International Journal of Art Therapy: Inscape最新文献

{"title":"Brief, structured, group art therapy for women with breast and/or gynaecological cancer","authors":"Nga Chee Tristan Chan, Debbie Michaels","doi":"10.1080/17454832.2022.2088818","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17454832.2022.2088818","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Background This paper describes a structured group approach for women vulnerable to psychological distress following treatment for breast and/or gynaecological cancer. Aims Set in Hong Kong, the aim was to develop and pilot a brief art therapy intervention sensitive to local concerns and the specific needs of service-users. Methods A mixed methods study was developed and piloted in two phases over six-years in collaboration with female service-users recovering from breast and/or gynaecological cancer treatment. Key therapeutic goals and core themes were identified in phase 1 leading to the piloting of a six-session structured intervention with six groups in phase 2. This was evaluated using qualitative and quantitative methods: through service-user feedback and reflections; informal feedback captured through the art therapy process; and pre and post assessment of emotional distress (Distress Thermometer) and mental wellness (C-SWEMWBS). Results A consistent six-session structure was developed addressing four therapeutic goals: stress release and relaxation; amelioration of psychological and emotional distress; exploration of self-image; promotion of self-acceptance and awareness. Six core themes relating to loss and readjustment were established through the art therapy process. Participants experienced statistically significant reductions in psychological distress and increased mental well-being. Conclusion A new brief, structured, group art therapy approach was developed for women recovering from breast and/or gynaecological cancer treatment. Implications for practice/policy/future research The study contributes to the evidence base for the efficacy of art therapy in psycho-oncology and highlights the importance of service-user involvement in the design of a tailored, culturally sensitive, intervention responsive to local concerns. Plain-language summary This paper describes a brief art therapy group approach for women in recovery from treatment for breast and/or gynaecological cancer who are finding it difficult to adjust to changes in their bodies and the way they see themselves in the world. The aim of the project was to explore the use of a participatory approach to develop and test a brief art therapy intervention designed to meet the specific needs of such women. The project took place in Hong Kong, in a community cancer service offering support with the emotional impact of a cancer diagnosis and treatment. The theme-based group model was developed in two phases over six years in collaboration with female participants, all of whom were over the age of eighteen and had received treatment for breast and/or gynaecological cancer in the previous two years. Four therapeutic goals were identified: relaxation, reduction of emotional distress; exploration of feelings about oneself in the world, and awareness and acceptance of various aspects of oneself and one’s situation. Common issues relating to feelings of loss and difficulties adjust","PeriodicalId":39969,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Art Therapy: Inscape","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47762831","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Reimagining art therapy for the digitally-mediated world: a Hexagonal Relationship","authors":"S. Haywood, B. Grant","doi":"10.1080/17454832.2022.2084124","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17454832.2022.2084124","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Art Therapists have long been aware of the intersubjective complexities that are evoked in art therapy in relation to images, art-making and their attendant processes. These have often been understood with reference to the psychodynamic concepts of transference and countertransference. In this paper we ask, what happens to these processes when art therapy moves online and becomes digitally-mediated? How do the dynamics of ‘the Virtual’ affect the image and art-making, and the therapeutic relationship? Drawing on Schaverien and Jung’s ideas about transference and countertransference, we propose a new model or ‘map’ of Art Therapy which helps to think about these questions, which we call a ‘Hexagonal Relationship’. To date, published literature has tended to foreground the logistics and practicalities of moving art therapy online, with consideration of complex interpersonal dynamics occupying less of a central space in emerging narratives about digitally-mediated art therapy. We suggest that applying our model to practice could potentially support art therapists to access deeper, less conscious and perhaps more symbolic levels of material in online work, in service of the client’s process. We invite art therapists and clients to consider our model with reference to their own experiences of digitally-mediated art therapy, and to test out our questions and hypotheses in their own contexts. Plain-language summary Art Therapists work with the idea that the images made in art therapy are affected by the relationship between the person making the image (often known as ‘the client’), the art therapist, and the environment in which the art therapy session takes place. Making and reflecting on images is a way of understanding and working with whatever is going on for the client, both in their ‘external’ life and also in their ‘internal world’ (for example, their thoughts, feelings, imaginings and beliefs). A lot of art therapy now happens online, particularly since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and we are all part of the digital world in terms of how we communicate and relate with others. We think it is helpful to consider how art therapy (including the therapeutic relationship, art-making processes and the images made) might be affected by the digital environment and so we have written this paper to explore these ideas. We show readers a diagram of what we call the ‘Hexagonal Relationship’ to help explain what we mean. We think this will help us to understand more of what happens in art therapy in the digital world, making this kind of therapeutic help more effective and meaningful for clients and their art therapists. We hope that clients and art therapists will test out these ideas for themselves and come into a conversation with us (perhaps through papers like this one, published in art therapy journals) about how well our ideas stand up to actual experience. Video Abstract Read the transcript Watch the video on Vimeo © 2022 British Assoc","PeriodicalId":39969,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Art Therapy: Inscape","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46684946","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Healing boundaries: a teenager's experience of art therapy integrated with Somatic Experiencing","authors":"R. Hetherington, Federico Gentile","doi":"10.1080/17454832.2022.2080239","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17454832.2022.2080239","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Background Sensorimotor Art Therapy acknowledges the importance of Somatic Experiencing (SE) in its development as a physiological technique to treat trauma. Both disciplines seek to regulate the nervous system, favouring stress management and affect regulation. This article promotes the integration of SE within psychodynamically-oriented art therapy pathways, so that psychological and physiological techniques can compliment each other. Context This paper is based on an interview with 13-year-old Federico Gentile (pseudonym). He has had weekly individual art therapy sessions for two years. Art therapy began 15 months after he began living with his adoptive parents. Approach Trauma can be defined as the rupture of a boundary on many different levels (physiological, psychological, social). A common thread throughout the sessions was the testing and repairing of boundaries. The therapist herself found it necessary to break two boundaries: giving the user a gift and integrating SE techniques from outside our field. Outcomes The young boy (as lived-experience-author) explains how he sees and defines himself describing which interventions helped him be ‘more controlled now’ and see his life ‘in colour, instead of just grey’. Conclusions Treating trauma requires a complex approach, focused in the here and now, ignoring the mind’s theory of ‘should’ and responding to the body’s ‘felt sense’. Implications for Research SE has enhanced my ability to work physiologically, integrating bodily sensations with affect and imagery. Further research could offer guidelines towards an integrative approach that could be useful to other psychodynamically trained art therapists working with attachment trauma. Plain-language summary Trauma has physical as well as psychological consequences and therefore needs healing in both these aspects. A form of art therapy known as ‘sensorimotor’ that focuses on bodily sensations and muscular (motor) responses has been developed for this purpose (pioneered by Cornelia Elbrecht), based on knowledge gained from Somatic Experiencing (pioneered by Peter Levine). I am trained in Sensorimotor Art Therapy and have found that further training in Somatic Experiencing is helping me introduce this outlook into my art therapy practice, allowing me to shift my focus when necessary from the art materials to the body, exploring the body’s response as it interacts with the materials. I believe this could be useful to other art therapists who wish to broaden their horizons in this direction. I interviewed 13-year-old Federico Gentile (pseudonym) in order to present his experience of art therapy from his perspective. At the time of interview, Federico had done art therapy with me for 2 years. We began sessions 15 months after he began living with his adoptive parents. I find it helpful to think of trauma as an experience that goes beyond our limits in many different ways: it challenges our physical, mental and social limits of toleration. As","PeriodicalId":39969,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Art Therapy: Inscape","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-06-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43338152","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Art therapy for immigrant Korean youth: indications of outcomes, acceptability and satisfaction","authors":"Soo-Yeon Kim, Young-Ok Lee, Seo-Young Lee, Min Sun Kim, Han Choi","doi":"10.1080/17454832.2022.2066144","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17454832.2022.2066144","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Background Art therapy is useful for immigrant youth to reduce depression, anxiety and stress through visualised images. Aim This study determined indications of psychological outcomes, acceptability and satisfaction of art therapy among Korean immigrant youth. Methods A quasi-experiment (one-group pre-, post-test) design, with 25 young people (13–24 years old) in the Republic of Korea receiving five weekly sessions of art therapy from November 2020 to March 2021. Patient Health Questionnaire-9, Generalised Anxiety Disorder-7 and Perceived Stress Scale were used as psychological measurements to determine the programme's indications of outcomes; acceptability and satisfaction were measured. Results The level of depression severity and perceived stress level was improved and the level of depression severity was maintained at the three-month follow-up as a result of art therapy. According to the acceptance rate, 79.2% found it useful and 78.2% found it enjoyable. Conclusions Art therapy for Korean immigrant youth has the promising result. However, extensive study is necessary to rigorously examine its effectiveness and develop interventions suitable across cultures. Implications for practice This study showed that art therapy could be an acceptable and efficacious therapeutic mental health intervention for immigrant youth who face challenges with verbal communication and undergo acculturative stress. Plain-language summary This study was conducted to examine the outcomes of psychological measurements, and acceptability of, as well as satisfaction with, five sessions of art therapy delivered to 25 Korean immigrant youths (13–24 years old). The study found positive changes perceived by immigrant youths. The levels of depression severity and perceived stress were improved, and the reduced depression severity was maintained at the three-month follow-up. The study also reported art therapy as 79.2% found it useful and 78.2% found it enjoyable, contributing to their psychological stability. Overall, art therapy could be an acceptable and efficacious therapeutic mental health intervention for immigrant youths, who face challenges with verbal communication and experience acculturative stress.","PeriodicalId":39969,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Art Therapy: Inscape","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-05-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44364944","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Therapist and client experiences of art therapy in relation to psychosis: a thematic analysis","authors":"H. Barrett, S. Holttum, T. Wright","doi":"10.1080/17454832.2022.2046620","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17454832.2022.2046620","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Background Evidenced-based theory of art therapy for people experiencing psychosis is relatively under-developed, especially in terms of the detail of what happens in art therapy sessions, and the role of the artmaking. Aims To explore in-session processes of art therapy from the viewpoint of both service users and art therapists using reflexive thematic analysis. Method Twelve participants, six service users and six art therapists, were interviewed. Results From the analysis, four main themes were created, specifically ‘safe space’, ‘power of artmaking’, ‘challenges’ and ‘supporting recovery’. Conclusions The findings offer triangulated themes from art therapists and service users and explicate the role of the artmaking. Artmaking offers service users a space to express and contain their feelings, needs, wishes and fears within the artwork. This can start a dialogue and provides them with an opportunity to shift how they view their artwork and themselves. Practice implications Artmaking helps service users express non-verbal and embodied material, which could then be explored through a therapeutic dialogue. Service users who struggle with verbalising their thoughts and feelings may particularly benefit from art therapy. Plain-language summary This study explored the processes of art therapy from the viewpoint of both service users and art therapists. Twelve participants, six service users and six art therapists, were interviewed. From the analysis, four main themes were created: ‘safe space’, ‘power of artmaking’, ‘challenges’ and ‘supporting recovery’. The results suggest artmaking offers people the opportunity to communicate their experiences within the artwork. This can start conversations, which may be particularly helpful when words are difficult, and provides people with an opportunity to shift how they view their artwork and themselves. Limitations, research recommendations, and clinical implications are discussed.","PeriodicalId":39969,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Art Therapy: Inscape","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-04-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44982781","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"New voices for an evolving profession","authors":"Ali Coles, Helen Jury","doi":"10.1080/17454832.2022.2058749","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17454832.2022.2058749","url":null,"abstract":"The contribution of writing by trainees, newly qualified practitioners and early career researchers to art therapy has only recently begun to receive the attention it deserves for the academic, practice and theoretical strength it can display. Often, novel and inspiring approaches are explored by those early in their careers or just entering the profession, through a deep and reflective engagement with personal creativity and curiosity. This can have a refreshing and dynamic impact on the profession. This issue of the International Journal of Art Therapy (IJAT) presents the winning entries to the 2021 IJAT ‘Early Career Researcher Art Therapy Research Paper Prize’ and ‘New Practitioner Practice Paper Prize’. These biennial prizes are awarded by the British Association of Art Therapists (BAAT) and Routledge Publishers. The aim of the prizes is to celebrate and share valuable and innovative work produced by those new to practice and research, and to encourage others to begin to research and evidence their work, ideas and creative energies. This initiative runs alongside other IJAT developments to diversify the Journal’s author base, and the IJAT board now includes a Lead Associate Editor for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, as well as Trainee, New Practitioner and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Advisors. New Practitioner entrants were required to be currently enrolled on an Art Therapy Masters course, or within three years of graduation, with Early Career Researcher entrants enrolled on an MA/MSc/MRes/MPhil/PhD or within three years of graduation. The prizes were judged by a panel of Lead Associate Editors (Helen Jury, Ali Coles), Associate Editors (Liz Ashby, Jamie Bird, Johanna Czamanski-Cohen, Anna Playle, Patricia St John Tager), and a previous Prize winner (Rachel Preston), chaired by the Journal Editor, Alex McDonald. Judging criteria included quality of content and writing, and significance to the field of art therapy. Winners were announced by BAAT CEO Gary Fereday at the BAAT Attachment and the Arts conference in November 2021. The 2021 prizes were the first to include an Early Career Researcher prize. Previous prize-winning and runner-up papers by New Practitioners included Joy Chong’s (2015) on looking at art psychotherapy through the lens of interpersonal neurobiology, Sian Stott’s (2018) on copying and attunement in art psychotherapy, Rachel Preston’s (2019) on the potential of art therapy for the UK armed forces, Sarah Furneaux-Blick (2019) for her paper exploring making art alongside clients, and Emily Hollingsbee (2019) for her paper on mural work within a Greek refugee camp. For 2021, entrants were required to follow IJAT’s research and practice paper templates and to submit via the Journal’s online portal, in line with the usual IJAT submission process. The judges were encouraged by the substantial number of entries and selected a winner for each category, together with two runners-up for the research category and one for the","PeriodicalId":39969,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Art Therapy: Inscape","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45116613","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Art therapy from around the world: school-based and trauma-focused approaches","authors":"Z. Moula","doi":"10.1080/17454832.2022.2031021","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17454832.2022.2031021","url":null,"abstract":"It is with great honour to start the new year as the Deputy Editor for the International Journal of Art Therapy (IJAT), stepping up from my previous role as an Early Career Research Editor. In line with IJAT’s new aims and scopes (IJAT Aims & Scope), I am committed to contribute to the timely and rigorous peer-reviewed publication of original, ethical, and high quality research, practice and opinion articles. I am also especially interested in the review and publication of codesigned research and practice, the inclusion of service user and lived experience perspectives in all aspects of the journal’s work. The first issue of 2022 is focused on two key areas of research and practice: working with service users with experiences of trauma, and school-based art therapy. Two of these studies were conducted in Israel (Kaspy et al., 2021; Regev, 2021), one in Tanzania (Luzzatto et al., 2021) and one was a systematic review which included 44 international studies (Bowen-Salter et al., 2021). The four articles are summarised below, highlighting the key implications for future research, policy, and practice.","PeriodicalId":39969,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Art Therapy: Inscape","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46988329","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Untitled by Lucy Wainwright","authors":"","doi":"10.1080/17454832.2022.2031020","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17454832.2022.2031020","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":39969,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Art Therapy: Inscape","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44086708","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The four-sided reflecting mirror: art therapists’ self-portraits as testimony to coping with the challenges of online art therapy","authors":"Liat Shamri-Zeevi, A. Katz","doi":"10.1080/17454832.2021.2001024","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17454832.2021.2001024","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Background This study explored the ways in which online art therapy and its use of digital computer screens as an involuntary outcome of the COVID-19 pandemic, has affected art therapy. Aims It examined the visibility and self-concept experiences of art therapists as manifested in their self-portraits. Method Sixteen art therapists were asked to draw their self-portrait from their online image, and then responded to a semi-structured interview. Six stages of thematic analysis were used to define the themes that emerged from the interviews and the self-portraits, which was complemented by a phenomenological evaluation of the art products. Results The analysis revealed three main themes: locating oneself in the online setting of art therapy, the image of the art therapists as reflected on screen and in their self-portraits, and the art therapist-client relationship in the online creative therapy space. Conclusions and implications for practice This online therapeutic context, which forms a new four-sided set of relations, is dubbed the ‘four-sided reflecting mirror’, since therapist and client see both themselves and each other on the screen. The findings suggest that producing self-portraits as seen onscreen enabled the art therapists to achieve a greater understanding of the online medium and as such can contribute to advancing the goals of therapy. Plain-language summary During the COVID-19 lockdowns, many forms of therapy could no longer take place in person, and shifted online. Art therapists face specific challenges in providing online treatment because the relationship between the therapist, the client and the artwork is disrupted. The choice of art materials often depends on what the client has available. The home setting does not always provide a safe haven for client expression. Eye contact and visibility are affected by the quality of the internet connection and the camera. Therapeutic work online raises the issue of seeing and being seen. In this study, 16 art therapists were asked to draw their self-portraits using their onscreen image as a model and then take part in interviews. Three main themes emerged: locating oneself in the online setting of art therapy, the image of the art therapist as reflected onscreen and, in the self-portraits, and the therapist-client relationship. The therapists considered that the need to position themselves in the online space required containment, flexibility, and a rapid adaptation to change by both the therapist and the client. These themes are conceptualised as a four-sided reflecting mirror, where the therapists, their image, the clients and their images all interact. During an online session, the art therapist is both present and absent from the client’s creative space in a way that affects the arrangement and movement in the room, the creative process, the nature of the intervention and the observation of the artwork. The four-sided mirror shows how ‘I see myself and how the client sees ","PeriodicalId":39969,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Art Therapy: Inscape","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-12-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44999749","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"But is it art therapy? Working with children with complex health conditions","authors":"Eleanor Polihronis","doi":"10.1080/17454832.2021.1995454","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17454832.2021.1995454","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Background There are growing numbers of young children with complex life-limiting conditions as well as varying degrees of physical, sensory and cognitive limitations currently surviving birth. Context As a trainee art therapist, I needed to clarify exactly what art therapy actually was and how to implement it with this clientele, which initially looked the least likely of the creative therapies to be practical. This article offers an account of my journey providing art therapy to a ten year-old girl during my final year trainee placement within a children’s hospice and what she contributed in terms of my development and understanding. Approach Neurobiological studies of sufferers of trauma (who can display similar restricted sensory, emotional and cognitive processing capacity) suggest that art can function in a direct manner on the brain, enabling expression and communication. Art therapy becomes feasible with these children if their anger and frustration is seen as embodied very much like trauma as generally understood. Initial sessions concentrated on creating routines and structures without expectation of an art product even though these could be mistaken for sensory or messy play. Outcomes Finally, my client engaged with art materials and was able to employ controlled gestures resulting in making marks on paper. A noticeable positive change over my client’s attitude occurred. Conclusions By not focussing on expectations around the marks produced in terms of art, a therapeutic relationship developed. Implications for research Neurobiological studies involving these children as a specific group and art therapy are recommended. Plain-language summary This article offers an account of providing art therapy to a ten year-old girl who has the cognitive facility of someone much younger, is registered blind, has limited fine-motor skills, and has a life-limiting degenerative neurological condition. That she could engage in any form of making art (an often assumed prerequisite of art therapy) may seem improbable. As a result, children with similar abilities are more likely to be offered sensory or messy play, as these might appear immediately more directly accessible. Nevertheless, art materials do feature in messy/sensory play, and though the end result may, indeed, present as a mess, drawing on neurological theory I reason this could still result in therapeutic value as a mode of expression/communication. Part of the initial difficulty for me involved issues around what art therapy was. Consequently, I struggled with the idea of whether what I was doing with my client was art therapy. Although, at times, I felt I was offering sensory or messy play, I was finally able to accept that I had done so in the service of art therapy. A key factor was to do with the role of the art therapist as ‘container’ for the client’s emotions. The art therapist’s role is therefore upheld as essential to defining whether it was art therapy or not. Much of the","PeriodicalId":39969,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Art Therapy: Inscape","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-11-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44270419","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}