ABSTRACT
Healthy development is facilitated by permission to engage in creative exploration, experimentation, and risk taking. From the first days of life, sequences of holding, handling, and support provide conditions that spur growth and maturation (Winnicott, 1990). Similarly, the art therapy environment offers holding and handling through both physical use of materials and relational means (Robbins, 2000a). The art therapy office, art materials, and art therapist maintain focus on self-generated expression, which is ultimately used in the service of understanding children and helping to build sturdiness in them.
