Technique(s) • 163Multimodal Expressive Arts Therapy
The notion that individuals need to find the materials that suit them best is one to which
many art therapists subscribe. The related idea—that some media serve certain expressive
purposes better than others—is also one with which most art therapists would agree. Since
film, video, and animation involve action as well as imagery, they are excellent for the tell-
ing of stories. Because they can incorporate art, movement, music, and drama, they lend
themselves well to expressive therapy (DVD 7.10).
Although there are some practitioners who are fluent in several modalities, most art
therapists aren’t equally facile in other art forms. A few have been trained in two expressive
therapies, like Suzanne Lovell who found a deep compatibility between art therapy and the
kind of dance therapy called Authentic Movement (Virshup, 1993). Lovell’s sense of convic-
tion was especially strong, since a combination of the two helped her to successfully combat
her own illness (Lovell, 1990). Gong Shu (2004) has similarly integrated her training in
psychodrama and art therapy with traditional Chinese healing techniques. On the DVD is
an art therapy/psychodrama workshop she led (A).
Sometimes two expressive therapists work together, like Norwegian art therapist
Ase Minde and British drama therapist Sue Jennings, whose book on Art Therapy &
Dramatherapy (1993) reflects a respectful collaboration. Although one motivation is the
practitioners’ interest in learning from one another, it also seems as if more than one modal-
ity can sometimes better meet patient needs.
Drama therapist Ellie Irwin (Figure 7.13) and I have collaborated on art–drama groups,
(B) parent play groups, (C) and a study comparing responses of the same individuals to art
and drama diagnostic interviews. In that research, we found that some themes were more
easily expressed in art, and some were more easily expressed in drama—another asset of a
multimodal approach (Rubin, 2005a).
Just as it seems to help patients when art therapists are open to collaborating with other
clinicians, it also helps when therapists are open-minded, albeit not naively so. Fads and
techniques come and go rapidly in the lively world of psychotherapy. All therapists need to
Figure 7.12 Isaac’s “Sculpted Head with Victim.”