ART THERAPY REFLECTIONS: My Favorite Art Therapy Book

Thursday, August 2, 2012

My Favorite Art Therapy Book

Throughout my career I have been fortunate to read many inspiring and informative books on art therapy, creativity, art making, and therapy. I am often asked by students which authors they should begin with when first exploring the world of art therapy. Shaun McNiff was one of the first authors I read and became on of my favourite and he remains so today. I have reread Trust the Process many times. I recommend all his books.

6 comments:

Ms. said...: Oh your redesign is sooooo FINE! And I will search out that book as soon as I have some spare cash.; August 2, 2012 at 11:55 PM
Karen Wallace said...: Thank you for dropping in. Hugs Karen; August 3, 2012 at 5:16 AM
The Creative Beast said...: Thanks for the book recommendation! I am always looking for great books to read, especially if they include ART in them! =-); August 3, 2012 at 5:06 PM
Karen Wallace said...: Hope you like it! Hugs; August 3, 2012 at 7:33 PM
GlitterGirl said...: Love your blog!! Just read through 2008-2012. Please keep posting.; August 24, 2013 at 6:44 AM
Anonymous said...: Great recommendation! Our favourite art therapy books are colouring books. Check out our blog at innerkidblog.wordpress.com for a list of our favourites and some that are on sale. Also be sure to check out some of our other posts on art therapy and how it can reduce stress :) NA; October 28, 2015 at 10:24 PM

What is Art Therapy?

Art therapy is typically referred for situations in which words are difficult (ex: grief and loss), if there is a mind-body relationship to the nature of a person's trauma (ex: sexual abuse, PTSD), or for clients who are inept with words (ex: children, persons with a communication disability). Art therapy is also often sought out by clients who seek a more tangibly productive therapy (literally “rolling up your sleeves”), enjoy expressing themselves visually (artists, architects, crafters, etc.), or for whom talk therapy has not achieved the desired outcome and want to try something new. Art therapy is generally described as a highly illuminating, enjoyable, and unique experience.

In my work I see individual clients who are exploring issues such as depression, anxiety, stress, life transitions, abuse and trauma. I use psycho-education, cognitive behavior techniques, solution-oriented and expressive therapies.

I draw on a wide variety of theories to create an integrative approach. I am client centered and use techniques and theories which 'fit' the client. I am a practicing artist and combine theories in a very creative way in my practice to facilitate clients' journeys through change.

Some of the tools I use in my work are sand tray, all forms of art making, life mapping, goal setting, relaxation techniques, guided visualizations, journal and creative writing, movement, somatic experiencing techniques, stress reduction techniques, reframing, EMDR, Focusing, mindfulness meditation techniques and play therapy.

Focusing Oriented Expressive Therapy

Focusing Oriented Expressive Therapy
Do you want to learn how to:
· Be a better listener to yourself?
· Make clear choices?

· Be calm and compassionate to yourself?
· Support yourself through change?
· Feel relaxed and stress free?

Focusing helps you learn how to be Present and listen to yourself so that you can move ahead in your life in an empowered and safe way. Focusing brings you closer to wholeness and allows you to access your inner wisdom. This helps you move in the direction of your potential. It can help you move beyond blocks and get in touch with your goals. Focusing is a gentle and powerful way to develop a deep interpersonal healing relationship with yourself. Awareness of sensations in the body can be blocked through habits of dissociation and repression. This is because the sensation maybe uncomfortable or painful, and we are not trained to focus on this inner knowing and awareness of the body.

Learning Focusing to Help Free the Artist in You

Do you want to learn how to:
· Be a better listener to yourself?
· Make clear choices?

· Be calm and compassionate to yourself?
· Support yourself through change?
· Feel relaxed and less stressful?

Focusing helps you learn how to be Present and listen to yourself so that you can move ahead in your life in an empowered and safe way. Focusing brings you closer to wholeness and allows you to access your inner wisdom. This helps you move in the direction of your potential. It can help you move beyond blocks and get in touch with your goals. Focusing is a gentle and powerful way to develop a deep interpersonal healing relationship with yourself.
In this workshop we will work with:
· artist's blocks
· money issues that we may have around our art
· time issues that we may have for our art making
· why we can’t get into the studio

What is Focusing?
Focusing is "direct access to bodily knowing." It is a practice that takes a person towards a state of conscious perception that goes far beyond knowing something on a mere conceptual level.

As with Somatic Experiencing, Focusing refers to this bodily knowing as a felt sense. As the Focusing Institute's website explains, "You can sense your living body directly under your thoughts and memories and under your familiar feelings." Focusing happens at a deeper level than your feelings. Under them you can discover a physically sensed murky zone which is concretely there. This is a source from which new steps emerge. This murky zone "opens" as you learn to stay with it longer. Being with it increases the ability to sense feelings behind words or images, even when those are not yet formed. Eventually, you can learn how to let a deeper bodily felt sense come in relation to any problem or situation. It is a subtle process, hard to define in words. Focusing was developed by the philosopher Eugene Gendlin in the late 1960s and early 70s, while he was working with the famed psychologist Carl Rogers.

ART THERAPY REFLECTIONS

Thursday, August 2, 2012

My Favorite Art Therapy Book

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