Child Art Theraphy
Chapter One
Roots
Personal and Professional
Although my personal roots and those of my chosen discipline are not
identical or even parallel, I believe it is useful for the reader to know
something of the background of the practitioner as well as of the origins of
the profession. Both provide the context within which this book was written
and can best be understood. I begin, therefore, with some thoughts
about the sources of my own childhood interest in art, in order not only
to introduce myself, but also to offer some ideas about how and why art is
therapeutic.
Personal
The roots of my interest in art are deep and old and personal. And even
after many years of psychotherapy, I am still not sure of all of the meanings
for me of making, facilitating, and looking at art. I know that sometimes
my pleasure was primarily visual. Like all children, I was curious about
what could not be seen, what was hidden inside the body or behind closed
doors. So it was exciting to be able to look with wide-open eyes, because in
art looking was permissible, while it was so often forbidden elsewhere. I still
find ... read full excerpt from Child Art Therapy, 25th Anniversary Edition ebook
