218 • Introduction to Art Therapy
Some of this widening scope will be described in this chapter, although it is far from
encyclopedic. The resources noted in each area are representative examples I have come
across in my own journey and do not pretend to be inclusive.
Medical Art Therapy
The idea that art can promote physical healing is ancient (DVD 10.1). Images in their tombs
show Egyptians painting on barges in the Nile River, taking excursions as part of their
medical treatment. The awareness that art can brighten otherwise-dreary times of enforced
inactivity is also not new. Adrian Hill, who coined the term art therapy in 1942, painted his
way through a tedious convalescence in a tuberculosis sanatorium (A).
That art can give meaning to a life twisted by trauma was eloquently demonstrated in the
work of painter Frida Kahlo. Her spine and pelvis were crushed in a bus accident at age 18,
leaving her with chronic pain and the constant threat of illness. As she told her biographer
(Herrera, 1983), “The only thing I know is that I paint because I need to.” On the DVD you
can see excerpts from Kahlo’s diary, her own self-therapy in poetic words and images, as,
toward the end of her life, she faced the amputation of a leg (B).
Since making art comes naturally to suffering artists, it makes sense that more and more
patients dealing with illness and injury are receiving art therapy as part of their treatment.
A head trauma patient admitted to Metro Health Center in Cleveland might be referred to
the Art Studio, where he will be helped to cope through creating (C).
A child with severe burns (D) entering Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, California,
may be enabled to deal with his pain through art therapy (Malchiodi, 1999a, 1999b). A
stroke patient (E) who has lost the ability to talk might now have an opportunity to “speak”
by making art (Malchiodi, 1999b).
In 1985, a medical school held a conference on art and medicine. As the only art thera-
pist among the speakers, I knew very little about the area. After some time in the library,
I was impressed by how much interesting work had been done—especially since most
art therapists don’t write, and what is published is only the tip of the iceberg of actual
practice. In 1993 an entire issue of Art Therapy (the journal of the American Art Therapy
Association) was devoted to medical art therapy, defined by the editor as the “use of art
therapy with individuals who are physically ill, experiencing trauma to the body, or under-
going aggressive medical treatment such as surgery or chemo-therapy.” The author of that
definition has since edited two books, about work with children (Malchiodi, 1999a) and
adults (Malchiodi, 1999b).
As in psychiatric settings, medical art therapists usually work as part of a team. The dif-
ference is that the primary problem for which the person is being treated is not psychiatric
but physical. That is not to say that art therapists are not concerned with the psychological
effects of the illness. Being sick, being treated, or having surgery—like being old or being
blind—has powerful effects on mind, mood, and self-concept, and art therapy can help to
enhance medical care in a variety of ways (F).
Art in Medical Assessment
A patient’s artwork can provide a much-needed window on the mind for those involved in
the treatment. For example, the good social skills of Susie, a woman with Alzheimer’s dis-
ease (G), masked the cognitive deterioration (Figure 10.1) that became dramatically evident
to her art therapist (Figure 10.2) in her drawings (H). Art is often used to identify the extent
and nature of organic impairment.