From the author: What is art therapy and how does it work. Pie with this" (c) I already wrote once on the topic of why not every act of "creativity" is therapy, and so I decided to add to the story “Why not every act of drawing is art therapy.” As always, everything written below is my and only my idea of... You have the right to your personal opinion, which is welcome :) Part 1. Why I decided to write about this (you don’t have to read it and move on to part 2): 1. I often meet colleagues who love projective techniques and think that lambs, cacti, rose bushes, houses, trees... this is art therapy. No offense:) I know very competent psychoanalyst colleagues who consider gestalt a technique... and I never cease to regard them as very good specialists... but not in gestalt:). It will be interesting to see how it happens if you let go of the Superego (Controlling Parent) to “drink beer.” 2. I conduct art therapy seminars, and I can observe with my own eyes what happens to clients in the process of freely expressing themselves. How can a specialist and a client understand ice (what they are doing here) or not ice? Let's start from the beginning. Part 2 Non-diagnostic creativity What art therapy is not - a method of psychodiagnostics. In art therapy, we (as therapists) do not know what the norm is in general and for a specific person. There is nothing to compare with :) In fact, we are not interested in the result - the finished picture is a sculpture of movement. We are interested in the process. What happens inside the creative act? With the body, with feelings, with defenses? How does the client change, passing through thresholds and restrictions, fighting internal dragons and finally... accepting them? Why not diagnostics? The same person in the process appears from a new side, and everything that you knew about him a week ago is already a “distortion”. Therefore, I don’t try to diagnose the client: “so, you’re still a schizoid...”, “yeah, separation and individuation..." I just know that he has changed... enough to start over. Of course, this does not mean that we (therapists) are not interested in the symbols and images that appear in the "finished" works, the color palette . Interesting! Therefore, when the art therapist switches off, the psychoanalyst switches on: “Oh yes! Look at this script! Let’s talk about it, please!” But it is important to understand this is secondary to the birth process... and this is no longer quite art therapy. And at this moment I say to myself “STOP! What’s wrong with the client?” Part 3. Presenting yourself Sometimes the client’s desire to “discuss what happened” becomes an indicator of a flaw... my problem. Intellectualization is still a defense. Yes, top-order, but still protection. “Chattering.” And how easy it is to fall for this bait when you see the Gorgon Medusa looking at you from the wall. And now you are already in a discussion “there and then”... Why does this happen. There is a simple process that everyone being treated is probably familiar with. Step 1 - self-presentation - I declare the presence of I. I am. I wants to be We present ourselves (part of ourselves) when we do something spontaneous. Letting go of ourselves (as much as we can). Spontaneous dance, drawing, sand sculpture... Something without a frame, without a given theme. Everyone dances about their own thing. Yes, this element is diagnostic, because the frame appears... and presses. And my task, as a therapist, is very difficult - not to interfere... This is the most difficult thing! Allow the client's defenses to prevent him from being as long as necessary for Step 2 to occur. Step 2 - depression of child abandonment. Every time we go beyond the frame, conflict with the frame, we become “not good enough”... You are a bad girl, I don’t love you If you are bad, I won't talk to you. Aas was not tortured in childhood by silence or ignoring? If you are bad, I will leave you... mom leaves you on the street and “calmly” leaves... I allow myself to be... bad... anyone... and I can to lose love... they will abandon me SO. And then we chattly show the therapist “where is bobo”. Child sexual abuse, loss of loved ones... They got into youdraw...And we enter the zone of maximum discomfort, as much as we are ready to endure it. Pain, fear, sadness, anger. Welcome to the world, baby! Step 3 - Protection What happens when we get hurt? We defend ourselves. There are different defenses - more and less mature, but that’s not the point. The question is, are we ready to “suffer” a little, to be in pain, aware of it with our body and soul? Or do we need painkillers and more - more? Where do I run when I’m in pain? What defense? What does she give me? How does it work? What do I do after I have protected myself? Am I ready to take a step again and present myself to the world? The client goes through this path himself, all we can do is warn him about the dangers and be there. I can talk about my experience as a client and as a therapist. It is much easier not to fall into defense, or to get back on your feet when there is a “parental” equivalent nearby who unconditionally supports you for N thousand rubles per hour :) Fact! Part 4. Working with the client. Request Art therapist. A person who turns on music, gives out paint, clay...? But not everything is so simple. Yes, in art therapy we don’t talk as much as, for example, in psychoanalysis. We are interested in what is happening to us, but at the level of feelings, sensations, but rather in one word. But this does not mean that we do not talk at all. At the first stage, the client, just like everywhere else, formulates a request. Usually I ask: What are you do you want to change? Which one should I see? What to integrate? We cannot enter the space of the Shadow without understanding where we are going. The request is certainly a kind of stabilizing factor for the client: It seems to him that he is now in control of everything. And this is an important illusion that helps a person relax a little and enter into the process. And it’s not that the request doesn’t work. It works, but only in a way that seems true to our irrational part: If you want peace, love your chaos! Are you sensitive? - You are an extortionist racketeer! Do you want courage? - For once, be a pig! I'm so lonely... - You turn people into stone! Unexpected images, metaphors. And in the end, everything is clear to everyone without words. In one word, "Hmm..." So my task is to help formulate a clear one-dimensional request... And then determine what we will work with. Part 4. Working with the client. A shoemaker without boots The art therapist's arsenal is very rich and sometimes it is not so easy to make a choice. You need to focus on: 1. degree of preparation of the client, i.e. If it’s really important for you to fight windmills for 10 sessions, ask the artist to draw, the singer to sing, and the dancer to dance. It will be very “nice” or, as my friend says in such cases: “A lot of work has been done” 2. my own experience of “client” work with one or another type of “art” Do I draw “for myself”? Do I dance in the evenings ?Do I sing... at least in my soul? Or maybe I write poetry? How free am I in my creativity? able to go beyond one’s own boundaries? How often do I have discoveries like “is this really what I did?” And what do I know about the art with which I work? Who is my favorite artist (of the last month)? When was the last time I went to the ballet? Or am I a shoemaker without boots? I won’t trust myself to a therapist without personal therapy, a cometologist with bad skin, a stylist with a nest on his head... etc., I think you already understand, in than the meaning. Part 4. Working with the client. I'm nearby. Now we've decided what we're going to do. It would seem that's it. Give out the equipment and go have some tea. But no. The work is just beginning. Remember 3 steps, the good news is that the client will “fall” into step 2 (depression) on his own, without your help. Which means we just have to deal with steps 1 and 3. Step 1- “I don’t know where to start” You can give valuable instructions “for that guy” who can’t live without them. “Make a ball, now divide it into 8 parts...” , “Draw the background” Usually this is enough for the “guy” to “keep everything under control” Often I sit opposite and I'm starting to draw and sculpt. Out of nowhere, as a rule, clients pick up. Step 2 - “I feel bad.” Yes, that’s a fact. But it normal. It is important to explain to the client that this “pain” is not forever, that it is a step forward. That every time it will become less and less. And I'm nearby. Step 3