The Open Studio Project (OSP) is a nonprofit arts and social service organization. This report presents the OSP process as a model of social action. It describes how the model was implemented in a particular community to address a need for arts programs for at risk youth. "Art & Action," an outreach program of OSP, became a unique year round after…

The number of immigrant and refugee children coming from war-torn countries is increasing in North America. Over the past decades, creative expression activities have been increasingly recognized as a useful way to work with migrant and refugee children. These activities have been used to help them to construct meaning, to structure identity, and…

Presenting an integrative model for treating traumatized children, this book combines play, art, and other expressive therapies with ideas and strategies drawn from cognitive-behavioral and family therapy. Eliana Gil demonstrates how to tailor treatment to the needs of each child by using both directive and nondirective approaches. Throughout,…

The article summarizes 12 group sessions intended to decrease inappropriate behavior and increase the self-esteem of 10-12 learning-disabled seventh and eighth graders. Art projects culminating in a group mural were a prominent part of the group activities. (DB)

Describes a grant project, initiated in inclusive settings, such as schools, that provided art and assistive technology for children with disabilities. The project offered professionals in art therapy and occupational therapy a way to collaborate and meet the educational and emotional needs of children, applying Rhoda Kellogg's interpretations of…

Discusses four ways that art teachers can enhance the therapeutic aspects of their lessons: (1) recognize the similarities between the therapeutic and creative processes: (2) empathetically talk with students about their artwork; (3) understand Expressive Therapies Continuum (ETC); and (4) work in collaboration with faculty and staff members. (CMK)

Hakoniwa (ha ko ne wa), or Sandplay therapy, is an action-oriented and artistic psychotherapy practiced in Japan and the West. In contrast to most Western psychotherapies, which emphasize verbal and direct expression, linear and cause-effect thinking, and a distinction between physical and mental well-being, Hakoniwa makes significant use of…

The Children's Museum of the Arts, located in SoHo, is a community center where children and families create together through involvement with the visual and performing arts. The families that participate in the programming offered by the Museum are living, and perhaps working and going to school, in the shadows of what used to be the World Trade…

Recent advances in neuroscience describe the effect of experience on neural architecture. Paralleling these advances in neuroscience, recent explorations in the field of art therapy speculate on the relationship between specific therapeutic interventions and neuroplasticity, which underlies the changes in neural architecture. One such…

A need exists within the profession of art therapy to address issues of managed care, licensure, and provider reimbursement. While the profession struggles on both the state and national level with issues of livelihood and recognition, there are still philosophical questions within the field which remain unexplored. This article addresses a theme…

Women seeking to realize the feminist goal of autonomy, defined as self-interested decision-making, encounter conflict and anxiety. This study reports a group experience, using life-space drawings and force-field analyses to reduce anxiety and foster autonomous decision-making. Of the 15 women participants in the year-long study, 100% reported at…

Focuses on the use of art as a means for students to express their reactions to the September 11, 2001, attacks. Addresses the project, "Drawing Together: Kids Against Terrorism," a collection of Internet artwork by students that focused on their response to the attacks. Includes student artwork. (CMK)

Describes the development and implementation of a continuing education program in art therapy for unemployed postsecondary art majors and others of similar background who want to enter this new field. Discusses administrative concerns, especially the program's incompatibility with other continuing education programs, and the program's eventual…

This article introduces supportive therapies for students with emotional/behavioral disorders (EBD). Strategies to help children cope with emotions are described. Bibliotherapy approaches and various expressive arts approaches to helping these children are discussed, and the role of leisure awareness and adventure recreation as therapies is…

Outlines a brief history of the relationship between people experiencing disabilities and art education. Discusses the emergence of a sociopolitical orientation. Shows how that orientation can better inform research in art education. Proposes additional contributions that art educators can make to this civil rights movement. (KM)