ABSTRACT
As the title of this chapter implies, art therapy groups have evolved for an adult membership and children form an identifiable group with different characteristics. Expectations of how art therapy groups operate acquired in work with adults, are vividly challenged by the way a group of children react to the permissive environment of an art therapy room. The pace of the children's group is often fast, with interactions between the children happening in different parts of the room at once. While clay or liquid paints can promote regression and a healthy letting go, they may also lead to extensive mess in the room and on clothes. The structure common to adult art therapy groups of dividing the session in half with a separate time for sharing and discussing the artwork, is inappropriate for many children's groups and children often resist discussion as well as cleaning up at the end. Most challenging perhaps, is that the permissive atmosphere of a children's therapy group can become a destructive environment in a flash, when feelings are acted out in a physical attack and an apt intervention or interpretation cannot be found or is disregarded. It becomes essential for art therapists working in this field to think on their feet and yet, in moments of confusion when anxiety mounts, it can be very difficult to think at all.
