Arguing that the profession of arts therapy has its roots in the studio environment, the author proposes that it is time to reclaim these rots, and make art once again central to art therapy. She suggests that there has been a tendency for art therapy not merely to interact and be enriched by other perspectives but to be subsumed by them. for this reason she makes a clear distinction between using art in one's practice of therapy, and working from an art-based model. This book presents a model of art therapy where the products and processes of art constitute the core of the model rather than serving as the impetutus for adaptions of other theories of counselling or therapy. It addresses how an arts-based approach can inform the therapist in all aspects of practice, form the conception of the work and the attempt to understand client needs to inteacting with clients and communicating with others about others about the profession of art therapy.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1. Introduction. Chapter 2. How we conceive of the work we do. Chapter 3. The process of cultivating an artist identity. Chapter 4. Attempting to understand our clients through the poetry of their lives. Chapter 5. The multicultural languages of art. Chapter 6. The influence of an artistic perspective on treatment planning. Chapter 7. How an artist identity informs the work we do with clients. Chapter 8. Communicating with others about the work we do. Chapter 9. The ethics of studio art therapy. Chapter 10. Art therapy, the art world and social responsibility. Chapter 11. Conclusions, References. Index.

About the Author

Catherine Hyland Moon, MA, ATR is an art therapist with twenty years' experience in the mental health field. She is currently on the faculty of Marywood University's Graduate Art Therapy Program in Scranton, Pennsylvania. She also has a private practice in art therapy based in a community art gallery in Scranton. Her recent work has focused on performance art, installation art and the incorporation of found objects in painting.