Psychoanalytic Art Therapy

Abstract

Based on psychoanalytic observations of child-parent interactions, analytic art therapists are concerned with the resolution of developmental tasks such as separation-individuation, including navigating the rapprochement crisis and achieving self and object constancy. Psychoanalytic art therapists agree on the importance of the patient's internal world, especially its representation in what Sigmund Freud called “transference”. Whether the focus is on art as therapy or art in psychotherapy, the following statements apply to individual, family, and group art therapy when it is psychoanalytic in approach: the setting, the therapeutic alliance, the task, stimulation, observation, activity, interviewing, the art product, confidentiality, and patience. The analytic art therapist is guided in behavior by what he or she feels will help the patient to improve. The emphasis is on freeing the personality to grow, and to be able to live, love, and play in a more creative fashion.

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