What Do You See?: Phenomenology of Therapeutic Art Expression - Paperback

by Mala Betensky (Author)

The author presents a varied menu of ideas and experiences in many areas - in research, in diagnosis, and in psychotherapy, each using art media with patients of all ages. She integrates art, phenomenology and gestalt psychology, describing specific techniques and findings.

Part I of the book lays out the theoretical foundations and the techniques; Part II addresses the formal components used in art therapy - line, shape and colour in their interrelated dynamics and discusses other aspects and modes of symbolic expression found in clients' work. Part III looks at symbolic expression through the scribble, offering a system of classification, diagnostic possibilities and case studies of work with eating disorders. Part IV focuses on art expression for art therapy diagnostics, including a method for qualitative diagnostics, and a first full diagnostic battery for adolescents. Part V is devoted to Holocaust children's art expressions, highlighting the power of art expression in children under ultimate stress, the intensity of their inner experience, and its visualization in the structure of the pictures.

The book is for art therapists and advanced students. It can be used as a textbook on phenomenological art therapy; for therapeutically-oriented art teachers, educators and social workers; and for practicing psychotherapists, to see that art is a source of expression demonstrating how a person is.

Author Biography

Mala Gitlin Betensky, Ph.D., ATR, formerly visiting professor of art therapy at the University of Delaware in Newark and at Haifa University in Israel, is an art therapist and clinical psychologist in private practice in Washington, D.C.

She is the author of The Social Psychology of Adolescents (1954) and Self-Discovery through Self-Expression (1973).