ABSTRACT
The presence of the art makes for a clinical situation that is very different from verbal psychotherapy. The sensory and spiritual pleasures of art-making are profound, enriching lives already full, and brightening those that are far too dim. Most art therapists see art not only as a form of “symbolic speech” that augments verbal ways of knowing, but as a deeply healing activity. In addition, because art-making involves the whole body and is both sensory and kinesthetic, the very act of touching, shaping, and manipulating materials can be a source of deep pleasure. The back to basics movement reaffirms that which is unique to art therapy: Art. The challenge for the 21st century is to demonstrate that art therapy can provide for human beings what is missing in the technology and accelerated pace that now dominate our way of life, to satisfy what many believe to be a basic need to create—in order to feel and to be fully alive.
