What Is Art Therapy? • 37I have long admired two programs that rely heavily on volunteers to serve the needs
of children who have been traumatized. One of these is Free Arts for Abused Children
(FAAC), which began in 1977 when individuals who had worked with at-risk children set
out to reach them through art. The volunteers are trained and supervised by art therapists
(www.freearts.org). On the DVD you can see art therapist Elda Unger, one of the co-found-
ers, teaching a group of volunteers (B).
The other is DrawBridge, a program that has been serving homeless children since 1989.
It was founded by Gloria Simoneaux, seen on the DVD (C), an artist with clinical training
and a Registered Expressive Arts Therapist (www.drawbridge.org). Both of these programs
have expanded considerably, with organizations in other cities in the United States and in
Africa (D) modeled on the originals. Both provide art programs for vulnerable youngsters
in a way that strengthens their sense of joy and self-esteem, and both work to strengthen
family ties as well.
No matter how many professional art therapists we may eventually train, we will never
be able to fill the vast human need for the healing power of creative expression. I hope that
art therapists will be willing to share their expertise with others whose values are synchro-
nous with our own. Although others may disagree, I am convinced that collaboration will
ultimately serve to strengthen the discipline of art therapy.
Art Therapy and Child Therapy (DVD 2.6)
Play Therapy and Child Art Therapy
There is understandable confusion about the distinctions between play therapy and art ther-
apy with children. Here, too, the differences are not always visible on the surface. A session
of art therapy with a child or a group might look very much like play therapy, especially if
there is any media exploration or dramatization. This is true in several vignettes in Chapter
1, like those about Alan and Jeff. Art and play are closely related, since playfulness is part of
any creative process, and there is considerable artistry in good play therapy.
These commonalities are, however, analogous to the educational aspects of art therapy
and the therapeutic aspects of art education. In art therapy and art education, the modality
(art) is the same, but the goal (therapy vs. education) is different. In the two types of child
therapy, the goal (therapy) is the same, but the modalities (art vs. play) are different.
Even when dramatic play occurs in art therapy with children, there are still distinctions
between art and play therapy. Although most play therapists provide some art materials,
they are usually offered along with a range of other play equipment. A recent collection of
“favorite play therapy techniques” included many that used art media, but usually in struc-
tured activities designed for specific purposes. Art therapists are more likely to foster free
self-expression, even when specific tasks are utilized. Art therapists also generally provide a
greater variety of art materials, and are able to teach children how to use them effectively.
However, as art therapy has become better known, there are creative clinicians who have
wanted to learn what we have to offer. At least one prominent play therapist, Eliana Gil,
trained in art therapy and became an ATR, so that she could better understand how to
interpret what her patients created and how best to help them (Gil, 2006a, 2006b). You can
see and hear her on the DVD (A). Another edited a book on using the expressive arts to help
trauma survivors of all ages (Carey, 2006) to which I contributed the Foreword.
In other words, since play therapists had art materials in their playrooms long before
the development of the profession of art therapy (Moustakas, 1953, 1959; Rambert, 1949),