206 • Introduction to Art Therapy
The Family of the Disabled Individual
The 1974 Conference on Arts for the Mentally Retarded, which gave birth to NCAH, was
funded by the Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., Foundation. The Kennedys were energized by their dis-
tress over the tragic life of their sister Rosemary, who was institutionalized after a lobotomy
rendered her profoundly, rather than mildly, retarded. Sally Smith’s failed efforts to educate
her learning-disabled son led her to start the Lab School. And those who provided the force
behind PL 94-142 were frustrated parents. The grief and confusion of the family are inevi-
table, because a disability affects everybody. And the others need as much help in coming to
terms with their lot as the individual who has the disability.
Thus, a family art evaluation enabled the older brother of a multiply handicapped blind
child to express his rage in his family representation, in which his wood scrap shape was
shown shooting missiles at the shapes of all of the others (O). For the first time, this teenager
was able to represent and then to talk about how displaced he felt by his parents’ constant
involvement with his sister’s overwhelming needs.
In a mother–child art group at the school for the blind, Larry’s mom asked him to paint
with her, only afterward realizing how impossible it was for a boy with artificial eyes to
meaningfully use this medium (P). She was then able to discuss with the other mothers her
denial of his blindness, which made it hard for Larry to give up his own wishful fantasy that
he was “the only kid at the blind school who could see.”
In addition to joining with their children on occasion, the mothers’ groups at the school
for the blind sometimes used art activities as a way to explore their own feelings and
fantasies about their visually impaired children. Several motivated mothers went on to
run support groups for other mothers, with training in the use of art to facilitate groups.
Riley also (1994) conducted multifamily group art therapy with families who had a dis-
abled member.
Parents and siblings of disabled individuals suffer greatly from their own confused feel-
ings, like guilt over their role in causing the handicap, or shame about feeling resentment or
envy. A group of mothers of disabled children was formed at their request, after accidentally
meeting in my waiting room. They met for many years after their children’s therapy had
ended, supporting each other in their lifelong struggles.
Whether a disability is temporary, permanent, or unpredictable, it affects a person’s self-
concept, mood, and outlook on life. Although the disabled individual may not be in treatment
specifically for emotional problems, art can become a powerful tool for understanding, for
self-expression, and sometimes even for healing itself. A drama therapist and I once helped
a group of teenagers born with cleft palates to make a film. The movie (Q) was designed to
tell their families and friends what it feels like to have such a painfully visible condition—a
most creative way to cope.
Problems Especially Helped by Art Therapy (DVD 9.9)
I have not written in detail about each of the many conditions that can be treated through
art therapy, for that would be not only lengthy, but also beyond my expertise.
Although art therapists see people of all ages, with every kind of psychiatric problem
and every type of disability, most are not singled out below. Since art therapy seems to be
uniquely helpful for certain disorders, however, I have chosen to highlight just a few of them
as examples of the much larger group of people we serve.