Art Therapy in a Children's Community

Abstract

Edith Kramer is an excellent artist, has a sound knowledge of psychoanalytic theory and has had 7 years of experience as an art therapist with disturbed children. This rare combination probably explains the unusual qualities of her book, not shared by any other on this subject. Mainly the psychoanalytic training seems to be indispensable for a meaningful interpretation of artistic creations or their use in a therapeutic program. Prinzhorn, whose book, The Art of the Insane, was a sensation when it appeared in 1922, had artistic sensitivity and psychiatric knowledge but failed utterly in his interpretations. Freud's writings were at hand but Prinzhorn, as many others, rejected Freud's dynamic psychology in favor of speculations, comparisons and mysticisms which left all basic questions about his unique collection unanswered. Subsequently, psychoanalytic thinking has influenced many fields besides psychiatry and led to Psychoanalytic Explorations in Art, culminating in Ernst Kris's masterful book with this title in 1951. Edith Kramer seems to continue this productive development with her present book.