Art Therapy and Creative Aging offers an integrated perspective on engaging with older people through the arts. Drawing from the author’s clinical, research and teaching experiences, the book explores how arts engagement can intertwine with and support healthy aging. This book combines analysis of current development theory, existing research on creative programs with elders, and case examples of therapeutic experience to critically examine ageism and demonstrate how art therapy and creative aging approaches can harness our knowledge of the cognitive and emotional development of older adults. Chapters cover consideration of generational, cultural, and historical factors; the creative, cognitive and emotional developmental components of aging; arts and art therapy techniques and methods with older adults with differing needs; and examples of best practices. Creative arts therapists, creative aging professionals, and students who seek foundational concepts and ideas for arts practice with older people will find this book instrumental in developing effective ways of using the arts to promote health and well-being and inspire engagement with this often-underserved population.

Art and the therapeutic uses of art provide older adults with valuable ways in which to express and share their feelings, needs and fears, and with a resource for coping with life's major changes. This practical book is filled with step-by-step exercises for art therapists and other professionals to use in work with older adults, either individually or in groups. The author provides brief, imaginative warm-ups, which encourage participants to become more at ease expressing themselves creatively. She offers ideas for engaging and innovative creative projects across a range of media, including art, music, movement, poetry and creative writing, all of which can be adapted, personalised or combined to meet the particular needs of individual participants. Points to consider when working with this client group are explored, and case study examples, with participants' artwork, are included throughout. Appropriate for use with all relatively able older adults, including those with depression, anxiety or in the early stages of dementia, this will be an invaluable tool for art therapists as well as counsellors, psychotherapists, social workers and carers.

This book outlines a framework for art therapy with older adults rooted in a belief in the autonomy and self-efficacy of older adults, including those with dementia or other diseases of later life. Advocating for a more collaborative approach to art-making, the author presents approaches and directives designed to facilitate community engagement, stimulate intellectual and emotional exploration, and promote a sense of individual and collective empowerment. Relevant to community, assisted living, skilled nursing and dementia-care environments, it includes detailed case studies and ideas for using art therapy to tackle stigma around stroke symptoms and dementia, encourage increased interactions between older adults in care homes, promote resilience, and much more.

This text explores how art education can meaningfully address the needs of older adults as learners, makers, and teachers of art in formal and informal settings. It combines perspectives of museum educators, teacher preparation professors, art therapists, teaching artists, and older artists on what is meant by Creative Aging and the ways art education can support the health and well-being of this population. Most importantly, the book discusses what the field of art education can gain from older adult learners and creators. Chapters are organized into five sections: Creatively Aging, Meeting Older Adults’ Unique Needs, Intergenerational Art Education, Engaging Older Adults With Artworks and Objects, and In Our Own Voices: Older Adults as Learners, Makers, and Teachers. Within each section, contributors investigate themes critical to art education within aging populations such as memory loss, disability, coping with life transitions, lifelong learning, intergenerational relationships, and personal narrative. The final section focuses on accounts from older adult artists/educators, offering insights and proposing new directions for growing older creatively. Though ideal for art education faculty and students in graduate and undergraduate settings, as well as art education scholars and those teaching in multigenerational programs within community settings, this book is an expansive resource for any artist, student, or scholar interested in the links among health, well-being, and arts participation for older adults.

Actively engage older adults and help preserve their cognitive functioning using this innovative, integrative approach to therapeutic art and recreation. Use Therapeutic Thematic Arts Programming (TTAP(TM)) to create an enriching environment that effectively meets older adults' cognitive, emotional, physical, and social needs. In a clearly outlined nine-step process, Therapeutic Thematic Arts Programming involves exploring a broad theme through a range of artistic expressions, including music, dance, poetry, sculpture, and photography. Stimulating all areas of brain functioning, the TTAP method promotes older adults' creativity and encourages them to exercise their remaining strengths and abilities. The approach also increases social interaction with its focus on dynamic group interaction. While providing structure to creative art therapies, the TTAP method also allows for flexibility and individualization, allowing individuals within a group to have unique person-centered experiences. Appropriate for working with both well elders and those facing illness or disability, this integrative approach is solidly grounded in brain health research, biopsychology, and humanistic aging theories. Full of suggestions for themes and activities, Therapeutic Thematic Arts Programming will serve as a valuable manual for recreation therapists and activity professionals. Additionally, the book's discussion of current brain research, aging theories, and the benefits of creative art therapy make it a useful resource for instructors and students in the aging field. TTAP(TM) is a trademark of the author.

The Wiley Handbook of Art Therapy is a collection of original, internationally diverse essays, that provides unsurpassed breadth and depth of coverage of the subject. The most comprehensive art therapy book in the field, exploring a wide range of themes A unique collection of the current and innovative clinical, theoretical and research approaches in the field Cutting-edge in its content, the handbook includes the very latest trends in the subject, and in-depth accounts of the advances in the art therapy arena Edited by two highly renowned and respected academics in the field, with a stellar list of global contributors, including Judy Rubin, Vija Lusebrink, Selma Ciornai, Maria d' Ella and Jill Westwood Part of the Wiley Handbooks in Clinical Psychology series

This latest edition of The Creative Arts in Counseling is a powerful, evidence-based examination of how creative expression can be used in counseling with clients of various ages and backgrounds. It explores the clinical application of all of the major creative arts, including music, dance/movement, imagery, visual arts, writing/literature, drama, play and humor, and—new to this edition—animal-assisted therapy, therapeutic horticulture, and nature/wilderness experiences. The history, rationale, and theory behind each art form are discussed, in addition to its clinical benefits and uses in counseling settings. Each chapter contains a variety of practical exercises that clinicians, instructors, and students can incorporate immediately into their work, as well as "creative reflections" for personal and professional self-evaluation. The final chapter summarizes the 126 exercises that appear throughout the text so that readers can quickly access exercises that meet their needs. *Requests for digital versions from the ACA can be found on wiley.com. *To request print copies, please visit the ACA website here. *Reproduction requests for material from books published by ACA should be directed to [email protected]