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From: Lori Andrews
Date: 10/18/00
Time: 8:44:33 PM
Remote Name: 134.29.30.79
As a Registered Art Therapist I find the art-making process beneficial to individuals of all ages. The art can serve as a communication to the adult, increasing their awareness to parts of themselves that they were not conscious of, as well as an authentic communication with the therapist. Knowlede of how materials affect the art-making process and the individual is part of the training in art therapy, and would be too extensive to talk about here. However, some materials are more structured and less evocative and can be used by other professionals to enhance the therapeutic process. Materials such as: collage pictures, words, markers, and a choice of various sizes of white paper are appropriate for providing structure and containment. In my practice, I have a box of cut-out images of people displaying various emotions, miscellaneous images (doors, keys, windows, fences, and other interesting images), and animals. The words are in an envelope and are mostly words that are parts of a thought so it allows the individual to add what is relevant to them. I may suggest they pick a few images and/or words that connect with how they are feeling and use the other art materials (markers) to add to the art-piece. I provide various sizes of paper (18 X 24 to 11 x 14 or smaller), for their choice, to honor the space they are comfortable using. I find this is an effective process for adolescents and adults who may feel more comfortable with the structure. For individuals who are comfortable with art materials; quality oil pastels or markers and various size papers can be used to express what the stuttering looks like or other aspects of stuttering they would want to communicate. Oil pastels can be more evocative because of the texture and the pressure used to apply them. They are sometimes used to express anger or feelings with energy. These are a few suggestions that may give you some ideas of using art materials with adults. Providing adults with the opportunity to use creativity with an area of their life that is difficult can be an important experience for the individual making the images and for the viewer. Thanks for your interest and comments.