First Few Pioneers Of Art Therapy example essay topic

Kelly Towle Art Therapy Semester 1 My first few attempts to write this paper were very frustrating. I was discouraged at not being able to find information over the internet. My search led me to the City Library, where I also found limited resources. It was suggested I try the University Library.

It was there that I found books on the topic and once I began to write, the process took on a life of its own. I was drawn to this population from my own personal experiences. During my formative teen years, I spent some time in a locked Youth Detention Center. Overwhelming and turbulent feelings of anger, confusion, shame, and loneliness consumed me on a daily basis.

Important decisions were being made in regards to my welfare, however, no-one ever consulted me in the process. Since I was unable to give voice to those feelings, I recoiled inside and stayed there for many years. It took time and therapy to unravel all those mixed emotions. I believe if I'd been exposed to a creative medium, such as Art Therapy, I may have been able to open up, and let out some of those very dark, scary feelings. Making art in a juvenile detention center, or any kind of jail setting, has been rare in the U.S. until very recently. It is slowly beginning to change.

My feeling is it's important to try and facilitate a means of expressing one's self when locked behind bars. Not only is it a constructive way to fill time, it has also been reported to be a positive form of treatment. From 1940 to 1942, art was taught to delinquents at the N.Y.C. Reformatory; and in 1965 two prison art programs were described in the "Bulletin". From 1963 ti 1965, Taro Pasto, a psychologist with an interest in art, was given a grant to study the usefulness of art therapy in California Institutions -- including the Department of Corrections and Youth Authority. An art therapist who worked with Pasto, used projective drawings to evaluate defendants for the criminal jsut ice system. Bette Levy published her work at a women's correctional facility.

At a 1979 Conference, a number of presentations were given reflecting the growing use of art therapy with delinquent youths, and a paper on art therapy with prisoners in solitary confinement. The first few pioneers of art therapy were persistent and had a somewhat rebellious nature. Since this was relatively new territory in the field of art / behavioral science, no-one was quite sure how to categorize or define it. Art Therapists have chosen a field that has been and continues to be controversial. Does it belong in the arts, or is it a behavioral science? It's a very diverse field that helps people free stuck energy from within to bring about a resolution to personal conflicts.

When the human spirit is unshackled from pain, doors open to new growth. One's capabilities to be of service to others multiplies through this freeing of dark energies. THE ART THERAPY SOURCEBOOK By: Cathy Malchiodi ART THERAPY IN A CHILDREN'S COMMUNITY By: Edith Kramer ART THERAPY: AN INTRODUCTION By: Judith A. Rubin.