116 • Introduction to Art Therapy
by David Henley (D) (2002), described work in a class of disturbed adolescents not only in
more than one art form, but also integrating psychoanalytic concepts with cognitive and
behavioral ones. Natalie Rogers’s (E) chapter integrating person-centered therapy with dif-
ferent art modalities in the humanistic section could equally well have been in the integra-
tive one.
All of the chapters in this section of Approaches exemplify what I believe Bernard Levy
meant when he wrote, “While divergent viewpoints can be ‘integrated’ as a conceptual act
and even rationalized with an eclectic philosophy, the rationale must not be so broad as to
espouse laissez-faire. Integration of divergence need not mean that ‘anything goes.’”
Theory, Technique, and Art Therapy
Art Therapists as Theorists
Art therapists are attracted to the field because they like both art and people, and they tend
to be curious as well as compassionate and creative. For some, the curiosity extends beyond
wanting to understand the people they see and the art that is created, to the creative pro-
cess that seems to work so well in psychotherapy. This very combination can make theory
building endlessly fascinating. Since in many ways art therapy is “a technique in search of a
theory” (Rubin, 2005a), it has been fortunate for the field that these restless minds loved to
explore new ideas in relation to art therapy (DVD 5.8).
Thus, Margaret Naumburg (19 6 6) in her later years was busy reading archeologist
Siegfried Gideon and applying his findings to art therapy (A). Edith Kramer (2000) wrote
extensively about the implications of Konrad Lorenz’s work in ethology for art therapy (B).
Joy Schaverien (1995) used anthropology to amplify her understanding, offering us new ways
to think about familiar phenomena, like the art as a talisman or a scapegoat. All art thera-
pists who have worked out ways of applying different theoretical constructs have done so by
Figure 5.15 Shaun McNiff, expressive therapies.