Eating disorders
Substance abuse
Victims of sexual abuse
Dissociative identity disorder

Is Art Therapy Dangerous for Some People?
Can be.  Use Judgement: no clay for children with conduct disorders, no red paint for psychotic patients, etc…

Art Therapy for Artists: a good thing.  Ex: Jackson Pollock
Chapter 10
Places We Practice

Chapter 4
Education (Training Ourselves, Informing Other)
Evolution of Art Therapy Education
Young discipline, but has “come of age”
Defined competent practitioner, guidelines for training

Becoming an Art Therapist
First generation: individual paths, intuition is the initial instructor
Learning by Doing
Learning by Sharing with Others
Learning Through Psychotherapy and Supervision
Appenticeships, Early Courses, and Training Programs
Evolution of Continuing Education
AATA offers pre- and post-conference mini courses

Recognition of Art Therapy
Obtaining Relevant Credentials
PhD in Clinical Psychology
Psychology licensing exam
Political Action and Networks
Public and Professional Awareness

Becoming an Art Therapist Today
Requirements
Education Standards

Settings: colleges and universities: medicine, education, allied health, arts and sciences
Can be M.A., M.S., or M.Ed
Internships
Institute programs

Publications
“Competency Evaluations”
Certification Examination

Teaching Methods
Mirroring artwork, art activites

Supervision
Draw a patient, draw your reaction to him, draw a patient WITH a patient or supervisor

Self-Awareness
Must be developed, personal psychotherapy is a must
All clinicians need to face their “dark sides” as well

Promoting creativity in the art therapist
-critical to effective therapy

Becoming an Art therapist: Personal Identity Formation
How do you identify yourself?  Artist or therapist?
“shame dynamic”

Concluding Thoguhts:
Registered
Board certified
Continuing education credits

AATA Conference

I’m planning to attend the AATA Conference this November, and getting sooo excited!  My grandfather offered to help me out with travel expenses (Thank you so much, Pop!) so all that’s left is booking the hotel and flight.

Found Object Pieces

Proud

3” x 11”

Yarn, the bottom of a plastic bottle, paint, glitter

2009

Art Psychotherapy

I created this piece to help explain the way I felt when a friend of mine, Thomas, won a race rowing crew.  I was extremely proud of him (shiny gold metal, blue ribbon) because I know how hard he’s been working to excel in his sport, but also sad that I couldn’t be there to see him win (black fringe around the metal).  Overall, the piece is very simple because I am certain of what I feel and why.

Knitter’s Hell

17” x 15”

Plastic bottle, yarn

2009

Art as Therapy

I went into making this piece without a plan.  I started by stabbing the plastic bottle repeatedly, then discovered I could also cut it very easily.  I sawed away at it, creating the spiral shapes on the top and bottom.  Then I began to play with some yarn.  I used blue, green, and black fuzzy yarn to soften the sharp plastic edges.  I wound it around with a rhythmic, weaving motion.  I played with different ways of winding the yarn, and found myself smiling at how ridiculous I must have looked on several occasions, feeling like a cat in a knitter’s basket.

Observation Drawing

Creative Funnel
8 1/2” x 11”
Markers on Paper
2009

I created this piece in response to observing some of my friends as they were drawing.  I began by thinking about each one of their unique personalities as a color on a palette, something each individual offered up whenever we got together.  I also thought about whatever was going on in their world being funneled through their mind and solidifying itself through the medium onto the paper.  I created this piece very quickly, trying to let myself get carried away in the details, but rather, to focus on the meaning behind the figures.

Harriet Wadeson Research Paper

Harriet Wadeson, Research Paper