Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #192831 in Books
• Published on: 1993-05-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 235 pages

Synopsis
This book shows how the expressive arts therapies contain the potential for renewal in both art and psychotherapy. The author first describes the theoretical basis for his vision of art as medicine, citing the archetypal psychology of James Hillman, writers such as D.H. Lawrence and Friedrich Nietzsche, mythologies such as Mircea Eliade, Henri Corbin and British scholar Jane Harrison and others. He then discusses his methods, including interpretation through performance and storytelling, collaborative creation, and dialoguing with paintings, as opposed to talking about paintings. Finally, he offers an illustrated examination of drawings, paintings and dreams, demonstrating how interacting with the products of the imagination can lead to growth and transformation for the healthy as well as the sick. The author also wrote "The Arts and Psychotherapy", "Educating the Creative Arts Therapists", "Fundamentals of Art Therapy" and "Depth Psychology of Art".

Customer Reviews

Too long, too wordy
I like the premise of this book, namely, that the art produced by patients in psychiatric clinics, etc, should not be used for diagnostic or psychoanalytic purposes but viewed for what it is, Art.Anything else is reductive and patronizing. But the author takes so long to point this out, repeatedly, and in such dense, theoretical language that the book became a bit of a chore. I enjoyed the concrete examples he gave, both of his own work and some of his clients'-I would have liked to have seen more of it.

Interesting, but writing style is too wordy.
McNiff's writing style is very dense and hard to grasp. But if you can persevere, he has had some interesting experiences using art as a therapeutic technique.