ABSTRACT
Just as art therapy can be done in an endless variety of ways for the purpose of diagnosis or treatment, so too there seems to be no limit to those who can be served. Art therapy can indeed be helpful to people of any age level, and with any degree of health or handicap. Art therapists working with colleagues in bureaucratic institutions, however, have had to find sufficient ways of adapting to survive. Therefore, art therapists may be especially able to help those who are atypical to find ways to relate to and live with others, while preserving their individuality and authenticity. Teenagers, who are normally narcissistic, tend to be extremely interested in themselves and, by extension, their creations. Although it is usually necessary to deal with their anxieties about performance and about the therapist “seeing through” them, art therapy is a fine avenue for the developmental task of identity formation.
