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Essay Subject: Discusses how art is used to assist integration of personality.... More...

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Paper Abstract: Discusses how art is used to assist integration of presonality. Variety of practices with different aims. Use of art therapy with physically disabled persons, the mentally ill, temporary injured persons, anorexic patients, cancer patients. Qualifications of art therapists; their techniques. Creative art and working out of conflicts. Artistic expression and self esteem. Paper Introduction: Even though art therapy has been used in some fashion since at least the first half of the twentieth century its range of helpful effects is still only partially explored and therapists constantly invent new ways to use the arts to assist people with physical disabilities and psychological problems. The depth of possibilities inherent in this therapy are expressed by one art therapist who asks that the reader imagine a medicine so powerful that "it could revitalize your spirit, giving you a dose of self-esteem and a joyful purpose in life" while also "induc[ing] deep meditation, allowing you to forget your pain and resolve any fears about the future, thereby boosting your immune system" (Longman, 1994, p. 64). But in many instances there is a lack of knowledge about art therapy--among caregivers as well as among those who could benefit from it. As Ulman (2001) points out, the Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. The use of art therapy has been shown to havean enormous impact in many cases. (1989). Inthe forties and fifties Margaret Naumberg theorized about the relationshipbetween analysis and art therapy, arguing that this approach was valuablesince the unconscious was released in spontaneous art making and the imagesthe patient made were a form of communication between patient andtherapist. 18). A whole range of conditions--from the mentally ill to thedisabled to the victims of diseases, such as cancer--have been helped byart therapy. References DeVore, S. (1994). Art therapy is still employed in this fashion as anadjunct to analytic treatment. What all art therapy has in common, however, isthat engaging in an art practice is "used in some attempt to assistintegration or reintegration of personality" (Ulman, p. AmericanJournal of Art Therapy, 4 (1) 16-2 . In this approach it is the art that takes precedence sinceit requires the mastery of skills and materials (which are often completelyunfamiliar at the outset of art therapy). Art-making enabled the direct expression of the material ofdreams, fantasies and other internalized experiences as pictures or shapesand such material was far less likely to be censored by the patient'sconscious mind. 17). 66). In other cases, such as the anorexic patient, Mary, described byDeVore (1989) a combination of arts therapies proved to be the best route.When asked to produce a clay mask that conveyed her image of her self Maryproduced an angry bull with a chain around its neck which she described as"the part that will not allow me to eat" (quoted in DeVore, p. 16). This is the case, for example, with people who have developedserious physical handicaps. Inhis account of the experience Pepion said that his reaction to theprejudices he had faced--first because of race and then because ofdisability--was expressed in his art: "Painting allows me to be a personbeyond the limitations of racial prejudice and disability" (quoted inLongman, p. Ulman, E. AmericanArtist, 58(622), 64-68. And Longman (1994) recounts the stories of two Native Americanartists who had been injured. Arts therapy: Creativity that heals. 2 ). Maryalso worked with a dance/movement therapist who assisted her in alteringthe false notions she had about her bodily appearance. In an informal survey of thirtyart therapists, for example, Ulman discovered that nearly half of theseprofessionals (most of whom worked as part of psychiatric teams) conceivedof their work as aiding in the spontaneous emergence of "symbolic speech"in the form of plastic and graphic art work and many of these therapistsalso "minimized any other special contribution of art activity to thetreatment of the mentally ill" (p. But one of the drawbacks is the historicalsplit, at least for visual-arts therapists, that has existed between thosewho place greater emphasis on art and those who make therapy their centralconcern. LikeFittipaldi, Naranjo says that he "could only see what's in my mind and whatI see with my fingers. There are also instances, however, in which art therapy may be one ofthe modes employed with people who are not mentally ill, per se, but areemotionally maladjusted or lacking in self-esteem or in danger of seriousdepression. The depth of possibilities inherent in this therapy areexpressed by one art therapist who asks that the reader imagine a medicineso powerful that "it could revitalize your spirit, giving you a dose ofself-esteem and a joyful purpose in life" while also "induc[ing] deepmeditation, allowing you to forget your pain and resolve any fears aboutthe future, thereby boosting your immune system" (Longman, 1994, p. The term "art therapy" is used here to refer primarily to work withthe visual arts. http://info@lisafittipaldi.com/ Longman, R. Artist Lisa Fittipaldi, for example, lost most of her eyesight inearly middle age. This is trueeven among those therapists whose work is with physically disabled personswhere art therapy can assist in mental and physical rehabilitation. The quadriplegic Ernie Pepion became apainter--employing a mechanically adjustable easel and an arm support. Although, since these are still emerging fields(even though they have existed for such a long time), there are manyemployers, including psychiatrists and special schools that use the termart therapist to refer to many people even though "no similar educationalpreparation, no set of qualifications, nor even any voluntary associationbinds [them] together" (Ulman, 2 1, p. In thisapproach the creative act accomplishes at a metaphorical level the kind ofworking-out of conflicts sought by therapists. CurrentHealth 2, 15(8), 2 -22. As DeVore (1989) notes, the term is sometimes used torefer to a number of activities--although the more general "arts therapy"or "creative therapy" work better--and therapists can be certified byassociations for dance, music, and drama therapies as well as for therapyemploying the visual arts. The struggle of thementally ill person is to achieve the proper balance between instinctualurges expressed by the id and the rules the superego tries to apply. But this concept has also had aconsiderable impact on the broader field. Fittipaldi, L. 21). so my concentration is intense" (quoted in Longman,p. Theartistic process is one in which the individual applies great perseveranceand discipline in order to master skills and control materials in asatisfying manner but must also "maintain access to the primitive impulsesand fantasies that constitute the raw material for his creative work"(Ulman, p. But until the broad range of art's effects on the damagedperson is understood and well known art therapy will be an under-used toolin the healthcare arsenal. 17). The latter group, which believes that "preoccupation withartistic goals must be minimized in favor of a specialized form ofpsychotherapy" consists mainly of psychoanalysts (Ulman, 2 1, p. 68). Other art therapists surveyed by Ulman concentrated, instead, on thehealing quality that is inherent in the creative process itself--arationale for art therapy that was first examined in detail by EdithKramer, another psychoanalyst, in the late 195 s (2 1, p. (2 1). 17). The problems of certification and general recognition forqualifications are being addressed by the American Art Therapy Associationand a number of educational institutions have begun to offer certificationin the various specialties. 16). Creating art: Your Rx for health. In all of these cases patients in danger of serious depression andloss of self-esteem were provided with the means to deal with the anger,frustration, and fear that resulted from conditions that seriouslychallenged their moist fundamental self-concepts. But the practice of art doesnot, in itself, bring about a cure and no art therapist who works with thementally ill "considers art therapy a possible substitute for psychotherapyin the more conventional sense" (Ulman, 2 1, p. 18). (2 1). Both therapistsworked, of course, in a team with physicians and psychiatrists who werenotably open to the arts' potential for healing. As Ulman(2 1) points out, the term is used to refer to a variety of practices withmany different aims and there are numerous different kinds of certificationand even many art therapists who practice without extensive training. Andart therapists are employed at "psychiatric hospitals and nursing homes, atdrug treatment centers schools for the handicapped, juvenile detentionhomes, and sometimes, even in special education classes in public schools"(DeVore, 1989, p. This, of course, is oneof the principal problems faced by art therapists--an understanding of theprocess by those professionals who should be turning to them forassistance. And Michael Naranjo, who was blinded by a grenade inVietnam, described the process whereby he became a sculptor. Art therapy: Problems of definition. She can no longer see "color or distance, dimension orprint," yet this former CPA turned to painting--an art she had neverpracticed before--as a means of maintaining a healthy grasp on life andavoiding despair over the loss of profession and pastimes (Fittipaldi,2 1). 64).But in many instances there is a lack of knowledge about art therapy--amongcaregivers as well as among those who could benefit from it. Even though art therapy has been used in some fashion since at leastthe first half of the twentieth century its range of helpful effects isstill only partially explored and therapists constantly invent new ways touse the arts to assist people with physical disabilities and psychologicalproblems. The literature is replete with accountsfrom therapists about people who have suddenly experienced debilitatinginjuries that have, in part, been surmounted through the use of arttherapy. Lisa Fittipaldi: Art from the mind's eye.Online. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.

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