ABSTRACT
The growth of interest in creative therapy1 has occurred over a relatively short time. This interest has developed as a result of the successes achieved by arts specialists working in health care, rehabilitation and special education settings. Many of these successes have been unexpected, certainly not planned and, in some cases, inexplicable. Over the last ten to fifteen years, an understanding of the benefits gained from the use of the arts in healing and for health has been growing. This has occurred as more and more specialists work in this area, as more administrators are willing to experiment using the arts in their institutions and as methodological research is interwoven with anecdotal reports of the effects of this work. As a result, this mixture of experiment, research and anecdote has built a body of ideas, skills and knowledge that has at its core the essence of human existence; a need for each of us, no matter what our age or ability, to reaffirm ourselves and to communicate with others.
