ABSTRACT
Britain was the first country to recognise art therapy as a profession in the state health service. How did this come about? Can the British experience serve as a model for other countries?
Originally published in 1991 Becoming a Profession is the first comprehensive history of art therapists in Britain and of their struggle for professional recognition. Diane Waller discusses the work of the founding art therapists of the 1940s and 1950s and assesses their contribution in detail. She also puts art therapy in a political context, showing how the British Association for Art Therapists worked closely with the trade union movement in its campaigns to get professional recognition.
Fascinating reading for all practising art therapists, art therapy teachers and students, Becoming a Profession will also be relevant to anyone interested in the formation and development of professions.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part |32 pages
Background to art therapy
part |57 pages
The role of individual artists and psychotherapists in the development of art therapy from the 1940s to the formation of BAAT
chapter |13 pages
The Withymead Centre
part |87 pages
Beginning of organised activity: the first working parties in art therapy
part |37 pages
The campaign to establish art therapy in the NHS
part |41 pages
Training in art therapy
part |8 pages
Concluding thoughts