264 • Introduction to Art Therapy
book, is an overview of the field—from glimpses of the pioneers, to examples of different
people ( Fi g u r e 12 .1)^1 doing and discussing art therapy with individuals, families, and groups
(DVD 12.1). It contains segments from art therapists with diverse orientations, working in
a variety of settings and with different populations (A). If any generalization can be made
about art therapy, it is that it is like a multifaceted mosaic, made with many more materials
than one could possibly count (B).
Growing Art Therapy Literature
There is an extensive and rapidly growing literature that can either be skimmed or read
in depth. I remember smiling inwardly and somewhat condescendingly when Bernard I.
Levy in 1973 stressed the importance of requiring art therapy students to be familiar with
what he termed “the literature in the field.” At the time those words were first printed in
Guidelines for Art Therapy Training, it seemed to me to be a rather bad joke, though being
young and shy and new on the board, I never said so out loud.
Much to my skeptical surprise, however, it is now thirty years later and, in fact, the lit-
erature is growing, like the discipline itself, so rapidly that it is truly hard to keep up with it.
A brief overview of its history and present state will orient the reader to what may be found
on library shelves about art therapy. Although some of the early books are now out of print,
libraries of universities with training programs usually have copies that may be borrowed
through interlibrary loan. The same is true of the journals in the field, which are probably
not available everywhere, but are likely to be on the shelves of schools that offer training.
Bibliographies There have been several useful bibliographies. The first was Psychiatry and
Psychology in the Visual Arts & Aesthetics (Kiell, 1965), which included 278 listings under
“Art Therapy,” as well as related items in other categories. The second was a book titled
Figure 12.1 “Art Therapy Has Many Faces” original cover image.