186 • Introduction to Art Therapy
81, despite some significant health problems, she seemed genuinely optimistic about herself
and life, and clearly enjoyed the chance encounter.
It’s Never Too Late: HANNAH (64)
For Hannah, a woman in her sixties who had been sexually abused by a family friend as a
little girl, and who had been subtly rejected by her mother, her first foray into therapy was
an anxiety-provoking event. She had come because one of her sons had gotten into drugs,
and seemed to be on a self-destructive collision course. Like many mothers, she worried that
she herself had been the cause.
Hannah was also restless, now that her children had left home and she was alone with
her workaholic husband. She was unhappy about herself and with her own lack of direction,
feeling that she had played roles defined by others all of her life. Although she couldn’t say it,
Hannah was really yearning for a sense of Self, wanting to find her inner voice (DVD 8.8).
Frustrated by the short time span of a regular session (45 minutes), since it took her the
better part of it to “warm up,” she had asked for a double session, which had worked out
well. Invited to use art materials, she made a powerful clay head of a dog, and said it looked
“very sad” to her (A). We both saw it as a self-portrait, reflecting her discouraged state. Then,
using a scribble as a “starter,” she drew a pained head, mouth wide open (B). It conveyed
how “hungry” she was, not so much for the extra time she had requested, but for what it
symbolized—maternal love.
After a year of such weekly meetings, Hannah announced with pride that she thought
she was ready to leave. She kept in touch for a time, with cards and the gift of a book about
a talented child artist from another country. In therapy, she had what she experienced as
a new beginning, in which my nonjudgmental acceptance of her and pleasure in her timid
steps toward self-definition—which included trying art materials—enabled her to grow, at a
point in her life where she had almost lost hope.
Elizabeth “Grandma” Layton’s story shows that it is never too late for art, and that it can
have amazing healing powers. This Kansas housewife overcame a lifelong depression at age
68—by making contour drawings of herself and her concerns—a technique she learned in
an art class (DVD 8.9).
The 82-year-old artist testified on a videotape played at Senate hearings on the Older
Americans Act in 1992, while her drawings were on exhibit at the Smithsonian Museum
(cf. Lambert, 1995; Nichols & Garrett, 1995). Her story was also told at the hearings by art
therapist Robert Ault (1986), and it was so moving that art therapy was included in the
regulations as a supportive service (Figure 8.17). Four years later, successful lobbying led
to the inclusion of the arts therapies in the regulations for Day Treatment Programs, which
often serve the elderly.
Beyond Words: Art Therapy for Older Adults (Rubin, 2008a) was first made to promote
art therapy to legislators in 2004. It has been revised, and is now available with added fea-
tures. These include an introduction to the film as well as excerpts from two other films
on art therapy with older adults: Make Your Mark With Art (about Wheel Art, done using
wheelchairs) and Portrait of Pleasure Endeavors, about a program at a California hospital. In
addition, Anna Shafer & Her Art, a charming film based on an interview with an 85-year-
old artist (Jungels, 1980), is also on the DVD available from EMI (www.expressivemedia.
org). A three-minute excerpt from Beyond Words is included on the DVD that comes with
this book (DVD 8.10).
One of the most promising developments has come from a well-designed study by Gene
Cohen, a psychiatrist and gerontologist who is director of the Center on Aging, Health, &