Art Therapy in Australia: Taking a Postcolonial, Aesthetic Turn explores and enacts established and emergent art therapy histories, narratives and practices in the specific postcolonial context of contemporary Australia. It is the first published book to attempt to map this terrain. In doing so, the book aims to document important aspects of art therapy in Australia, including how Australian approaches both reiterate and challenge the dominant discourse of art therapy. This book is as much a performance as an account of the potential of art therapy to honour alterity, illuminate possibilities and bear witness to the intrapsychic, relational and social realms. The book offers a selective window into the rambling assemblage that is art therapy in the ‘Great Southern Land’. Contributors are: Jan Allen, Bronwyn Davies, Claire Edwards, Nicolette Eisdell, Patricia Fenner, John Henzell, Pam Johnston, Lynn Kapitan, Carmen Lawson, Sheridan Linnell, Tarquam McKenna, Michelle Moss, Suzanne Perry, Josephine Pretorius, Jean Rumbold, Victoria Schnaedelbach, Lilian Tan, Jody Thomson, Jill Westwood, Amanda Woodford, and Davina Woods.

Using clay in therapy taps into the most fundamental of human experiences - touch. This book is a comprehensive step-by-step training manual that covers all aspects of 'Work at the Clay Field', a sensorimotor-based art therapy technique. The book discusses the setting and processes of the approach, provides an overview of the core stages of Gestalt Formation and the Nine Situations model within this context, and demonstrates how this unique focus on the sense of touch and the movement of the hands is particularly effective for trauma healing in adults and children. The intense tactile experience of working with clay allows the therapist to work through early attachment issues, developmental setbacks and traumatic events with the client in a primarily nonverbal way using a body-focused approach. The kinaesthetic motor action of the hands combined with sensory perception can lead to a profound sense of resolution with lasting therapeutic benefits. With photographs and informative case studies throughout, this book will be a valuable resource for art therapists and mental health professionals, and will also be of interest to complementary therapists and bodyworkers.

The Introductory Guide to Art Therapy provides a comprehensive and accessible text for art therapy trainees. Susan Hogan and Annette M. Coulter here use their combined clinical experience to present theories, philosophies and methods of working clearly and effectively. The authors cover multiple aspects of art therapy in this overview of practice, from working with children, couples, families and offenders to the role of supervision and the effective use of space. The book addresses work with diverse groups and includes a glossary of key terms, ensuring that complex terminology and theories are clear and easy to follow. Professional and ethical issues are explored from an international perspective and careful attention is paid to the explanation and definition of key terms and concepts. Accessibly written and free from jargon, Hogan and Coulter provide a detailed overview of the benefits and possibilities of art therapy. This book will be an indispensable introductory guide for prospective students, art therapy trainees, teachers, would-be teachers and therapy practitioners. The text will also be of interest to counsellors and other allied health professionals who are interested in the use of visual methods.

A body-focused, trauma-informed art therapy that will appeal to art therapists, somatic experiencing practitioners, bodyworkers, artists, and mental health professionals While art therapy traditionally focuses on therapeutic image-making and the cognitive or symbolic interpretation of these creations, Cornelia Elbrecht instructs readers how to facilitate the body-focused approach of guided drawing. Clients draw with both hands and eyes closed as they focus on their felt sense. Physical pain, tension, and emotions are expressed without words through bilateral scribbles. Clients then, with an almost massage-like approach, find movements that soothe their pain, discharge inner tension and emotions, and repair boundary breaches. Archetypal shapes allow therapists to safely structure the experience in a nonverbal way. Sensorimotor art therapy is a unique and self-empowering application of somatic experiencing--it is both body-focused and trauma-informed in approach--and assists clients who have experienced complex traumatic events to actively respond to overwhelming experiences until they feel less helpless and overwhelmed and are then able to repair their memories of the past. Elbrecht provides readers with the context of body-focused, trauma-informed art therapy and walks them through the thinking behind and process of guided drawing--including 100 full-color images from client sessions that serve as helpful examples of the work.

Art Therapy: Foundation and Form is a text aimed at describing the foundations and justifications for the use of art in therapy in a simple, readable format. The text is in two parts, the first discusses the theories underlying the use of art as a therapeutic tool, and the second demonstrates the application of techniques and approaches. Simple images and case studies highlight the concepts discussed. Each chapter includes activities for the reader to explore the concepts, and suggests other authors to further expand the topic knowledge. The author draws upon her extensive experience as an Art Therapist, and her ongoing work with Art Therapy students across Australia, to create a text that gives a solid and clear description of the remarkable power of art to transform lives. This text is essential reading for Art Therapy students, new graduates and other psychotherapists seeking an understanding of art therapy.

Art Therapy provides a concise introduction to theory and practice, brought to life through case material and examples of artwork produced during therapy sessions. Written by practicing art therapist Dave Edwards, the book explains key theoretical ideas - such as symbolism, play, transference and interpretation - and shows how these relate to practice.

Including contributions from some of the leading art therapists in Britain, this important book addresses the key issues in the theory and practice of art therapy. The fundamental significance of the art in art therapy practice permeates the book, close attention being paid by several writers to the art-making process and the aesthetic responses of therapist and client. Other authors explore the tensions between art and therapy, images and speech, subjectivity and objectivity, arguing that the dynamic interplay between these elements is inherent to the practice of art therapy. The role of containment is another theme that is explored by contributors in a variety of ways to highlight the importance not only of the therapeutic containment of the client by the therapist, but also the containment of the therapist. The physical contexts of the session, within an art room and within the larger working environment, are identified as important arenas where conflict and tension is experienced and must be explored if art therapy is to continue to develop.

"Psychological trauma can be a life-changing experience that affects multiple facets of health and well-being. The nature of trauma is to impact the mind and body in unpredictable and multidimensional ways. It can be a highly subjective that is difficult or even impossible to explain with words. It also can impact the body in highly individualized ways and result in complex symptoms that affect memory, social engagement, and quality of life. While many people overcome trauma with resilience and without long term effects, many do not. Trauma's impact often requires approaches that address the sensory-based experiences many survivors report. The expressive arts therapy-the purposeful application of art, music, dance/movement, dramatic enactment, creative writing and imaginative play-are largely non-verbal ways of self-expression of feelings and perceptions. More importantly, they are action-oriented and tap implicit, embodied experiences of trauma that can defy expression through verbal therapy or logic. Based on current evidence-based and emerging brain-body practices, there are eight key reasons for including expressive arts in trauma intervention, covered in this book: (1) letting the senses tell the story; (2) self-soothing mind and body; (3) engaging the body; (4) enhancing nonverbal communication; (5) recovering self-efficacy; (6) rescripting the trauma story; (7) making meaning; and (8) restoring aliveness"--

A republication of a 1947 text which examines the life histories of six personalities from the age of four to seventeen, and reports on the adaptation of art therapy to each individual's special needs.

Taking an interdisciplinary approach, Robert Gray offers a thorough and well-rounded clinical guide to exploring the depth of the unconscious through art in psychotherapy. He emphasises the clinical relevance of art therapy and critically highlights ideas around evidence-based practice and the link to cognitive behavioural therapy. Gray suggests specific ways of engaging with clients and their images, such as uncovering life scripts, changing neural pathways through Creative Mind Ordering, and addressing traumatic experiences through the Jungian Self- Box. He shows how artists and psychotherapists can make a transformational difference by combining ‘art as therapy’ and ‘art in therapy’ with a scientific approach and a spiritual awareness. He argues a clear framework that bridges the unmeasurable and spontaneous part of psychotherapy through art, along with the work with the unconscious and the clarity of a scientific method, can help facilitate long term change. Art Therapy and Psychology is hands-on and rich with supportive study tools and numerous case studies with which the reader can relate. This book is essential reading for art therapists in training and in practice, psychologists and mental health professionals looking to establish or grow their expertise.