By creating a therapeutic outlet for self-expression and processing trauma, art therapy can play a powerful role in assisting people with a brain injury or neurological condition to adjust to living with altered abilities and ways of thinking. Bringing together a wealth of expertise from specialists working with a range of conditions including epilepsy, dementia, acquired brain injury, motor neurone disease and multiple sclerosis, this book describes both the effects of the conditions and the ways in which art therapy has helped in the rehabilitation process. The book includes work with groups and individuals and with a wide range of settings and age groups, from children to older adults, and discusses the implications of research from neuroscience and neuropsychology. This will be essential reading for art therapists and students working with neurological conditions. Other professionals working with people with neurological conditions such as psychotherapists and counsellors, doctors, nurses and complementary therapists will also find it of interest.

This book analyzes and discusses in detail art therapy, a specific tool used to sustain health in affective developments, rehabilitation, motor skills and cognitive functions. Art therapy is based on the assumption that the process of making art (music, dance, painting) sparks emotions and enhances brain activity. Art therapy is used to encourage personal growth, facilitate particular brain areas or activity patterns, and improve neural connectivity. Treating neurological diseases using artistic strategies offers us a unique option for engaging brain structural networks that enhance the brain’s ability to form new connections. Based on brain plasticity, art therapy has the potential to increase our repertoire for treating neurological diseases. Neural substrates are the basis of complex emotions relative to art experiences, and involve a widespread activation of cognitive and motor systems. Accordingly, art therapy has the capacity to modulate behavior, cognition, attention and movement. In this context, art therapy can offer effective tools for improving general well-being, quality of life and motivation in connection with neurological diseases. The book discusses art therapy as a potential group of techniques for the treatment of neurological disturbances and approaches the relationship between humanistic disciplines and neurology from a holistic perspective, reflecting the growing interest in this interconnection.

Art Therapy, Trauma, and Neuroscience combines theory, research, and practice with traumatized populations in a neuroscience framework. The classic edition includes a new preface from the author discussing advances in the field. Recognizing the importance of a neuroscience- and trauma-informed approach to art therapy practice, research, and education, some of the most renowned figures in art therapy and trauma use translational and integrative neuroscience to provide theoretical and applied techniques for use in clinical practice. Graduate students, therapists, and educators will come away from this book with a refined understanding of brain-based interventions in a dynamic yet accessible format.

Art Therapy and Clinical Neuroscience offers an authoritative introductory account of recent developments in clinical neuroscience and its impact on art therapy theory and practice. Contributors explore the complex relationship between art and creativity and neurological functions such as those that occur during stress response, immune functioning, child developmental phases, gender difference, the processing of imagery, attachment, and trauma. It deciphers neuroscientific language and theory and contributes innovative concrete applications and interventions useful in art therapy. This book is essential reading for art therapists, expressive arts therapists, counselors, mental health practitioners, and students.

This important new text demonstrates how art therapy can make a major contribution to the treatment of children who are seriously ill, in foster care, physically and emotionally traumatized, as well as deviant and addicted adolescents, young adults, and with the aftermath of a spouse's suicide. The first three chapters of this book set the framework providing established developmental structure, holistic interactions of mind/body and attachment essentials for human beings. In the following chapters authors that are experts in facilitating art as healing with people of different ages and in different settings share their insights, images, and stories about treating developmental issues of angst and trauma. Of special interest are the two chapters on brain development and function, indicating that art therapy can make a major contribution to the healing of trauma because creative activity literally changes the traumatized typography of the brain. Information about the importance of bilateral integration as seen in both Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) and art therapy contributing to healing trauma is discussed. There is a special segment on art therapy and a new approach to the treatment of trauma with a sequence of chapters devoted to the ways art therapy facilitates healing of issues throughout the life span. The Instinctual Trauma Response (ITR) is examined, which resolves the client's trauma without abreaction or re-experiencing the event and without the use of medication. In addition, there is clinical documentation of the successful resolution of different kinds of trauma with a variety of clients at various stages of development. These cases include the trauma of multiple surgeries, family violence, and witness to death. The book concludes with a discussion of how art therapy has helped the elderly and their caretakers deal with issues of Alzheimer's and death. This is a book that contains significant “new” material that is a major contribution to the art therapy field.

Providing a complete overview of art therapy, from theory and research to practical applications, this is the definitive handbook in the field. Leading practitioners demonstrate the nuts and bolts of arts-based intervention with children, adults, families, couples, and groups dealing with a wide range of clinical issues. Rich with illustrative case material, the volume features 110 sample drawings and other artwork. The inclusion of diverse theoretical approaches and practice settings makes the Handbook eminently useful for all mental health professionals interested in using art in evaluation and treatment. New to This Edition*Incorporates the latest clinical applications, methods, and research.*Chapter on art materials and media (including uses of new technologies).*Chapters on intervening with domestic violence survivors, bereaved children, and military personnel.*Expanded coverage of neuroscience, cultural diversity, and ethics.