ABSTRACT
Many of the techniques used by family therapists are verbal and involve the spoken word. These techniques can be limiting since people think in images as well as words. There are some powerful exceptions to these techniques such as family sculpting and the use of art with families. I have found that adding the dimension of artistic expression to therapy is useful for those families who are not masterful with words and for those families who are skilled at verbal manipulation. Families who do not communicate well can find an alternate way to do this through artistic expression; those who are skilled at manipulating words through rationalization and intellectualization can learn more direct ways to communicate.
