Previews • 9I discovered that art therapy was the perfect choice for me as well. Some of the following
vignettes took place at the Pittsburgh Child Guidance Center, where I worked from 1969 to
1980; some happened on inpatient units served by the Creative & Expressive Arts Therapy
Program at the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic (WPIC) which I codirected from
1981 to 1985; and some are from my private practice (1974–1997). They are presented in the
order of the ages of the individuals involved, since art therapy can be a useful way to help
people at all stages in the life cycle.
Art & Drama Therapy Help a Girl Say Goodbye: LORI (5)
This vignette is from Lori’s therapy, in which—like most young children—she spontane-
ously used both art materials (Figure 1.7) and dramatic play (A). She was four when her
parents separated, and had seen very little of her dad since he had left the house. Although
she first left him out of a family drawing, she later added him as the biggest figure in a wish-
ful image of a family picnic. Sadly she said, “I love my daddy. He is beautiful. But he is not
a live-at-home daddy.”
Several months later, after the divorce, Lori drew a sad girl (Figure 1.8), saying “That girl
is crying” (B). In response to my questions she explained that the girl was crying “because
her house falled apart ... ’cause there was a big, big, storm, and lightning cut it in half.” The
picture-story was Lori’s way of showing how violently her home had been split, how the
divorce had been a bolt from the blue, shattering everything in its impact.
Later in that same session, Lori decided on a “new story” for her picture. Grinning imp-
ishly, she announced that the crying person was no longer a girl, but a lady ... in fact, “You!”
She indicated me. I wondered why I might be so sad, and she explained that I was crying
“because I left you and I never would come back.” Lori used a similar role reversal during
her final art therapy session, which took place seven months later.
Figure 1.7 Lori in art therapy.