ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The notion of a more egalitarian relationship between patient and therapist has grown considerably stronger in all of the approaches in the book. Historically, psychoanalytic theory was dominant in art therapy, as it was in American psychiatry, during the early years of its development. In psychology, there was a heated debate between those espousing psychodynamic approaches and those enamored of behaviorism, which, like analysis, was born in the beginning of the twentieth century. Individuals who have studied the original theorists describe aspects of that theory they find relevant to their work. They then present examples of art therapy conducted according to their understanding of the particular model, so the reader can more easily bridge the gap between the original theory and its possible application to our own discipline.
