Art Therapy

Art Therapy generally has been found to be a useful method for psychotherapeutic work. Not only does it encompass less threatening, non-verbal techniques with patients that have profound difficulty verbalizing their feelings and thoughts; it can be used to open and expand verbal communication, as well (Crespo, 183). Art therapy, originally conceived by Edith Kramer, is meant to function as a way of supporting ego functioning by enhancing a sense of identity and self-esteem and in the process, fostering maturation in the patient. In other words, Art therapy complements or supports psychotherapy but does not replace it. Art therapy sessions, in short, are geared to reality-testing, which emphasizes mediating secondary process mechanisms of the ego rather than the primary cognitive processes found in free spontaneous drawings (Crespo, 183). The following research will look into Art therapy and how it affects different illnesses.

From the earliest days of psychoanalysis, the making of art was viewed according to the analyst's theoretical stance. This is illustrated in the attitudes of the two giants of Psychoanalysis - Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung. Freud's ambivalence is reflected in his view of the artist as 'not far removed from neurosis'. In Freud's view he/she is 'oppressed by excessively powerful instinctual needs' and 'turns away from reality and transfers all his interest and his libido too, to the wishful constructions of his life of fantasy, whence the path might lead to neurosis'. Freud described conflicting constitutional factors: 'a strong capacity for sublimation and a certain degree of laxity in the repressions'. But, in the same paragraph, Freud also wrote: 'there is, in fact, a path that leads back from fantasy to reality - the path, that is, of art'. The psychology of the 'true artist', he believed, was a convoluted journey from neurosis to ultimate fulfillment. The latter equated to 'honor, power and the love of women' (Eisdell, 3). Carl Jung was the forerunner of art therapy. He viewed art-making as a means of expressing the sacred and mysterious - an important element in the 'individuation' process. Jung used art in his own self-analysis and encouraged his patients to express themselves 'by means of brush, pencil or pen'.

Developing a strategy on the use of art as symbolic speech, British analyst Donald Winnicott converted a pre-existing drawing game into a 'technique' to engage his young patients at the start of therapy. He named it 'the squiggle-game', describing it as 'a game with no rules'. The focus is on engaging his patient, rather than the creation of a product for interpretation (Eisdell, 3). Winnecott would begin by drawing a squiggly line on a piece of paper, then allowing the patient to draw another squiggly line either connected to the other line or not. Then Winnecott would follow and do the same, stating that it is up to the person whose turn it is to decide where to put the next line. Over all, the squiggle game allows the child and the therapist to be connected more easily.

Robert Hobson also adapted a pre-existing game, a 'party game'. Hobson used this 'technique' to engage a withdrawn adolescent. Using a shared pencil and an old envelope, he invited the boy to play, the instructions being simply that 'someone draws a line and then someone else goes on with the picture. He viewed the technique as 'an invitation to explore the unknown, an adventure which calls for courage. Imaginative activity proceeded within a relationship - a verbal and non-verbal dialogue. As exemplified by both Hobson's 'party game' and Winnicott's 'squiggle game', both analysts specifically utilized these techniques in their initial interviews with difficult-to-engage adolescent patients (Eisdell, 4).

Art therapy can be used for many different types of people. Here we will look at art therapy with Schizophrenics, Autistic children and Anti-Social personalities. A Schizophrenic person does not have the ability to conceptualize with reality. They are unable to identify certain objects, but rather combine similar objects that may have the same characteristics for them. When some one with schizophrenia is asked to draw an object they are more likely to do what is called, fusion, diffusion and misidentification, in which the patient's impaired perceptual functioning including inability to distinguish foreground from background results in a two-dimensional art form. In addition, objects or parts of objects not ordinarily combined together are fused. Because the schizophrenic is operating according to the 'paleologic laws of primary process thinking, he fuses the identities of similar part objects, forms, thoughts, etc. to create a new and unique and sometimes bizarre concretized and fused entity (Crespo, 3). The schizophrenic has created another reality to help him/her cope with or escape from a world that is perceived as chaotic, fragmented and terrifying. For example, if the patient views the therapist strong and brave like a lion, when asked to draw the therapist, the patient will in fact draw what may look like a lion, because that's what they see when they think of the therapist. It is suggested that Art therapy sessions oriented towards reality, such as human figures, real objects in the environment, landscapes, etc. should be emphasized. A loose, permissive or spontaneous insight approach which emphasizes the release of unconscious material often increases anxiety and confusion which can result in disintegrated and chaotic drawing; feelings of discouragement and hopelessness can also increase (Crespo, 6).

A Schizophrenic's artwork lacks organization and is filled with fragmented, disconnected and bizarre images and forms. The schizophrenic's disturbed perceptual apparatus involves a shattered, regressed and disorganized ego. As a result, there is poor reality testing, depersonalization and confusion of self; poor gender identity, disturbance of self-esteem, feelings of failure, as well as helplessness along with relationship disorders with accompanying loneliness and isolation (Crespo, 6). With these factors in mind, the supportive therapeutic approach seems to be the most successful in that it serves as 'a means of supporting the ego, fostering the development of a sense of identity and promoting maturation in general. This approach directs its energies towards building a healthier functioning and more autonomous ego, increasing the ego's role in the life of the schizophrenic and inhibiting the already existing predominant and very active chaotic unconscious primary process mechanism. It views the art sessions as an entire learning experience through the development of the art medium itself.