ABSTRACT
Knowing normal human development is vital to the practice of good art therapy. While one might suppose that the most important aspect of growth for an art therapist is what happens over time when people use art materials, by itself that is far from sufficient. Although a detailed knowledge of development in drawing, painting, and modeling is essential in order to recognize deviations from the norm,. art expression cannot be arbitrarily divorced from the totality of human growth. Art therapists, while they deal with and through art, are ultimately responsible for understanding and helping the human beings who become their patients as whole people.
