Art Therapy for Adolescents

Abstract

Originally published in Contemporary Psychology: APA Review of Books, 2000, Vol 45(3), 256-257. The reviewer found that the book (see record 1998-06706-000) comes alive in the details of the author's conversations with patients. The reader gets a very clear picture of how he makes art alongside his patients and attempts to dialog with them through visual metaphors. The best part of this book is Chapter 8, “The Four Phases of Adolescent Art Therapy.” It describes the various forms of resistance in the initial phase; the imagining phase in which patients create images of how they might change their lives; the immersion phase in which they develop mersion more positive self-views; and the letting go or termination phase thatthe author describes as a process, not an event. Through lively case vignettes and clear delineations of the beliefs and principles that undergird the author's art therapy, the reader gains a comprehensive picture of his work. It is a highly idiosyncratic model from which others might learn. However, an implicit contradiction in the work lies in his concept of authority. On the one hand, he appears to believe that his patients are the authorities regarding their own images, and these should not be interpreted by art therapists. Most art therapists, including myself, would agree. On the other hand, in guru fashion, he often tells his adolescent patients what to draw, how to draw, and what materials to use. More disquieting, however, is the failed scholarship this text evidences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)