Cancer patients who have completed medical treatment are often left with unresolved psychological issues. Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York offers a group art therapy program for cancer patients to help them regain their self-confidence and readjust their self-identity. The response of 70 participants has been positive and has…

Lists criteria that define a profession and discusses how the American Art Therapy Association meets these criteria. Discusses the role of the client-artist relationship, beauty as a motivator of art, art as a gift, as well as art and healing. Concludes that art therapy is an idea that has been made a profession by the people who practice it.…

Outlines the Formal Elements Art Therapy Scale (FEATS), a measurement system for applying numbers to global variables in two-dimensional art. Developed for use with the single-picture assessment, researchers can apply many of the 14 scales of the FEATS to other types of drawings. Discusses how art therapists who are studying other assessments can…

There are few who would disagree with the importance of stories and personal narratives in art therapy. Most art therapists seek to elicit them from their clients. They see it as their responsibility to honor each individual story, help integrate it where it is disconnected, and guide clients to illustrate these narratives in a manner that allows…

Recent developments in neuroscience provide important information for therapists working with maltreated children. Severe maltreatment and lack of significant attachment figures in the crucial early years lead to adverse brain development (De Bellis, 2001). It appears evident that traumatic memories are stored in the right hemisphere, making…

Del Giacco Art Therapy is a cognitive art therapy process that focuses on stimulating the mental sensory systems and working to stabilize the nervous system and create new neural connections in the brain. This system was created by Maureen Del Giacco, Phd. after recovering from her own traumatic brain injury and is based on extensive research of…

This article represents the culmination of a long-standing goal of the American Art Therapy Association's (AATA) Multicultural Committee to propose multicultural curriculum guidelines for use by art therapy educators. Challenges faced by art therapy educators endeavoring to meet the AATA Educational requirements are discussed with an emphasis on…

Background: The aims were to identify referral characteristics and outcomes for people with intellectual disabilities referred to a psychodynamic psychotherapy service. Materials and Methods: A retrospective case notes review of anonymized data relating to 100 sequential patient episodes. Results: A total of 81 people out of 100 with a range of…

As a Chaplain working in the Anglican school system in Melbourne, Australia, my concern is with the spiritual development of students. This year I have been trialing the educational application of activities used in creative arts therapy. Continuing the theme of my recent doctoral studies in children's spirituality, I am concerned that education…

In this art therapy adaptation of the squiggle technique, the client draws eight colored squiggles on a paper folded into eight frames and then develops them into images utilizing a full range of color. The client is encouraged to write titles on each frame and use them to compose a story. This technique often stimulates emergence of meaningful…

This book, which provides practical information and references for the prospective art therapist, is organized into eight chapters. Chapter 1 introduces the field of art therapy by presenting references to literature that provide historical overviews; descriptions of various approaches; and official definitions of art therapy. Chapter 2 focuses on…

Describes a sculpture project for emotionally disturbed children conducted by a New York artist. (SJL)

Presents results of a study of the graphic indicators in drawings by patients with substance abuse disorders. The Bird's Nest Drawing, an assessment task previously devised to elicit pictorial representations of attachment security, was used to examine attachment patterns of volunteers. Results showed that those with substance abuse diagnoses were…

Explores the "heart" image in art, myth, literature, and religion. Examines an archetypal art therapy approach to the use of the heart in the artmaking processes of two child clients seen in individual and group art therapy. Uses the historical exploration of the heart as a background against which to view personal use of the heart image…

Describes the Joint Family Holiday Drawing Technique, an auxiliary technique to be used with traditional talk therapy. The technique may be used as an assessment tool early in the counseling process or at a later stage. It is used as a springboard for further discussion and exploration in evaluating family function. (Contains 13 references.) (GCP)