How does the family art therapist understand the complexities of another’s cultural diversity? What are international family therapist’s perspectives on treatment? These questions and more are explored in Multicultural Family Art Therapy, a text that demonstrates how to practice psychotherapy within an ethnocultural and empathetic context. Each international author presents their clinical perspective and cultural family therapy narrative, thereby giving readers the structural framework they need to work successfully with clients with diverse ethnic backgrounds different from their own. A wide range of international contributors provide their perspectives on visual symbols and content from America, Canada, Britain, Ireland, Australia, Israel, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Trinidad, Central America, and Brazil. They also address a diversity of theoretical orientations, including attachment, solution-focused, narrative, parent-child, and brief art therapy, and write about issues such as indigenous populations, immigration, acculturation, identity formation, and cultural isolation. At the core of this new text is the realization that family art therapy should address not only the diversity of theory, but also the diversity of international practice.

Family Art Therapy is designed to help the reader incorporate clinical art therapy intervention techniques into family therapy practice. Expressive modalities are often used in work with families, particularly visual art forms, and there is already considerable evidence and literature that point to a positive link between the two. This text is unique in that it draws together, for the first time in a single volume, an overview of the evolution of the theories and techniques from the major schools of classic family therapy, integrating them with practical clinical approaches from the field of art therapy.

An integrated guide to the entire range of clinical art therapy. Its scope is immense, covering every age range in a variety of settings from schools and outpatient clinics to psychiatric hospitals and private treatment. Of special value are the extensive case studies and 148 illustrations.

This volume describes art therapy interventions for particularly dysfunctional families and explains the connections between the process of creating art and the curative process in meeting these families' needs. The first chapter examines distressed family systems, and psychotherapy in relation to the uses of art therapy. Subsequent chapters present a crisis intervention model for family art therapy and demonstrate the applications of this model with single-parent families, families affcetd by alcoholism or sexual abuse, and families of political refugees and disaster victims. More than 70 samples of the art produced by these families are reproduced and analyzed.

This work reflects the author's three decades of clinical practice with children and their families, and adults and their families. Written for students and professionals, this book integrates the two approaches: art therapy and family systems. Although much has been written on art therapy and much, much more literature exists on family therapy, few integrate the two theoretical approaches. The structure of this book reflects the author's personal approach to art. Her art media are painting and combining found objects. The overall theme of family can quickly be seen within it, but this theme is overlaid with art, archetypal patterns and meanings, and symbolic enactments. It is also interfaced with personality development, and in this 'era of the brain,' with neurobiological research. The introduction begins with a brief introduction to Randy and his Dad and Stepmother. Chapter Two begins with the question: 'What is a family?' Chapter Three introduces the reader to the 'Cycle of Love' and the family influences in personality development, seen in personality theorists and theories (e.g., Freud, Jung, attachment and object relations, Eriksson, and Piaget). Stories about Michelle, Elizabeth, Tucker and Carl provide theoretical examples. Since more and more family therapy practice includes violence associated with the unfilled basic human needs of nourishment and nurturing, Chapter Four, 'The Cycle of Violence,' begins with a discussion of violence and its effect on early childhood environments. Chapter Five continues the theme of violence within families, and Chapter Six, 'The Cycle of Healing,' includes a discussion of resilience illustrated by a variety of stories from an integration of family and art therapy. Appendix A is filled with the practical 'how to's' of family art therapy. Appendix B includes the 'how to' interventions, and Appendix C includes key terms and concepts of a select group of family therapy theorists.

An innovative guide to the practice of art therapy Since 1978, Judith Aron Rubin's Child Art Therapy has become the classic text for conducting art therapy with children. Twenty-five years later, the book still stands as the reference for mental health professionals who incorporate art into their practice. Now, with the publication of this fully updated and revised Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Edition, which includes a DVD that illustrates art therapy techniques in actual therapy settings, this pioneering guide is available to train, inform, and inspire a new generation of art therapists and those seeking to introduce art therapy into their clinical practice. The text illustrates how to: Set the conditions for creative growth, assess progress, and set goals for therapy Use art in individual, group, and family situations, including parent-child pairings, mothers' groups, and adolescent groups Work with healthy children and those with disabilities Guide parents through art and play Talk about art work and encourage art production Decode nonverbal messages contained in art and the art-making process Use scribbles, drawings, stories, poems, masks, and other methods to facilitate expression Understand why and how art therapy works Along with the useful techniques and activities described, numerous case studies taken from Rubin's years of practice add a vital dimension to the text, exploring how art therapy works in the real world of children's experience. Original artwork from clients and the author illuminate the material throughout. Written by an internationally recognized art therapist, Child Art Therapy, Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Edition is a comprehensive guide for learning about, practicing, and refining child art therapy.