House as a mirror of self: A case study of a twenty-one-year-old female in an inpatient psychiatric hospital

Abstract

The concept of house has been universally significant since its development some 8500 years ago. Its mythic and metaphoric meaning permeates the language, art, poetry, and music of virtually all cultures. Yet, contemporary art therapy literature has focused little on the significance and meaning of house imagery when it emerges as a choice of subject matter in the image making process. I present this case study in the hope that it will inspire the reader to think further and more deeply about the house should it emerge as an impromptu theme in art therapy. I provide a brief introduction of a 21-year-old African American female followed by a discussion of her artwork - the construction of what she described as her dream home made in art therapy sessions over a three-week period during an inpatient psychiatric stay. I employed a fairly traditional interpretive style to illustrate how the client’s house and its various elements presented as a symbol of her ego-self and reflected how she viewed herself both as an individual and in relation to the outside world.