ART THERAPY WHAT IS IT? WHO DOES IT INVOLVE? WHAT’S THE POINT? HOW’S IT DONE? ( illustrations provided were created as art for public viewing, by multicultural youth of Milpera State High School, Chelmer.)

WHAT ART THERAPY IS NOT It’s NOT about making pretty pictures It’s NOT about making unhealthy artists feel better It’s NOT about interpreting hidden messages in pictures for people It’s NOT about distracting people from their problems with art

WHAT ART THERAPY IS: The field of the art therapist is one in which clients use the particular creative medium of art expression to advance the larger creativity of making meaningful their own lives. Wadeson,1980, p.5 Art therapy is an extension of an innate human impulse to create a meaningful relationship between the maker of art and the images produced. McNiff,S.2004.p.273

WHO DOES IT INVOLVE? A therapeutic relationship between: an art therapist who has done specific post- graduate training, including psychotherapy, psychology and art therapy subjects. and the client- may be adult, youth or child, well or unwell, for various applications

WHAT’S THE POINT? According to Wood (1998): the purpose of Art Therapy is- creativity, control,communication, catharsis and change. 1. CREATIVITY: ‘Art making is seen as an opportunity to express oneself imaginatively, authentically, and spontaneously, an experience that, over time, can lead to personal fulfillment, emotional reparation, and transformation.’ Malchiodi, C.1998, p.5.

2. CONTROL: ‘Artistic expression kindles dignity and self- respect and even when unable to control the most basic conditions of our lives we are able to experience a liberating sense of freedom and expressive power in artistic ability.’ McNiff, S.in Kalmanowitz, D & Lloyd, B. 2005, p.xiii

3. COMMUNICATION: ‘The creation of (an art work) provides the client and therapist with a concrete form depicting something of the client’s experiences with which both client and therapist can engage.’ Wood, MJM, p.1.

4. CATHARSIS: We ‘become involved…in heightened identification, catharsis, & insight…jogging (us) out of our old ruts of perception toward enlarged understandings and possibilities.’ Bertman, S.1999, p.3

5. CHANGE: ‘…the change to be regarded as most essential is the gaining of understanding of meanings within the experiencing self in context.’ Lett, W.2003

A SIMPLE SAMPLE SECONDARY- SCHOOL SESSION 1.Welcome: Ground rules for confidentiality, safety, freedom. Sharing. 2.Warm-up: Possible materials, use of space.

3.Making: silent observation 4.Enquiring: encouraging exploration/imagining/ discussing/ more work. 5.Reorienting for the day.

Sample works done (produced with permission) 1.This work was produced by an African youth. It expressed homesickness and showed the stories his mother back in Africa had told him about his village. 2.This showed a warrior he saw once, and led him to reveal his unhappiness, and his feeling that he was having to be a warrior, to get through his daily life.

3. This picture related to the anger the student felt about the abuse he was suffering at the house where he lived, and led to revelations about violence witnessed in Africa. 4. This picture was done after a great deal of work, and he saw it as a runner from his country winning a race, and as a picture expressing hope for the future, for him and his country.

‘Art therapy is a modality with special qualities for reparation, transformation, and self- exploration.’ M alchiodi, C. 1998, p.9.