With the AATA Conference quickly approaching, I am putting finishing touches on my all-day workshop, Bookbinding for Clients and Therapists. Bookbinding was my primary art form for many years, and I have taught dozens and dozens of bookbinding and journaling classes to artists, therapists, clients, and others. I am so excited to bring all that I have learned to the 20 class participants!

I have no more made my book than my book has made me.

—Michele de Montaigne, 16th century

The problem with bookbinding is that people think it is too complex to use in art therapy. Frankly, bookbinding has gotten a bad reputation for being finicky, impossibly complex, perfectionistic, and overstimulating. In the class we will be making 5 books from materials that can largely be found in office supply stores. Participants will no longer have any excuses for not making books with clients!

I love using books in therapy. We are so accustomed to giving journaling assignments, thought records, externalizing a narrative, and other therapy assignments that lend themselves well to books. I think it’s time to tear down the walls of resistance! Maybe someday I’ll need to publish this as a book.

Until then, enjoy your preparations for DC and I’ll see you on Wednesday!

Liked this article? You might also enjoy:

1. Controlled Chaos: Paper Presentation at National AATA Conference
2. Art Therapy in Schools
3. For Clients

I’m busy working with my co-author to fine tune our paper presentation for the upcoming AATA conference in Washington, D.C. I love teaching and presenting. It reminds me of how much I still have to learn! The concepts we’ll be presenting come straight from years of experience of not only doing art therapy but also supervising and (in Einat’s case) teaching young therapists.

Over the years, I have developed a very high tolerance for chaos in my groups and individual sessions, which I believe helps lead clients toward growth and personal responsibility. The problem is, chaos and freedom can be very hard for new therapists, burned-out therapists, overworked therapists, government-funded therapists, anxious therapists and many others to deal with. Our society encourages us to be very directive, especially when working with children, and yet many therapy theories require us to meet the client where they are and take a one-down position. How do you balance chaos and freedom with structure and containment?

We’ll be presenting on Thursday, July 7th, at 10:30 a.m. Are you attending the conference? I’d love to meet you there.

Here’s a link to the official conference website, and this one will take you straight to the conference schedule.

If you click on the schedule, you’ll see I’m also teaching an all-day workshop on Wednesday, July 6th. Speaking of chaos, I’m also taking the board-certification exam on Saturday. It’ll be a busy conference for me!

Liked this article? You might also enjoy:

1. Books for Clients and Therapists: All-day Workshop at AATA Conference

I’m very pleased to announce that my article, Signs and Symbols: Art and Language in Art Therapy was published in the inaugural issue of the Journal of Clinical Art Therapy this month. Here’s the abstract:

This paper is a preliminary attempt at theory building by exploring the use of art and language in art therapy through a theoretical inquiry model. Inductive and deductive processes are used to explore literature from the fields of psychology, art philosophy (particularly aesthetics), and linguistics. Concepts common to each of these disciplines are then further explored through the lens of bilingual therapy. Practical applications are discussed, along with suggestions for future research.

If, for some reason, you’re interested in dry, academic writing and theoretical inquiry, you can download the full text in PDF form. A warning: if you can already accept the notion that art sometimes functions as a language, then the “good stuff” really starts on page 28 where I start comparing art therapy to bilingual therapy.

Many thanks to my client who allowed use of her artwork. I think it really adds something special!

Today I’m enjoying this video by Art Therapy Connection, a program that offers art therapy services in Chicago Public Schools.

The program aims to help students:

• Express themselves
• Reduce stress
• Increase frustration tolerance
• Lower anger

I really like what one of the therapists says about the nature of art therapy. I couldn’t agree more.

Although we call it art therapy, and although we use art and we use art materials, it is a lot about therapy. It is a lot about using psychotherapy and helping these kids learn that there can be a place where they come to, where they can experience trust… It’s so much about building a relationship, about the process of what building a relationship means.

I think there is a big misconception about art therapy — that because we have paintbrushes and clay in the room, it is more recreation or education than therapy. Most art therapists I know are very well versed in the traditional psychotherapeutic theories, and view art as a “therapeutic other” in the room — sort of like having a co-therapist.

Another thing I like about the video is that it highlights the need for collaboration. In my experience, when a community of teachers, therapists, parents, counselors, and peers rally around children, the potential for success is extremely high.

Although the goal of school-based therapy is for kids to be more successful at school, it is sometimes seen as a distraction from classroom work. The children may be pulled out of class or teachers may be asked to implement additional behavior programs which require time and effort. The teacher in the video seems to get it, though.

Our children have deep, deep needs, and that they need opportunities to get through those needs in order to be educated.

And the therapist says it like this:

Our goal is that if they feel safe and comfortable and they can express what is going on with them, then they will take that improved behavior and bring it back into the classroom.

Of course, art therapy is just one way to meet those needs, but it’s a great way. With art therapy, students can work through their issues without having to feel too exposed. This is important in school-based therapy where children return to class and are immediately expected to complete assignments, take tests, etc. The art can help them to contain and regulate their feelings so they can get back to work!

Liked this article? You might also enjoy:

1. Teens and Children
2. Art Therapy and I are on TV!
3. About Art Therapy

Many people wonder what art therapy is really like, and may hesitate to contact an art therapist due to fears or anxieties about what to expect.

These clips, though dealing primarily with eating disorders, give a good introductory view to what art therapy might be like for you or your loved ones. Karen Polin, the Registered Art Therapist (ATR), works with her clients to help them explore their identity, distorted thinking, and family relationships.

As you can see, art therapy clients make art during their individual or group sessions. There is no expectation that the art will be pretty, perfect, or ”good” — rather the process of making art helps clients to express and explore themselves. These clips also illustrate the collaborative relationship between client and art therapist, one way to dialogue about the artwork, and the flood of insight that can be gained by externalizing thoughts and feelngs and tapping into them with the right side of your brain.

One of the reasons I love art therapy is that a mouth can only say one thing at a time, but a piece of art can be saying a hundred things at once.

Art therapy works well not only for people with eating disorders, but also many other difficulties including depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), relationship problems, medical trauma and illness, grief and loss, and a whole host of other issues.

If you are wondering whether art therapy can help you, please feel free to contact me. All of your questions will be kept confidential.

Liked this article? You might also enjoy:

1. Medical Art Therapy Video
2. About Art Therapy
3. Monica’s Questions and Answers about Art Therapy

I’m a sucker for collaborative art projects, and this group that has painted pianos and dropped them all over New York City makes me really happy!

If you enjoyed the story, here are more clips of people playing pianos on the streets of New York. Pretty awesome.

How can you inject a little creativity into your neighborhood today?

I heard about this on the radio and thought it would be neat to share — a new holiday that won’t add to your waistline or credit card bill, National Day of Listening.

Brought to you by the people behind StoryCorps (“Our mission is to honor and celebrate one another’s lives through listening.”) , National Day of Listening invites you to use the day after Thanksgiving to connect with loved ones, interview them, honor their stories, and share your love and gratitude. Although the organizers encourage you to record the interview, there’s nothing that says you’d have to.

Whom would you interview? What would you want to know? What do you think you would learn?

Click on their list of Great Questions to get you started. Hint: Use these questions as prompts in your journal and learn something about yourself!

photo credit: mdid

Marci Alboher (from Yahoo’s Shine series) recently interviewed the authors of a new book, Working for You isnt Working for Me. The writers, Katherine Crowley and Kathi Elster, have some interesting insights on how to not only identify and categorize a bad boss, but also to deal with them.

Click here to read the whole interview.

They maintain that it’s possible to grow personally and professionally under a bad boss’s reign. But they also assert that the only way to survive a truly horrible boss is to prepare an exit strategy.

Q:  Is it possible to do good work and have a really good experience of work under a really bad boss?

KE – No, not really. If your boss is truly bad: micro-manages you, undermines your efforts, lies, changes direction all the time or only finds your flaws, your experience at work is not going to be good.  It’s very difficult to feel successful without the support of your boss.

KC – You can, however, find ways to manage the relationship so that it doesn’t spoil your day and won’t block your career.  Instead of focusing your attention on how miserable it is to work for this person, we encourage people to keep building their skills and expanding their networks outside of work. By creating options, you’ll feel less trapped.

You might feel that it’s risky to rock the boat in an economy like this. And, although I do believe there are bad bosses out there, it’s always important to explore your own contribution to difficult situations. After all, we can never change others — only ourselves, and very few people are “all good” or “all bad” in any situation.

Here are some of the questions I might ask a client who was complaining about having a bad boss.

• What are your beliefs and expectations of people in authority? Are you too trusting? Too suspicious?
• How well do you work with a team?
• How do you react when you have to function under rules and regulations that are set by someone else?
• Do you intentionally or unintentionally sabotage your boss’s projects and ideas? If so, why?
• Is your boss a bad leader, or are you a bad follower, or both?
• Are there things you can do to improve your relationship and your department’s productivity that will help you feel job satisfaction, even if you don’t get recognition for it?
• How do you respond to criticism and suggestions? Do you have a tendency to take things too personally?
• What are your options? What can you do today that will increase the chances of a better opportunity tomorrow?

In our current economic climate, stress at work can be a major contributor to personal and family frustrations. What can you do today to proactively improve your work life?

Liked this article? You might also enjoy:

1. Couples Therapy

photo credit: Ү

You probably heard last week’s news about the “Balloon Boy” family who are accused of pulling an elaborate hoax and involving hundreds of public safety personnel in hopes of being hired for a reality TV show. The stunt — building and launching a strange, silver balloon and then claiming that their young son had stowed away for a dangerous flight — received a lot of media attention and has been the topic of national conversation.

But, nothing moreso than the moment when young son, Falcon, claimed, “You guys said we did this for a show.”

The more we learn about this family — a history of attention-seeking and ploys for television stardom — the easier it is to deride and criticize. However, many families hold family secrets and the pressure on family members not to divulge the truth can be painful and poisonous.

The consequences of a family’s  secrets may rarely reach the level of national news and late-night talk shows as the Heaney family’s have, but uncovering and exploring family secrets is one of the most difficult and most valuable goals of family therapy.

Children, confused by mixed messages about the truth of what they observe and experience, may develop symptoms and behaviors that cause distress at home and at school. Adults, pressured to keep family secrets well past their childhood years, may find it difficult to trust, find intimacy in relationships, and tolerate uncertainty. Bravely confronting the truth and making a plan for support can help each family member to engage more fully in the world and find peace and connection.

Liked this article? You might also enjoy:

1. Family Therapy

Monica, a London-based art therapist, answers some common questions about art therapy on her blog, Creativity from Within.

Here’s a sample:

Do I have to be good at Art?

Art therapy is not about being good at art but being willing to use the materials to express yourself… Art Therapy aims to help people make change and grow on a personal level through the use of art materials in a safe environment.

 

Click here to read Monica’s full article.

Or, you can learn more by reading my FAQ’s and About Art Therapy.

Liked this article? You might also enjoy:

1. Art Therapy in Schools
2. About Art Therapy
3. What is Art Therapy Like?

I found this video about an art therapist named Emily Johnson who is working at a pediatric hospital in Louisville, Kentucky. It’s remarkable how similar her work is to my own. Not only does she work at a pediatric hospital, but the way she talks about her work is really similar to the way I talk about mine.

We seem to share a lot of beliefs, including:

• The healing benefit of art and creativity, and the importance of proper training in bringing these services to clients.
• How powerul art can be as a tool to externalize thoughts and feelings about our bodies.
• The therapeutic benefit of using a variety of non-traditional art media with clients who are perfectionist or anxious.
• The joy and satisfaction of working with chronically- and acutely-ill clients in intense circumstances.
• Feeling blessed to have found such a good fit for ourselves professionally, and to be so passionate about our work.

Thanks for sharing, Emily.

Liked this article? You might also enjoy:

1. Art Therapy in Schools
2. About Art Therapy
3. Art Therapy and I are on TV!

I’m pretty pleased with the way this video turned out, highlighting our creative arts therapy department at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles. I wish they would have made it more clear that I am an art therapist (they were more interested with me being the head of the program) but all in all I felt like it was a good preview of what we do.

If you watch the video,  you can see me conducting an art therapy group and talking about my work. I really love my job!

Liked this article? You might also enjoy:

1. Art Therapy in Schools
2. Medical Art Therapy Video
3. What is Art Therapy Like?