Early professional art therapists experience unique challenges related to professional identity development. Due to the small size of the art therapy profession, many art therapists experience isolation and role ambiguity as the lone representatives of the art therapy field within the workplace. Following graduation, early professional art therapists encounter competitive job markets, potential misconceptions about art therapy by employers or colleagues, financial stressors, and potential for experiences of vicarious trauma and burnout. Supervision is essential for promoting ethical and effective therapeutic practice and serves as a valuable resource to navigate the challenges experienced during this critical transitional time for post-graduate early professional art therapists. Art-based supervision (ABS) fosters direct engagement in artistic processes, the "tools of the trade" in the art therapy profession, to promote supervisee reflexivity, opportunities for coping and processing of vicarious trauma and compassion fatigue, self-disclosure, and processing of countertransference. To date, few studies have examined the lived experiences and perspectives of early professional art therapists within ABS. To expand the understanding of early professional art therapists' lived experiences of ABS this multimethod study, including constructivist grounded theory and art-based research, was conducted to develop a theory of art-based supervision grounded in the experiences of early professional art therapy supervisees and art therapy supervisors. Two research questions guided the development of a theoretical framework of ABS for early professional art therapists: 1) What are the processes and conditions of ABS as experienced by early professional art therapy supervisees and supervisors? and 2) What are the perceived benefits and challenges of ABS as described by early professional art therapy supervisees and supervisors? Twenty participants including early professional art therapists (n=10) and art therapy supervisors participated in this study. All participants were cisgender women; primarily white (n = 19) with one participant identifying with more than one racial identity (n = 1). At the time of the study, participants were living across the United States and internationally (Australia, Canada, Spain, and Israel). Concurrent data collection and analysis methods were used for this study including initial, focused, and theoretical coding phases; art-based research methods as a data source and method of analysis; memoing; and constant comparative methods. Five core categories were developed from the data to form a theoretical framework of ABS for early professional art therapists. Through the Listening with Art ABR method developed for this study, artwork was created to aesthetically represent and synthesize the relationships between the core categories of the theoretical framework. The findings of this study highlight unique qualities of ABS during the early professional phase of development for art therapists, including the developmental trajectories of early professionals and art therapy supervisors, the dynamics of supervisory relationships, the navigation of boundaries and self-disclosure, the settings and conditions of ABS, and ABS processes. The findings of the theoretical framework contribute to an understanding of ABS during the early professional phase of development for art therapists, with implications for the field of art therapy and art-based supervision within other allied mental health professions.

Foundations of Art Therapy Supervision serves as a reference guide for art therapists who have found themselves in supervisor roles without prior training and supervisees hoping to learn what to expect from the supervision relationship, and illustrates how to receive and provide clinical art therapy supervision. Written by two art therapists with over 35 years of collective supervision experience, this new resource includes a framework for providing effective supervision in the classroom and in the field, case studies and art-based supervisory exercises, and guidance for new professionals seeking certification or licensure. Chapters weave the authors’ supervision experience with a significant literature review, and feature explanations on how professional identities (art therapist, psychotherapist, counselor, supervisor, supervisee, administrator, educator, etc.) and personal identities (gender, race, sexuality, etc.) influence the supervisory and therapeutic relationships. This book will teach supervisees how to make the most of their experience while simultaneously providing a comprehensive reference for practicing supervisors.

Art-Based Supervision is a unique text for graduate supervision classes and seminars as well as a resource for post-graduate supervisors and practitioners. It offers a new view of supervision, one that incorporates both images and words as tools to investigate and communicate the interactions that occur in therapy and in the systems in which clinicians work. The fundamental principles of supervision provided in the book are useful for anyone interested in exploring the use of images to support reflection, understanding, and empathy in their work. Full-color images further enrich the narrative. In addition to supervision courses, Art-based Supervision may be used for introductory art therapy, psychology, social work, and counseling courses for readers interested in a broad range of intimate examples of the challenges of therapeutic work and the use of response art to grasp nuanced communication.

The intention of this book is three-fold: to be a supervision handbook for art therapy students; to be a self or peer supervision resource for professional therapists; and to provide a framework for training art therapy supervisors. While the underlying framework is grounded in psychoanalysis and existentialism, the Travelers Guide introduces a hermeneutic phenomenological method which incorporates social constructivism and metaphor theory. The book covers key aspects of supervision: identifying the principles and goals, discusses different models and techniques, explores the state of mind and attitude of the supervisor, focuses on the awareness of culture, reflects on transference and counter transference dynamics, the supervisee supervisor relationship and the challenges that can emerge. Metaphors weave throughout the book. The journey metaphor of engaging in open ended exploration runs through the chapters with ecological and gardening metaphors sprouting at different points. Written as a travelers guide the combination of theory and creative activities are intended to deepen the exploration. The Travelers Guide will be of value for all counselors and therapists, beginners and professionals. It provides the backbone for understanding the process and a rich resource of art based activities for deepening the supervisees engagement.

This is not a "how-to" book but rather about the "experience" of becoming an art therapist. The text covers issues in supervision and mentorship, contains stories by art therapy students about what they are thinking and feeling, and letters to young art therapists by highly regarded professionals in the field. The reader has the advantage of ideas and responses from both a student art therapist and an art therapist with many years' experience and is clearly intended for students aiming for a career. Chapter 1 is about students as a secret society and the importance of student colleagues. The second chapter is a short history of art therapy education, while Chapter 3 is a review of some literature potentially useful to art therapy students. Chapter 4 represents Kim Newall's journal with imagery of her internship experience as a third-year graduate student in a community clinic. For Chapter 5, art therapy graduate students in various geographical sections of the United States describe their worst and best student experiences and their most important role models. Chapter 6 is about mentoring–what it is and why an art therapist should have a mentor. In Chapter 7, twelve senior art therapists, each with many years' experience, write a personal letter to the coming generations of art therapists. The letter writers are all pioneers in the field. Finally, Chapter 8 offers a selected art therapy bibliography. This extraordinary book conveys the message "you can do this and it's worth it." The text is a much needed contribution to the field of art therapy. Students for many semesters to come will be reassured, validated, and informed. Experienced art therapists will ford valuable perspectives on supervision, teaching, and mentorship.

Art therapy with infants, toddlers and their families is an exciting and developing area of practice. With contributions from Australia, the United Kingdom and Spain, Art Therapy in the Early Years has an international flavour. The authors describe clinical art psychotherapy practice with children under five and their families in settings that include children in care, mental health clinics, paediatric wards, pre-schools, and early intervention programs. Divided into three sections, Art Therapy in the Early Years presents different clinical environments in which art psychotherapy with this client group is found: • individual art therapy; • group art therapy; • parent-child dyad and family art therapy. The book proposes that within these different contexts, the adaptive possibilities inherent in art psychotherapy provide opportunities for therapeutic growth for young children and their families. Art Therapy in the Early Years will be of interest to art therapists working with children; students and practitioners from creative arts therapies; psychologists and psychotherapists; social workers; pre-school teachers; child psychiatrists, clinical supervisors, and other professionals working in the early years settings.

Art-Based Supervision is a unique text for graduate supervision classes and seminars as well as a resource for post-graduate supervisors and practitioners. It offers a new view of supervision, one that incorporates both images and words as tools to investigate and communicate the interactions that occur in therapy and in the systems in which clinicians work. The fundamental principles of supervision provided in the book are useful for anyone interested in exploring the use of images to support reflection, understanding, and empathy in their work. Full-color images further enrich the narrative. In addition to supervision courses, Art-based Supervision may be used for introductory art therapy, psychology, social work, and counseling courses for readers interested in a broad range of intimate examples of the challenges of therapeutic work and the use of response art to grasp nuanced communication.