194 • Introduction to Art Therapy
On the DVD you can see Karen doing one of her dances (E). It is such a powerful testa-
ment to the human spirit, which though battered, remained unbowed. Even more impres-
sive, although she was not able to hold a job, Karen volunteered whenever possible with
elders and children with multiple disabilities at the School for the Blind. I am convinced
that without her creative outlets, she would not have been able to do all that she did and
to remain a solid citizen of her community as well. For Karen, the arts offered a lifeline on
many levels and in many ways. To call them “therapy” seems almost too limiting, since they
enabled and sustained both her spirit and her soul.
Children with Psychotic Disorders
My very first work as an art therapist was with a group of children who were diagnosed
with childhood schizophrenia. Sometimes the professionals referred to them as suffering
from early infantile autism. While they would probably be given different diagnostic labels
today, most likely as having an autistic spectrum disorder, they would still be struggling with
trying to stay afloat in a world that for them is more confusing than for children without
problems in reality testing.
Art for many of them was, and still is, often as indispensable a language as it was for
Aloise Korbaz, Adolf Wolffli, or my patient, Karen. I will first tell the story of Dorothy,
whose art was her only intelligible speech, and who grew in remarkable ways from just seven
months of weekly individual art therapy.
A Youngster with Childhood Schizophrenia: DOROTHY (10)
Many years ago I worked with Dorothy, a seriously disturbed, brain-damaged girl suffer-
ing from some loss of vision and hearing and from childhood schizophrenia. Adjunctive
art therapy sessions were made available to Dorothy, as they were to all ten children on her
residential treatment unit. She came every week from November through March and usu-
ally stayed for about one hour.
Figure 9.1 One of Karen’s self-portraits.