A Case study of art therapy

Abstract

The author describes her experience as a clinical psychologist by using art therapy as a technique ofprojective tests for psychological assessment and also as a method of psychological treatment. It is generallyaccepted that the heart of art therapy is creativity. A case vignette is presented to illustrate the utilization of creativeimagery for the healing process and growth through art therapy.

Nowadays, art therapy has expanded far beyond its original application in psychiatric treatment settingsand schools for the emotionally disturbed or mentally handicapped. In addition, new populations of art therapyalso involves psychosomatic disorders, such as cancer, heart disease, high blood pressure, asthma, peptic ulcer,diabetes mellitus, skin disease and other physical diseases. As to new methods of art therapy, some art therapistshave tried to merge art therapy with another mode of expression, such as computer animation, photography, video,cinema, or psychodrama. Advances in art therapy will be very valuable to art therapists, psychiatrists, psychologists,counselors, teachers and therapists who use art therapy in their work.

Key words: art therapy