Problems We Address • 195At first, her teacher having introduced me as an “art teacher,” Dorothy wanted and
expected some instruction in art. Rather quickly, however, she accepted the open-ended
nature of the sessions, soon overcame her quiet reserve and initial disappointment, and
began to relate in a warm and trusting way. Although she could speak, she did so rarely, since
her speech was so distorted that it was very hard to understand. She was a most articulate
draftsman, however, and from the first, was able to express her fantasies and ideas quite
clearly through pencil and paintbrush (DVD 9.3).
During her first three sessions, Dorothy concentrated on the drawing (A) and painting
(B) of birds (C), an animal she often pretended to be, making birdlike noises and flapping
movements with her arms. She seemed “stuck” on a rather compulsive and careful way of
doing this repetitive subject, always drawing the birds first in pencil (D).
So, during the fourth session, after her attempt to paint a large bird with tempera led
to frustration due to the lack of small brushes, I suggested that Dorothy try just using the
paints without planning in advance. She did so, and became quite excited by her new free-
dom, literally dancing and yelping with glee as she let loose, slopping on one bright color
after another, delighted even when they became muddy (E).
When finished with her first such effort, she asked for the largest size of paper (18” x 24”)
and announced, with considerable excitement, “I’ll make a monster!” She then did a rather
fanciful and colorful painting of a multilimbed creature (F), and followed this by saying, “I
want to make another monster,” this time drawing a birdlike creature saying “Growl!”
The following week, Dorothy began with one of her careful birds, an eagle, first drawn
and then painted. She then drew at the right what she later called a “dummy,” a crayon fig-
ure of a boy with strings like a marionette standing on a ladder, with his arm in the eagle’s
mouth (G).
“I want to do another one!” she said, after naming the first “The Dummy and the Eagle.”
Her second drawing, in pencil, was an even more graphic picture of the destructive effects
of the eagle’s rage (H). The figure, called both man and dummy, had a chewed-off arm,
bandaged eyes, and had been violently injured. There was a narrator at the upper left saying,
“Egles. Egles are mad. They want to kill man and eat them” (Figure 9.2).
Perhaps for the first time, the aggressive aspects of Dorothy’s bird fantasy were clarified
for those who worked with her, and maybe for Dorothy, too. The following week, emphasiz-
ing the flight aspects, she drew a saucy bird, then covered it over with dark paint, saying
frequently, “Go home!” a commonly verbalized wish. A girl was then drawn in a cage (the
hospital ward as she experienced it?) saying, “Boo hoo!” with a large monster-like creature
at the right saying “Ha ha!”
This was followed by the drawing and painting of a large and a small bird, along with
arm-flapping and repeated rhythmic chanting of the words “Go home! Go home! Go home!”
Her final product in this emotion-filled session was a rather lovely, carefully painted, large
and majestic bird (I).
At her ninth session Dorothy shifted gears in her imagery, and began a long period of
representing the children on the ward (J), first in rows, later involved in typical activities
(K). Her perception of them was so accurate that it was possible for anyone who knew them
to identify the figures (L). These drawings were done mostly in marker, along with much
verbalization about the children and her relationship to them.
This subject matter occupied her for the next six weeks, with increasing action and drama
in the pictures. While she was always careful to include each of the others, she never drew
herself. After what turned out to be the last one, I asked where she was, and with a grin she
pointed to the bird flying overhead (M).