Introduction to Art Therapy, B. Moon Chapters 5+6

A couple weeks ago in class I mentioned my curiosity about Bruce Moon's practice of creating artwork along song his clients. He never really explained why. In chapter 6 he explains, "I must emphasize here that I believe it is imperative to engage in art processes in the course of the art therapeutic encounter with the patient. This a vital element of art therapy practice, not only pragmatically, but ethically imperative. The courage that I honor as I struggle with my own imagery is infectious. It establishes a safe milieu in which the patient is enable to enter upon his own excursion into self-exploration. As his journey begins, his expressions trickle, ooze, gush, spew, and surge onto the page. It is my willingness to be with my own images that lays the groundwork that allows the patient to believe that I will understand his symbolic metaphors. If I can open myself to what he has expressed, the patient feels the twin edges of enjoyment: the vent of emotion for himself, and the awareness that he has been understood by another."

I LOVE this practice and I wish it was something embraced in art education. There have been times in my past teaching experiences where students wanted to see me make art but it wasn't something consciously planned and was more for entertainment. One problem that I feel may arise in this practice is the clients insecurities about their work- skill level, subject matter etc, compared to the therapists. Would a client feel their art work isn't as good as the therapist because the therapist has more experience/knowledge? If a therapist can work around this obstacle with his patient I feel this practice can be extremely effective- for both patient and therapist.

Guest Erin Mooney from Open Studio Project in Evanston

This week our guest speaker was Erin Mooney from Open Studio Project. I have never heard of this organization before now. I am drawn to their mission and can see how both art education and art therapy play a role here. The process of art making is emphasized and this is something I am acknowledging in my thesis, teaching experiences, and personal artwork. I was a little skeptical of the "no comment" policy that is implemented during the art making and sharing process. How can relationships be built if there is no communication? Possibly they could emphasize on positive commenting. Maybe because of my experiences in educational settings I am all for dialogue. After doing the activity it was easier to digest this "no commenting" policy. I was not proud of my collage and was happy not to hear comments from teachers and classmates suggesting composition changes, subject matter, etc. It was simply a therapeutic activity. I gain power from my own work and writings, not from what others have to say about it.

Introduction to Art Therapy, B. Moon Chapters 3+4

"The heart of the profession is experienced in moments that defy verbal description."
Relationships are formed by doing... doing art. I am starting to understand that this formation of relationships is a very important aspect to effective art therapy. This is something I believe true in educational settings as well. Maybe I'm not completely familiar with art therapy processes yet, but I think that relationship building may be easier in therapy settings rather than educational since there are so many standards and other outside factors interrupting that process in education. In therapy I feel the interruptions are primarily mental and can be overcome.

This book has been a very enjoyable read. I like the mix of the authors experiences as well as knowledge. An intriguing "situation" he has mentioned a few times is that of him creating art work along side his patients. I wish he would expand more on this. I am curious to know how this approach is effective.

Guest Judy Sutherland

It was great to meet our guest Judy Sutherland this week. She really reiterated the importance of the role of an artist as she showed her chalk/pastel. It was interesting that she showed her own journey through her artwork and not patients as I was expecting. The art activity we did was fun. I was eager to volunteer to be the guinea pig of the class and have the work i chose as well as my own evaluated and deciphered. I wanted to hear what people thought about me but I think it can be very difficult to figure that out through artwork. But I guess you learn this step thoroughly through a lot of experience and practice.

"Introduction to Art Therapy" B. Moon, Chapter 1+2

Reading this book makes me wonder why I am not in the art therapy field. I love what I'm doing in the art education field but I feel there is something missing. I love how the author, Bruce Moon, expresses his position that an art therapist is an artist as much as a therapist, if not more. This is something lightly discussed in the art education field... being an artist and educator. But in the beginning of this book he clearly acknowledging the role of the artist. I like to think of myself as an artist but this role has been overshadowed by other roles such as educator, researcher, volunteer, etc. Reading this encourages me to practice my own art making on the regular.

Another important notion deemed extremely valuable is love. Not only love for you profession/clients but love for your own art and work. This is a very desirable and intriguing aspect to the field that should be addressed in almost any profession or line of work, but sadly it isn't. This notion of love kind of reminds me of Paulo Freire and his stand point on education.

"Art Therapy: What it is and What it is Not" Article by Judith Rubin, 1982

Since I have many experiences as an art educator and have been immersed in art educational studies in graduate school the past two years, I've been wondering how art education and art therapy are related... or not related. A lot of my art teaching practices and intentions lend themselves to therapeutic situations. I guess I'm really curious to know how the process of art-making differs in education vs therapy. In this article Rubin states, that the primary distinctions are invisible and inside the head of the worker and, eventually, of the patient. This still doesn't completely answer my inquiry. I know that having a strong grasp on the therapy aspects including development, psychodynamics, and interpersonal relations are means of distinction but in the article she also says you need to know about yourself. I found this interesting. And after pondering it, it makes sense. You need to know how you work (feel, behave, etc) before you can learn to see how others work. This is never really brought up in educational practices.

I know this article is just an introduction to the field and didn't answer my curiosities just yet. But for those who have never had these curiosities- now they do.

I'm ready for more....

New semester- new blog

I'm excited about this class and excited to start this blog. I know this blog isn't extremely creative but I know it will be effective in responding to readings, lectures, etc. Since I am on the computer a lot working on my thesis this allows me to add posts at my convenience. Enjoy!!