Understanding Client Imagery in Art Therapy

Abstract

This study offers a preliminary investigation into the question: How do art therapists make meaning from viewing client-made art? Art therapy literature on making meaning from client art is reviewed. The Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) model used in art education and museum education is also briefly discussed for its parallels to this study’s findings. An adapted form of grounded theory for data collection and analysis was used, leading to emer-gent themes that suggest that understanding client art requires more than analyzing content and aesthetic elements. More specifi-cally, this inquiry offers the consideration that viewing client art is a dynamic practice that can be described by three processes: cyclical, relational, and personal. “The need to learn to read visual images is an urgent one that touches at all levels of our society ” (Oring, 2000, p. 58).

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