Arthur Robbins' comprehensive book develops the approach described in his earlier work and makes it accessible to students as well as to practising art therapists. The importance of the creative process, the development of the art therapist's personal resources, issues of personal identity and the synthesis technique requisite to professional practice are among the subjects covered in the book, which is based on object relations theory intertwined with other models of treatment. The author emphasizes transference and countertransference and introduces diagnosis as a means of offering indications for possible treatment rather than as a tool for categorization. His aim is to attempt to preserve the spirit and soul of the artist while applying modern day psychodynamic concepts to treatment practice.
Part 1: Integrating the personal and theoretical splits in the struggle towards an identity as an art therapist; becoming an art therapist; creativity development; the use of imagery; a creative arts approach to art therapy; the play of psychotherapeutic artistry and psychoaesthetics; resistance in art therapy - a multi-model approach; art therapist and psychic healer - description of a joint workshop; clinical considerations; art diagnosis; diagnostic indicators in the artwork of borderline and dissociative patients; developing therapeutic artistry - a joint countertransference supervisory seminar/sculpting workshop; counter-transference and the art therapeutic process with borderline patients; technique; materials; institutional issues. Part 2 Case studies: clinical applications; art therapy with a floating fortress, Linda Joan Brown; merger and separateness, Kristin Stonehouse; regressive reintegration, Anne Reilly; play, art and photography in a therapeutic nursery school, Ellen Nelson/Gee; the phantom's mask - a search for meaning, Michele M. Neuhaus; a case of chronic childhood abuse, Patricia Savage Williams; the use of film, photography and art with ghetto adolescents, Marbara Maciag.
Numerous and helpful illustrations integrate well with descriptions of creative sessions. Case studies at the end of the book are enlightening... the strength of this book is the author's basic premise that creativity improves psychological health; Robbins offers a variety of means by which to incorporate creativity into the therapeutic process. A Multi-Modal Approach to Creative Art Therapy accomplishes its stated goal: it is indeed a text that is not limited to one model, and just as art therapists must adapt techniques to the needs of each client and situation, readers can choose whatever model best suits their approach.
