ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a review of some key theories, methods, and approaches used in the different arts therapies and places a focus on the overlaps and commonalities that can lead to an integration of the arts in psychotherapy. Although the term “integrative arts psychotherapy” is relatively new, the principles of integration have a longer history emerging from the growing field of “expressive arts therapy” which I will explore in the first section. The second section focuses on the intersubjective relational space in which art and creativity are shaped, shared, and interacted with in therapy. The concepts of the triangular relationship and the therapeutic “third” provide a framework within which a collaborative, creative exchange can develop through the therapist’s attunement and visual empathy towards the client’s creative presence. The subjective experiences of both the client and the therapist are considered in relation to the part that the body plays in generating creative responses and is developed in the third section. This is followed by theories relating to the experience of witnessing in the arts therapies, exploring how witnessing extends the cycle of creativity, providing a meeting point in which creativity is reflected, amplified, and interpreted. An integrative arts approach uses a range of visual, kinaesthetic, and verbal means of communication to explore, engage, and examine the art object or creative expression produced during therapy. The final section will examine how integrative arts psychotherapy utilises these different expressive modes in a graduated and experiential way that is collaborative and firmly grounded within the developing therapeutic relationship.
