ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with a clarification of the contextual issues that may affect an art therapist’s ethical and moral responses. Forensic art therapy juxtaposes art therapy principles, practices, and theory with legal tenets, procedures, and protocol. It is used in fact-finding endeavors and to assist in resolving legal matters that are in dispute. It is investigative in nature rather than interventive. Marcia Sue Cohen-Liebman, considered the leading forensic art therapist, is responsible for coining the term forensic art therapy. When art therapists find themselves having to serve a court of law, they are likely to find the realms of legality, ethics, and morality unexpectedly colliding. Hence, it is the challenge of the art therapist to disentangle and reconcile the various, and sometimes conflicting, expectations of their professional identity with the demands of the forensic system.
