On Art and Therapy: An Exploration

The term 'art therapy' was coined when it was recognised that painting, drawing and modelling had healing effects on people. The early practitioners saw themselves as facilitators in setting free a spontaneous imaginative activity. Now verbal explorations of the image produced tend to predominate.Here Martina Thomson makes an eloquent plea for the therapist to return to a trust in the therapeutic value of the creative process itself. Drawing on her memories of working with some of the great pioneers of art therapy, and on her own experience as a painter and as an art therapy practitioner, her argument surfaces gently through observation, speculation, case history, and quotations from artists, poets and analysts. Beautifully and elegantly written, this book will be richly suggestive for everyone concerned with creativity in the therapeutic process.