ABSTRACT
Art therapy is historically closely related to the treatment of people suffering from psychosis. For an introduction to the theme of mental transformation and its relevance to art therapy, the nature of scenic mental images will be presented in a developmental context by describing their early forms in infancy and their organisation into primary awareness of mental functioning. This chapter reviews clinical and neuroscientific views of the development and nature of the unconscious functions that support mental cohesion, and to this end, an approach using multiple dimensions is necessary. The time during the first few weeks and months of extra-uterine life is connected with more profound developmental changes in brain organisation than will be seen at any time later. The changes brought about by birth make the infant familiar with hunger and the need for external provision for the first time, with an ensuing awareness of absolute dependence on the caretaker (Winnicott 1963).
