Introduction

This chapter explains the theory and practice of group psychotherapy which has been well documented; that of art therapy increasingly so. It outlines some of the main developments in the use of art therapy in groups, mainly by reference to the literature in Britain and the USA. The term 'art therapy' is thought to have been coined in 1942 by the artist Adrian Hill to describe the work he was doing with recuperating tuberculosis patients at the King Edward VII Sanatorium in Sussex. The work of some of the pioneers of art therapy certainly involved group work, usually in open studio settings, with an informal structure rather like that found in art school studios of the time. Art therapy groups evolved in the late 1960s out of an understanding and growing awareness on the part of the tutor/therapist of the effect of their presence on the members of the group.