42 • Introduction to Art Therapy
2000; Kluft, 1993; Klorer, 2000; Meijer-Degen, 2007; Milia, 2000; Miller, 1986; Murphy, 2001;
Schreiber, 1974; Simonds, 1994; Spencer, 1997; Spring, 1993, 2001; Tinnin & Gantt, 2000).
The number of recent books attests both to the increase in this patient population and the
awareness by clinicians that the arts are vital in helping those who have been traumatized.
These patients desperately need a way of “telling without talking,” the title of a book by two
art therapists (Cohen & Cox, 1995) about their work with people suffering from dissociative
identity disorder (DID), formerly known as multiple personality disorder (MPD).
Art Therapy and Expressive Therapies (DVD 2.9)
It is easy to tell the difference between art therapy and close relatives like music, movement,
dance, drama, or poetry therapy—at least when each is offered separately. But there is con-
siderable confusion about approaches that use multiple modalities. Multimodal approaches
are usually called by names like “expressive [arts] therapy” or “creative [arts] therapy.”
Although there are a few individuals with the ability to evoke and to facilitate expression
in more than one art form, such people are rare. More often, a therapist has training in one
creative art modality, along with an openness to and comfort with others.
The following vignette is about the close relationships among all expressive modalities
that comes naturally to young children. It is also present in adolescents and adults, who
simply need more help to access their creativity. Although Carla’s treatment was primarily
through art, she also used drama and filmmaking in her therapy.
Expressive Arts Therapy Ends Nightmares: CARLA (8)
The oldest of four little girls, eight-year-old Carla had been a pretty happy child. But shortly
after the birth of the latest baby, she began to have nightmares almost every night, often
wetting the bed as well. Her tired mother brought her to a clinic, and she was referred to me
for weekly individual art therapy (A). For many months she refused to talk about or to
draw her scary dreams, but instead painted beautifully colored “ bars” behind which
the monsters were hidden (1).
One day when she couldn’t decide what to make, I suggested a “scribble drawing.” Carla
must have been ready to find and to represent her “Nightmare Monster,” for that is what
she made, telling the story as she drew (2). The monster caught first one little girl, then
another, then Carla too. After showing all three girls in the monster’s clutches, she drew
one yelling “Help!” Picking up a red tempera marker, she pounded vigorously on the paper,
calling the blotches “soldiers,” whom she hoped would be able to rescue the children.
Throughout most of the drama, Carla was uncertain about the outcome. At the very end,
however, she declared with relief that the soldiers would win and the monster would be
killed (Figure 2.11).
For months Carla drew monsters of all shapes and sizes, using a variety of media (3). For
a while, she cut out the monster drawings and placed them inside cut-paper cages she had
carefully constructed. And for two weeks she insisted that the caged monsters be locked in
my desk drawers. As Carla became more familiar and comfortable with these images, it was
possible for her to extend the fantasy in dramatic play.
One week she spontaneously used soap crayons and painted my face as the nightmare
monster, asking me to pretend to attack her. The following week, she reversed roles and
became the monster, attacking me as the fearful child (4). It was during this period that the
nightmares stopped. Art allowed Carla to see the scary-mad monster, while drama allowed
her to safely feel her anger.