Pub Date : 2022-11-15DOI: 10.1080/07421656.2022.2131356
J. Schwartz, Patricia A. St. John, Carol Greiff Lagstein, Michelle C. Pate, Heather J. Denning
Abstract Undergraduate art therapy education programs in the United States have endeavored to prepare students for graduate level art therapy training and entry level positions in art facilitation since the mid-1970s with minimal published guidelines or established professional standards. The authors reviewed the art therapy literature regarding current undergraduate and graduate educational instructional content, and educational pathways. We scrutinized current undergraduate guidelines and standards for instructional content among allied disciplines and investigated current undergraduate level employment opportunities and skills required for these positions. Based on these findings, we propose seven undergraduate instructional content areas appropriate for non-clinical pre-professionals. Recommendations include expanding the scope of practice to include undergraduate level art facilitators, developing scaffolded learning outcomes, establishing tiered credentialing, and evaluating outcomes.
{"title":"Instructional Content in Undergraduate Art Therapy Education","authors":"J. Schwartz, Patricia A. St. John, Carol Greiff Lagstein, Michelle C. Pate, Heather J. Denning","doi":"10.1080/07421656.2022.2131356","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/07421656.2022.2131356","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Undergraduate art therapy education programs in the United States have endeavored to prepare students for graduate level art therapy training and entry level positions in art facilitation since the mid-1970s with minimal published guidelines or established professional standards. The authors reviewed the art therapy literature regarding current undergraduate and graduate educational instructional content, and educational pathways. We scrutinized current undergraduate guidelines and standards for instructional content among allied disciplines and investigated current undergraduate level employment opportunities and skills required for these positions. Based on these findings, we propose seven undergraduate instructional content areas appropriate for non-clinical pre-professionals. Recommendations include expanding the scope of practice to include undergraduate level art facilitators, developing scaffolded learning outcomes, establishing tiered credentialing, and evaluating outcomes.","PeriodicalId":8492,"journal":{"name":"Art Therapy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2022-11-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45908630","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}
Pub Date : 2022-10-02DOI: 10.1080/07421656.2022.2144649
Jordan S. Potash
“Everything Hitler did in Germany was legal.” I stared at these words on a wheat-pasted poster accompanied by a stenciled portrait of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who wrote them in his 1963 Letter from Birmingham Jail. The Washington, DC–based street artist, who goes by the moniker Absurdly Well, generally illustrates modern politicians and leaders. At this moment in July 2022, though, he offered a historic reference as a contemporary warning. There has been a notable global rise of authoritarian trends—even among democratic societies (Freedom House, 2021). Foreboding signs include voter suppression and election manipulation; disinformation promotions and independent press reductions; populist assertions and migrant castigations; subgroup accusations and economic destitutions; queer defamations and judiciary deprivations; free speech limitations and political opposition eliminations; labor union restraints and civil society constraints. The arts are often casualties, simultaneously censored and refashioned into propaganda under the guise of alternative perspectives (Batycka, 2021). Gesson (2020) posited that people tend to disregard alarms that are deemed pass e:
{"title":"Antifascist Art Therapy","authors":"Jordan S. Potash","doi":"10.1080/07421656.2022.2144649","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/07421656.2022.2144649","url":null,"abstract":"“Everything Hitler did in Germany was legal.” I stared at these words on a wheat-pasted poster accompanied by a stenciled portrait of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who wrote them in his 1963 Letter from Birmingham Jail. The Washington, DC–based street artist, who goes by the moniker Absurdly Well, generally illustrates modern politicians and leaders. At this moment in July 2022, though, he offered a historic reference as a contemporary warning. There has been a notable global rise of authoritarian trends—even among democratic societies (Freedom House, 2021). Foreboding signs include voter suppression and election manipulation; disinformation promotions and independent press reductions; populist assertions and migrant castigations; subgroup accusations and economic destitutions; queer defamations and judiciary deprivations; free speech limitations and political opposition eliminations; labor union restraints and civil society constraints. The arts are often casualties, simultaneously censored and refashioned into propaganda under the guise of alternative perspectives (Batycka, 2021). Gesson (2020) posited that people tend to disregard alarms that are deemed pass e:","PeriodicalId":8492,"journal":{"name":"Art Therapy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2022-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42742410","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}
Pub Date : 2022-10-02DOI: 10.1080/07421656.2022.2131951
L. Hinz, Megan L. VanMeter, V. Lusebrink
Abstract This Viewpoint essay serves three purposes: (1) revealing the life experiences of Vija Lusebrink that shaped what would become the pantheoretical art therapy assessment and treatment model known as the Expressive Therapies Continuum; (2) clarifying the broad and deep scope of this model; and (3) encouraging the art therapy audience to recognize this model as a complex marriage of information processing and agents of change. The Expressive Therapies Continuum (ETC) lends itself to outcome-informed treatment in art therapy as a systems-oriented means of gauging client responses to multidimensional interventive inputs and modifying the therapist’s approach accordingly. It is important for art therapists to share a unified understanding of the ETC that is consistent with the ideas of its co-creators.
{"title":"Development of the Expressive Therapies Continuum: The Lifework of Vija B. Lusebrink, PhD, ATR-BC, HLM","authors":"L. Hinz, Megan L. VanMeter, V. Lusebrink","doi":"10.1080/07421656.2022.2131951","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/07421656.2022.2131951","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This Viewpoint essay serves three purposes: (1) revealing the life experiences of Vija Lusebrink that shaped what would become the pantheoretical art therapy assessment and treatment model known as the Expressive Therapies Continuum; (2) clarifying the broad and deep scope of this model; and (3) encouraging the art therapy audience to recognize this model as a complex marriage of information processing and agents of change. The Expressive Therapies Continuum (ETC) lends itself to outcome-informed treatment in art therapy as a systems-oriented means of gauging client responses to multidimensional interventive inputs and modifying the therapist’s approach accordingly. It is important for art therapists to share a unified understanding of the ETC that is consistent with the ideas of its co-creators.","PeriodicalId":8492,"journal":{"name":"Art Therapy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2022-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44395230","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}
Pub Date : 2022-10-02DOI: 10.1080/07421656.2022.2085491
Noah Hass-Cohen, Rebecca Bokoch, Katherine Goodman, J. McAnuff
Abstract This publication presents the qualitative findings from a mixed-method pilot study on three- and four-drawing protocols for chronic pain, which have demonstrated significant positive quantitative results. For this report, thematic analysis and magnitude coding of drawing titles, narratives, and characteristics including resource representations and integration, was conducted. Findings demonstrated positive changes associated with specific drawing protocol prompts and sequences. Participants (N = 25) reported positive changes, demonstrated in part by their final drawings, which integrated depictions of their resources. Findings included positive shifts in cognitive and affective functioning, social support, stress levels, psychological processing, pain experiences, and representations of self. These findings suggested further support for the clinical utility of drawing protocols for chronic pain.
{"title":"Art Therapy Drawing Protocols for Chronic Pain: Qualitative Findings From a Mixed-Method Pilot Study","authors":"Noah Hass-Cohen, Rebecca Bokoch, Katherine Goodman, J. McAnuff","doi":"10.1080/07421656.2022.2085491","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/07421656.2022.2085491","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This publication presents the qualitative findings from a mixed-method pilot study on three- and four-drawing protocols for chronic pain, which have demonstrated significant positive quantitative results. For this report, thematic analysis and magnitude coding of drawing titles, narratives, and characteristics including resource representations and integration, was conducted. Findings demonstrated positive changes associated with specific drawing protocol prompts and sequences. Participants (N = 25) reported positive changes, demonstrated in part by their final drawings, which integrated depictions of their resources. Findings included positive shifts in cognitive and affective functioning, social support, stress levels, psychological processing, pain experiences, and representations of self. These findings suggested further support for the clinical utility of drawing protocols for chronic pain.","PeriodicalId":8492,"journal":{"name":"Art Therapy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2022-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43424229","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}
Pub Date : 2022-09-09DOI: 10.1080/07421656.2022.2110807
Bani Malhotra, D. Gussak
Abstract This practice paper demonstrates an art therapy session that revealed the internalized monstrous and demonic identities amongst those who have sexually offended. Several of the participants represented their shadow-self as: (1) nebulous demonic self-representations, (2) internalized monstrous selves as hurtful or uncontrolled, or (3) a dichotomy of power and helplessness. Making these negative self-images visible during such an art therapy process can inform the initial step toward reconciliation, especially within the transitional space of reintegrating into society post-incarceration. Implications demonstrate the use of metaphorical expression and how such images can address the stigmatized and internalized negative self-perceptions of those who have sexually offended.
{"title":"Reconciling Demonically-Monstrous Self-Images in Those Labeled as Sex Offenders","authors":"Bani Malhotra, D. Gussak","doi":"10.1080/07421656.2022.2110807","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/07421656.2022.2110807","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This practice paper demonstrates an art therapy session that revealed the internalized monstrous and demonic identities amongst those who have sexually offended. Several of the participants represented their shadow-self as: (1) nebulous demonic self-representations, (2) internalized monstrous selves as hurtful or uncontrolled, or (3) a dichotomy of power and helplessness. Making these negative self-images visible during such an art therapy process can inform the initial step toward reconciliation, especially within the transitional space of reintegrating into society post-incarceration. Implications demonstrate the use of metaphorical expression and how such images can address the stigmatized and internalized negative self-perceptions of those who have sexually offended.","PeriodicalId":8492,"journal":{"name":"Art Therapy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2022-09-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41598733","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}
Pub Date : 2022-09-09DOI: 10.1080/07421656.2022.2110808
Juliet Jue
Abstract This study set out to quantitatively examine the influence of art practice on art therapy students’ subjective well-being. A total of 158 Korean art therapy graduate students participated in the study, completing the Art Practice Scale and Concise Measure of Subjective Well-Being. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation, and regression analyses. The analyses revealed positive interrelationships between art practice and subjective well-being. A comparison of the two sub-variables art competency and attitudes toward art work showed that actually engaging in art work is more important than having a positive attitude toward art. The study’s implications highlight the importance of art practice in art therapy students’ psychological happiness.
{"title":"The Effect of Art Practice on the Happiness of Art Therapy Students","authors":"Juliet Jue","doi":"10.1080/07421656.2022.2110808","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/07421656.2022.2110808","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This study set out to quantitatively examine the influence of art practice on art therapy students’ subjective well-being. A total of 158 Korean art therapy graduate students participated in the study, completing the Art Practice Scale and Concise Measure of Subjective Well-Being. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation, and regression analyses. The analyses revealed positive interrelationships between art practice and subjective well-being. A comparison of the two sub-variables art competency and attitudes toward art work showed that actually engaging in art work is more important than having a positive attitude toward art. The study’s implications highlight the importance of art practice in art therapy students’ psychological happiness.","PeriodicalId":8492,"journal":{"name":"Art Therapy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2022-09-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46845457","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}
Pub Date : 2022-08-17DOI: 10.1080/07421656.2022.2100690
Noah Hass-Cohen, Rebecca Bokoch, G. Fowler
Abstract The Compassionate Arts Psychotherapy (CAP) program integrates self-compassion and arts psychotherapy practices, which are informed by a compassionate arts media (CAM) continuum. A mixed methods pilot program evaluation with a pretest-posttest single group design, followed by an open-ended survey, was conducted. Participants included 18 graduate students who engaged in ten 2.5-hour meetings, over the course of two weekends. Results showed statistically significant increases in self-compassion, and cognitive and affective mindfulness over time and at two-week follow-up. Qualitatively, participants reported positive gains, specifically: openness to new experiences, here-and-now mindful awareness, and self-compassion. These results suggest the clinical utility of CAP and provide novel perspectives on the directionality of the traditional art therapy media continuum.
{"title":"The Compassionate Arts Psychotherapy Program: Benefits of a Compassionate Arts Media Continuum","authors":"Noah Hass-Cohen, Rebecca Bokoch, G. Fowler","doi":"10.1080/07421656.2022.2100690","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/07421656.2022.2100690","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The Compassionate Arts Psychotherapy (CAP) program integrates self-compassion and arts psychotherapy practices, which are informed by a compassionate arts media (CAM) continuum. A mixed methods pilot program evaluation with a pretest-posttest single group design, followed by an open-ended survey, was conducted. Participants included 18 graduate students who engaged in ten 2.5-hour meetings, over the course of two weekends. Results showed statistically significant increases in self-compassion, and cognitive and affective mindfulness over time and at two-week follow-up. Qualitatively, participants reported positive gains, specifically: openness to new experiences, here-and-now mindful awareness, and self-compassion. These results suggest the clinical utility of CAP and provide novel perspectives on the directionality of the traditional art therapy media continuum.","PeriodicalId":8492,"journal":{"name":"Art Therapy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2022-08-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43194106","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}
Pub Date : 2022-08-11DOI: 10.1080/07421656.2022.2100688
Eileen Misluk, Haley Rush
Abstract Quality of life (QoL) is influenced by physical and psychological health, but includes subjective qualities that are inherent in social and cognitive processes necessary for healthy aging and overall well-being. A quantitative study analyzed the effects of art therapy for 14 aging adults utilizing the Brunnsviken Brief Quality of Life Scale (BBQ) at pre, mid, and post 32-week study. Regression analysis showed significant positive changes in two areas: Importance of Learning and Leisure. Participating in art therapy increased the importance of learning and leisure, that are influential factors in QoL for aging adults. This demonstrates that art therapy has the potential to support healthy aging.
{"title":"Art Therapy Impact on Aging Adults’ Quality of Life: Leisure and Learning","authors":"Eileen Misluk, Haley Rush","doi":"10.1080/07421656.2022.2100688","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/07421656.2022.2100688","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Quality of life (QoL) is influenced by physical and psychological health, but includes subjective qualities that are inherent in social and cognitive processes necessary for healthy aging and overall well-being. A quantitative study analyzed the effects of art therapy for 14 aging adults utilizing the Brunnsviken Brief Quality of Life Scale (BBQ) at pre, mid, and post 32-week study. Regression analysis showed significant positive changes in two areas: Importance of Learning and Leisure. Participating in art therapy increased the importance of learning and leisure, that are influential factors in QoL for aging adults. This demonstrates that art therapy has the potential to support healthy aging.","PeriodicalId":8492,"journal":{"name":"Art Therapy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2022-08-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45099441","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}
Pub Date : 2022-08-05DOI: 10.1080/07421656.2022.2097833
Ashley Hartman, C. Campenni
Abstract This randomized controlled study examined the effects of creating open circle mandalas with divergent instruction type (distraction and reflection) and medium type (resistive and fluid) on state anxiety, mood, and mindfulness. The design followed a 2 (instruction type) × 2 (medium type) × 3 (time) mixed experimental design. Reflective writing tasks were analyzed for linguistic expression. Results indicated anxiety reduction and improved mood across all conditions as evidenced by explicit assessment. Implicit assessments determined enhanced mindfulness for reflection instruction type and fluid medium type. Practical connections to the Expressive Therapies Continuum (Lusebrink, 1990) and Media Dimensions Variable (Kagin & Lusebrink, 1978) frameworks are discussed.
{"title":"The Effect of Medium and Instruction While Creating Mandalas","authors":"Ashley Hartman, C. Campenni","doi":"10.1080/07421656.2022.2097833","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/07421656.2022.2097833","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This randomized controlled study examined the effects of creating open circle mandalas with divergent instruction type (distraction and reflection) and medium type (resistive and fluid) on state anxiety, mood, and mindfulness. The design followed a 2 (instruction type) × 2 (medium type) × 3 (time) mixed experimental design. Reflective writing tasks were analyzed for linguistic expression. Results indicated anxiety reduction and improved mood across all conditions as evidenced by explicit assessment. Implicit assessments determined enhanced mindfulness for reflection instruction type and fluid medium type. Practical connections to the Expressive Therapies Continuum (Lusebrink, 1990) and Media Dimensions Variable (Kagin & Lusebrink, 1978) frameworks are discussed.","PeriodicalId":8492,"journal":{"name":"Art Therapy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2022-08-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44320504","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}
Pub Date : 2022-07-28DOI: 10.1080/07421656.2022.2095182
Julie Lusk
Irene Renzenbrink’s book, An Expressive Arts Approach to Healing Loss and Grief: Working Across the Spectrum of Loss with Individuals and Communities, indeed addresses the deep and wide spectrum of individual and collective grief and the power of the expressive arts for healing. As I sit here writing this review, I think on my current clinical work with teens and adults who are grieving over recent losses; a father, a husband, a son, a daughter, a job, a home, previous social lives, and ideas about how things used to be and “should be still.” The past few years have been a barrage of news and social media outlets reporting on social and political injustices, immigration crises, world conflicts and the global pandemic. These past few years have heightened the awareness of many coming into my office of the untenability of escape from grief and loss. No one is immune. Renzenbrink highlights the disparate types of loss, expanding one’s understanding of grief; “What all these experiences have in common, although in varying degrees, is distress, disruption, and a wounding of body, mind and spirit” (p. 30). Renzenbrink is internationally recognized for her experience and expertise as a social worker, educator, author, and expressive arts therapist working in palliative care and grief and loss counseling and education. The author discovered art therapy at a point in her life when she was processing her own experience of loss and identified through her own studies “a way of working with grief that was nourishing, imaginative, and had a healing power that I had never before experienced” (p. 24). In clear and concise writing, her new book highlights the powerful use of the expressive arts in working through grief and loss, while broadening our understanding of individual and community grief. As Renzenbrink writes, “working through grief helps people to risk investing in new relationships, purposes, and projects” (p. 46). In her first two chapters, Renzenbrink walks readers through an extensive review of historical and theoretical studies on grief and bereavement. She describes the field’s initial emphasis on symptomatology and medical definitions then comprehensively highlights the main models, theories, and people involved in expanding the field. She details “death systems” (p. 30) which encompass the people, places, and times of remembering associated with death and dying. She covers various types of grief and bereavement including disenfranchized grief, and resilience and post traumatic growth after grief and loss have occurred. In chapter one, Renzenbrink introduces the concept of poiesis, a theme that runs throughout the entirety of the book. Renzenbrink defines poiesis as “the idea of shaping ourselves and our world through art making” (p. 56). As Levine writes in the book’s foreword, poiesis is a fundamental principle in Renzenbrink’s work with grief and loss, “she brings the possibility of self-overcoming to all who suffer, not by mastering the pain
{"title":"An Expressive Arts Approach to Healing Loss and Grief: Working Across the Spectrum of Loss with Individuals and Communities","authors":"Julie Lusk","doi":"10.1080/07421656.2022.2095182","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/07421656.2022.2095182","url":null,"abstract":"Irene Renzenbrink’s book, An Expressive Arts Approach to Healing Loss and Grief: Working Across the Spectrum of Loss with Individuals and Communities, indeed addresses the deep and wide spectrum of individual and collective grief and the power of the expressive arts for healing. As I sit here writing this review, I think on my current clinical work with teens and adults who are grieving over recent losses; a father, a husband, a son, a daughter, a job, a home, previous social lives, and ideas about how things used to be and “should be still.” The past few years have been a barrage of news and social media outlets reporting on social and political injustices, immigration crises, world conflicts and the global pandemic. These past few years have heightened the awareness of many coming into my office of the untenability of escape from grief and loss. No one is immune. Renzenbrink highlights the disparate types of loss, expanding one’s understanding of grief; “What all these experiences have in common, although in varying degrees, is distress, disruption, and a wounding of body, mind and spirit” (p. 30). Renzenbrink is internationally recognized for her experience and expertise as a social worker, educator, author, and expressive arts therapist working in palliative care and grief and loss counseling and education. The author discovered art therapy at a point in her life when she was processing her own experience of loss and identified through her own studies “a way of working with grief that was nourishing, imaginative, and had a healing power that I had never before experienced” (p. 24). In clear and concise writing, her new book highlights the powerful use of the expressive arts in working through grief and loss, while broadening our understanding of individual and community grief. As Renzenbrink writes, “working through grief helps people to risk investing in new relationships, purposes, and projects” (p. 46). In her first two chapters, Renzenbrink walks readers through an extensive review of historical and theoretical studies on grief and bereavement. She describes the field’s initial emphasis on symptomatology and medical definitions then comprehensively highlights the main models, theories, and people involved in expanding the field. She details “death systems” (p. 30) which encompass the people, places, and times of remembering associated with death and dying. She covers various types of grief and bereavement including disenfranchized grief, and resilience and post traumatic growth after grief and loss have occurred. In chapter one, Renzenbrink introduces the concept of poiesis, a theme that runs throughout the entirety of the book. Renzenbrink defines poiesis as “the idea of shaping ourselves and our world through art making” (p. 56). As Levine writes in the book’s foreword, poiesis is a fundamental principle in Renzenbrink’s work with grief and loss, “she brings the possibility of self-overcoming to all who suffer, not by mastering the pain","PeriodicalId":8492,"journal":{"name":"Art Therapy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2022-07-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45290777","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}
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