ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND This chapter focuses on a two-year period of individual art psychotherapy with an institutionalised client diagnosed as having severe learning difficulties. The process of working with a client who displayed numerous autistic-like features is described within the context of the institution, with reference to relevant art therapy literature on this client group. The insight gained through tolerating extended periods of ‘not knowing’ and inertia has been supported by relevant theoretical models which eventually shed light on the nature of the client’s predicament.