People We Serve • 183further work later on that we could begin to deal with his hurt by the analyst and his rage
at me for not being her.
It was only then that he could tell me how angry he was that I had not realized the extent
of his alcoholism, which he had minimized, just as he had hidden his pain from his father.
Fortunately, he had met a woman shortly after his first two-year period of therapy whose
concern helped him to finally go into rehabilitation.
After completing the program, becoming a father, and marrying the woman, Oliver
returned for further therapy. This time he was able to express feelings he had hidden from me,
especially hurt and anger. On many levels, it was clear that along with his physiological vul-
nerability, his addiction had been a classic instance of the search for “mommy in a bottle.”
Art Therapy for Artists
You might wonder whether art is an especially appropriate form of therapy for artists.
Most artists feel that their own art has been therapeutic for them, especially at times of
stress (Birkhauser, 1991; Sherman, 1994; Spencer, 1997). Many individuals have decided to
become art therapists because making art helped them to get through some serious crisis
in their own lives.
Some artists fear that any kind of psychotherapy will rob them of inspiration, but the
evidence is to the contrary (Kubie, 1958). Jackson Pollock’s drawings and paintings were
used extensively in his analysis, and may have accelerated the treatment (Wysuph, 1970).
Many art therapists have treated artists through art, like Josef Garai who helped a painter
to resolve “identity conflicts” (Ulman & Dachinger, 1975). Dissolving creative work blocks,
a subject often mentioned by Margaret Naumburg, is sometimes the goal of art therapy
(Landgarten, 1981).
Figure 8.14 A superwoman.